An American and an Englishman were traveling by train. The compartment was practically empty. One fellow started working on his lap-top, the other was reading a book. After some time, both were looking at their wrist watch and mechanically looking at the window. They were bored. They would not talk to each other as they were strangers to one another. The American could not remain silent, so with the hope of starting some conversation, he looked at the Englishman and said, “Hi, I am Smith !” The Englishman looked at him and without any expression on his face, replied in a robotic tone, “I am not” and started looking at the window.
Conversation or interaction with a stranger may not always be necessary or even desirable. But at times, even with the family members, friends and acquaintances, some people resort to this type of behavior. Why? The reply would be : “ why I should make the beginning every time?”, “she thinks no end of herself”, “he thinks he has become a big man and we are nothing”, “it is his fault, so he should make the beginning”, “I don’t need anybody” ,”now that he has retired from big position, why should I care? He is an ordinary person” ….
If the circumstances demand, one must learn to enjoy lonely status. However, we can’t forget that all of us – humans, animals, birds, insects, plants, etc are a part of dynamic web of inter-related activities. So if a small fiber of this web gets pulled, entangled or breaks, it is bound to affect the entire web. The sequential stages of our evaluation can be summarized as …
dependence, independence and finally interdependence and therefore it is desirable to evolve from “stand alone” status.
-Pragna Pai
About Author | |
| Name: | Dr Pragna Pai |
| Address: | 135, Prabhu Nivas, Rd. 9A, Wadala, Mumbai, 4000031 |
| Phone Number: | 24149072 |
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