I, Me, Myself

This is the time when rice is transplanted. This is a back-breaking working, where one has to stand in water-logged fields and transplant the paddy saplings bunch by bunch. As I went around the villages I could see that it was a job done by women and girls.
"The men do not do anything," I was told.
Next time I eat rice or wheat I know that I will think of those girls, who instead of going to school, worked in the fields.
I as a person am part of the community that is interdependent.
Vibha and I were discussing Arushi Talwar murder case the other night as we took our walk.
"Few years ago," Vibha said "they had a life-skills program in Aastha's [her daughter] school. I went to see what they were teaching. The class started with the first lesson on 'I'. 'I' in the center and the rest delegated to the background. So family and community are not as important as 'I' is. Which is funny because in Sanskrit I learnt that third person is the most important. And 'I' or aham is the least important. Aham is equated to ego and ego has to be removed."
'I' exists in relation with others. I am not saying that 'I' is not important but it is not the center of the Universe.
I was reminded of this as I watched this young girl (I will call her X) perform at the Blue Notes Annual Day Function.
X is daughter of a faculty and they used to live in the old transit house, just like I do. X and Sohail were great friends and would come over sometimes to my place when Sohail wanted to talk or hear me play the veena. She was a nice little kid with two plaits who was learning dance and was tickled pink to know that I too was a Tamilian.
Then the family moved into the new transit house and I lost touch. Occasionally, I would see this girl running some errands for her mother but for the past couple of years I did not catch glimpse of her.
Therefore, I was absolutely shocked when I saw her at the concert. She has adopted the same aggressive posture of her peers. The body language of these students spoke volumes about how they consider themselves to be the most important. 'I' am at the center and the rest I do not care.
I was little disturbed. Maybe I was reading too much into something that did not exist beyond my imagination.
But I have company. Apparently Surinder, Sneha's husband, told her much the same when he saw X on the stage.