There is so much that we take for granted in life. We are so absorbed in our own tiny bubbles, that we fail to see the people or lives that exist outside this bubble. Yes, life is busy as it is, and yes, we have so many hardships of our own. That doesn’t excuse us from being ignorant of everything around us. There is so much to learn from the world around us.
A new intern was assigned the same cab as me yesterday. Here is what makes him stand out – he’s blind. Apart from the fact that he needs someone to guide him from place to place, he’s just like one of us. Though he has routine as normal as ours, there were so many questions running around in my mind. The cab driver voiced out the first question – how does he use a smartphone? Turns out that there are special functions and apps which reads out the content on the screen to help them use the phone. This is just one of many.
Being his first day in the cab yesterday, he first felt awkward to ask for our help. He was about to request his friend to come down to the cab to help him to his floor, and I offered to take him there. Impressively, he carefully but easily crossed over stones and climbed the steps to the building lobby.
See, I’m a person who doesn’t like awkward silences. I start talking more than normal when the atmosphere is awkward (and that is saying something). So like I always do when there is an awkward silence, I decided to strike up a conversation with him. I asked him for his name and introduced myself to him. I asked him about his internship and asked him about his college (I’m assuming he’s extremely smart because he’s doing his MBA at IIM). Turns out he just needed someone to break the ice of awkwardness. Today, he struck up a conversation by himself. He asked me what I do, and joked about the interns looking lost a few days ago. Just a simple conversation with him lifted my spirits for the day. I didn’t hear a judgement in his voice.
I still have so many questions in my head, but I keep them to myself because I’m afraid of offending him. I’m looking forward to more small talk for as long as he’s here. I have so much more to learn.
Apoorva Bunglae 