Big Problem, Small Problem

For anyone who lives in a metro city in India, apart from the competitive spirit around economic and infrastructure development, there is also vying for top spot for traffic hassles. Each one worse than the other.  I live in Bengaluru and take the 500C Volvo bus from Banashankari to Whitefield every day for work. In the morning, it may take about two hours but on most evenings, I do not remember going back home before a strenuous three hour commute. Nevertheless, almost always I find a way to get a window seat and endure the journey.

Sometimes, I pass my time reading a book and on other days, I simply close my eyes and listen to music. However, what I love to do the most is observe people. Well, not in a way that would make the other person self-conscious. Still it is nice to be cognizant of your surroundings and attend to minute details. Since I love to converse, invariably, I also catch up with the one sitting next to me.

One day, a young IT employee sat beside me on the way to work. At first, I only noticed how she kept meddling with her phone. Little while later, I broke into her space and watched how she seemed to be shifting in her seat. She was visibly restless. Every few minutes, she was looking at her phone and reading her messages without leaving any reply.

Without much thought, I further intruded her privacy by asking if she needed help.

Anu, which is how I began addressing after our initial introduction exchanges, requested me if she could use my phone for a call. I immediately said yes. All she did was a call to a friend and say a sentence.

“Hey! Same issue. Phone is not okay. I will come to work and talk.”

I wondered why Anu spoke so little. May be, she was shy. She had just met me and it may not be so nice to use my phone for a long talk. In any case, I wouldn’t mind.

“All okay, Anu?” I confirmed.

“Oh yes. I am used to this. My best friend has a problem with her phone which according to me is a small issue you know. But for her it is a huge thing. She ordered a fancy phone that she bought for a whopping fifty thousand rupees and now it seems like a defective piece. I know my friend for over a decade now- whether the Wi-Fi is off for ten minutes or the water heater does not work for even an hour in the entire day, she gets stressed. Now, the phone! Ha-ha”

I laughed lightly. 

“Anyways, who am I to declare what is a small problem and what is a big problem. “ Anu quickly added.

“I understand, Anu. It must be so frustrating that you cannot reply to her because your phone has a sudden problem isn’t it.” I answered.

“Oh no, my phone has always been like this. This is an old model and am waiting to upgrade it with my salary in the coming months. I cannot afford a fancy phone like my friend’s nevertheless, I surely need to upgrade.  I cannot even consistently message from my device. Poor me.”

“Oh! So sorry.” I empathized.

 “Many friends of mine tell me that I should buy a phone right away. They think it is no big deal. For me, it is. Spending ten thousand on a phone is a big thing for me. There you go. My big problem is their small problem.“ Anu laughed at herself.

I too joined in the merry not only for as formality but for in appreciation of such an accurate interpretation of facts in life. Problems are never too big or too small. They really only are different to different people.

No wonder I worry about traffic issues as the biggest problem of each day. Out in the massive world, there are so many harder challenges. I later continued my lovely conversation with Anu. When I bid her bye for the day, Anu had left an impression – A perspective.