So long, until another red signal...

The signal turned red and I brought my car to a halt, a little worried about reaching the destination on time. The new automated traffic lights counted down the remaining moments of my restless wait. But 115 seconds is a long time; I turned off the ignition. As I looked up, I saw him again. As always, he was carrying his tattered bag in which he totes around the latest bestsellers. The old man must be in his seventies, and his body always seems a little frailer than the last time I saw him, but yet he is always there with his loaded bundle (which apparently always seems to have grown in size since the last time I saw it).  

He moved slowly to each vehicle, holding the most notable (and currently popular) titles in one hand, while he balanced the bag on the other shoulder. I am sure he isn’t literate, and yet he talks about the books as if he had read them all.  You can always tell whether a person is a reader or not by the way he looks at books. Given his experience over time, I am sure he can do it even better. Which is why, I guess, he moved towards our car, when he saw me tilting my head, as I read one of the titles (I know this would have made me anyways too obvious).

He came around to my window and showed me the stack of books he was holding, naming another few that were in the bag. I was a little interested in looking at one of the books, but I knew that would only make him more insistent; and also I couldn’t forget that I was at a traffic signal.  I politely told him that I just couldn’t buy a book at that time; promising a purchase some other time. He waited a moment, then smiled and said “koi nahi..”, and then moved on to another vehicle. Those words and the way he said them just stuck in my mind.

Every day, while rushing to our destinations, we make these (seemingly insignificant) halts at the traffic signals. While we impatiently wait for the signal to change, there is a segment of the society that suddenly bustles to action: Beggars, eunuchs, different sellers.  You would roll down your window for a few, while for the others you wouldn’t even bother to look in their direction. When you take a particular route every day, you get used to the faces of some of these people, them also becoming a part of that daily travel. On some faces, you see the sincerity and earnestness as they choose to sell things and earn, rather than choosing to beg. And you (at least I do) want to help them continue the same way, boosting their morale (and sales) by making a purchase. And when it comes to insignificant items (at even more insignificant prices) I think we all do buy them.

I have been seeing this old man sell books since many years now. On his face I have always seen this earnestness and dignity as he goes about his business. I am not the sort of person who buys books impulsively, I like to take my time and choose the titles I want to read. Also, I think it is hard to buy books at a traffic signal (what with the signal suddenly turning green and the guy behind you honking you to a sudden panic). But yes, one of these days, I do intend to buy a book from this man; to keep the promise that I have made to him today. Also, I think I want to be a part of the little story of his life, which may not be as interesting as one of the bestsellers he carries, but one that I believe would definitely be worth telling.

I turned to my mother and told her the same thing. She said that it was a great thought, and also that the signal had turned green. Like always, it was time to move on.

Bitten by an earworm

Much to the plight of my family, for the past two days I have 

been constantly humming and singing this song, which seems to have gotten stuck in my head. I am sure, this is something that all of us have experienced at some time or the other. You wake up with a tune in your head, and then all you can do the entire day is either hum it in your head or out loud. While, it's nice to have the latest chart-buster playing out in a loop in your head, it can be very annoying when it's a song you hate, but it's stuck in your head nonetheless. I really marvel at the human mind for playing out the exact tunes and notes that the artists have so painfully mastered and sung. And, having been a student for so long, it is funny to note that while textbook lessons take hours to memorize, the lyrics to these songs are magically stored away in the brain. (And god help your restlessness; if you can't remember that one word from the song..)

 Given the time I have on my hands nowadays, I thought of googling to find out whether there is something that makes a particular song "catchy". Well, apparently, there are several researchers who are actually trying to figure out the science behind the catchiness of certain music/songs. They term such songs as earworms. So, basically, what these earworms do is create a sort of itch in the brain. And as it is with all itches, the only way to get rid of this itch is to.... err..  scratch it; in this case by simply repeating that song over and over (..and over again).

The special thing, that makes a song an earworm, could be anything. It could be that the lyrics or the melody that has been set for the song evokes an emotional response in your brain, which makes you connect with it instantly. The use of a hook line, or a short line, that is constantly repeated in the song, definitely makes it easier to remember. And of course, when it is a song(even though the most terrible) that is being played out 24X7, on the radio, on the TV, it is hard to escape it, and it is highly likely that it will wriggle into your Mental Music Player(MMP). And from then on, it will be on your MMP playlist, playing on like a background score to your life; even if at the most inappropriate times.

Oh and also, it's hard to remove an earworm because the more you try to distract yourself, the harder it comes back at you. So the only thing you can do is: sing it, hum it, give yourself an overdose of the song, and hopefully your brain will tire of it. I mean, the song went in one ear, how much time can it really sit in there before your brain kicks it out from the other, right?!!

P.S.- I would like to thank my family and friends for having borne with my singing of such sticky tunes. Looking forward to such supportive behavior in the future as well...:)