Now, all characters featured in this incident are real. I sit down and write this blog post at the Dallas international airport, but most probably wouldn’t post it until I reach India. Because DFW doesn’t offer free wi-fi internet and I can’t connect to the wired internet because I do not happen to have a network cord with me. How disappointing..And as usual, most of the free internet kiosks have been taken over by oversized teenagers checking their FB accounts.
I do not exactly remember dates, but one of these days when I was returning back from downtown, riding the max rail, reading a book. It was quite crowded so I think it must’ve been a Saturday or a Friday night. My imagination which had flown away with the book’s storyline was brought back to the reality of the crowded max, by loud cries of a baby in a pram. A young girl was tending to the baby. My brief interaction does not permit me to conclude on their relationship, but the fact was that she was responsible for the baby. I am not too sure whether kids should be pampered or not, but I think they deserve attention. The baby kept crying incessantly and the young woman continued to yap away on her mobile phone(Note the critical usage of the words, “yap away”, which shows my disapproval.) Most persons nearby were disturbed just as much but the young woman was either used to it or did not care. Either way, without even a glance at the baby (continues to yap away) she takes out a bottle of milk and hands it over, which the baby promptly throws away. The crying continues. Next comes a biscuit which meets the same fate.
Three or four stations pass by. Most of the passengers have now been forced to divert their attention to the crying baby. The young woman moves around the pram which allows the baby to look at me. I try to give a smile and clap my hands and clown around(now that shouldn’t be too tough…c’mon aren’t we all clowns in the circus of fate? huh..)
The baby stops crying, starts clapping hands too..people around smile at me, few exclamations are passed on. The max comes to a halt, “doors to your left” and the young woman walks away (still yapping away…). But atleast the baby isn’t crying anymore. I don’t think there was much in this event which deserved a blog post, but I somehow find it extremely hard to understand persons who tend to be careless when tending to children. I consider handling children a task(well, that’s not exactly the right word…but I guess, you get my point..) which requires utmost dedication and complete undivided attention. Now, its debatable as to what should be someone’s response to a baby crying for no reason. Few would ignore the baby saying that showering too much attention is nothing short of pampering or spoiling the kid. But, isn’t it the most unpleasant thing to pay no attention to a crying baby? Don’t we unknowingly pay attention to attention seeking adults at some point in our life?Don’t we all love some attention?
Give children the attention they deserve, at least because they’re the only beings who deserve your attention and love. Whether or not, you know them..
Oh! well, I’ve never made public posts of such incidents close of personal opinion and this is my first attempt at doing so in the most rational and neutral manner (except for the “yapping away!” part…) Leave your comments. I’d like to hear from you…For now, my flight’s ready to board….
