Its always curious to see winter go hand in hand with laziness. The cafeteria was dull, as usual with the usual crowd. I got my two parathas and sat down next to a fellow geeky IITian. He seems to be very much engaged in his smartphone. So I scrolled through the posts on my Facebook wall. A faded faced old assistant brought hot parathas and asked us if he could serve us more. With just a flick of his hand, he shooed him away. Being used to this routine behavior from students, he did not mind either. Once he was away, my fellow next-seat guy realized that it would be amazing to have a hot glass of water. Without his eyes deviating from the mobile, he shouted "Bhai ek glass garam pani" ordering a glass of hot water to be brought to his table. He politely went inside and rushed back with a hot glass of water upto the rim. It must be burning his fingers as he immediately dropped it hard on the table slipping few drops over his water-proof phone.
All the anger inside him gushed out. He barked at him, first time raising his head away from the phone. The assistant was holding his head down all the time. Not satisfied with his actions, he brought the cafeteria manager to complain for a miniscule drop of water over his seven inch phone. I walked away from the incident and out of the cafeteria.
Next day, yet another cold morning, but the parathas were served by a new assistant. That old assistant is nowhere to be seen. Was it the mistake of that old man, who would probably have lost his job because of someone’s meaningless temper? Or perhaps it is the mistake of this man who was living his life virtually? Or is it the technology that made us think that we are a superior species? Or is it me, who silently walked away when I came across a problem?
“Bhaiya garam pani?” ("Sir, hot water?") my thoughts were brought back to reality. “No” I nodded.
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India • 30 years old