Social Media and Subway Surprises

Nothing makes up an evening post a tiring work day better than a healthy subway sandwich. It is something whose marginal utility takes a while to swerve down after reaching the cliff. So I entered the subway outlet on my way home the other day, my gaze fixed on the giant menu board above the counter. The lady on the other side of the counter smiled and interrupted, “Hi”.

I looked down to smile at her remembering Tim Harford’s view of smiling waitresses. I realized it was part of her job to smile at weary customers and that she was remunerated for the same. Nothing unusual about that.

Concentrating on the mouth-watering picture of the sandwich, I ran my eyes over all of them displayed and mused over my choice until I heard another voice from across the order counter.

“Hi Jalnidh”

Now that wasn’t written in The Undercover Economist. Did Subway start paying them for guessing names too? I looked down to find a neatly dressed guy in black with a matching black turban, smiling gallantly. I was kinda befuddled. Let me confess I am not accustomed to people bumping into me at random places to say “Hi Jalnidh”

“I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you”, I said trying hard to recollect any scintilla of familiarity with the figure.

He introduced himself, stating his name. “So how is your project going?”

The first shock was too much to face the second one now. “Which project?” – the word project reminded me only of the depository participants and derivatives I had been working on in the stock exchange during the course of my internship these days.

“Your project – the one you are working on for quite some time…”

“Oh! Éclair* - Ah! That is going good!”

The guy turned out to be my senior at school who was working part time at the outlet. I had never met him at school and never had the faintest trace of him apart from the fact that I had accepted his friend request on facebook out of sheer courtesy and second that I had seen his comments on some on my éclair photos with the kids.

And then the perfunctory stuff I am asked, continued – “Where is it working? Can I éclair? How can I help? I really wanna contribute…” More than the sandwich, a genuine outpouring of someone’s passion for volunteering made up my day.

The sandwich was done and packed, the bill paid and receipt handed over. I realized that social media had penetrated into our lives so deeply and subtly that I should be prepared for little surprises like those around the corner. Inspiration and enthusiasm spread in fountains through social media. Today éclair owes much of its success to Mr. Zuckerburg more than anyone else.

*Éclair is a street school chain being run by the author and some of her friends that aims to get street kids, especially kids of migrant laborers enrolled in regular schools through an informal rudimentary class taught in open parks.

My Tryst With Physics

‘Physics is an easy subject, it’s very interesting and that it is the best’ – If somebody tells me this, I swear, I’m going to kick his ass off. Respect to all Newtons and Einsteins, but the fact is I hate Physics, and I simply hate it.

Let me make it very clear, I was never good at physics, set aside standard nine when physics was just substituting values in the equations and I would get answers that were correct to nth decimal places where n tends to infinity. Wow! How easy it was! And not to forget a few conservation laws and the syllabus was done! May be that was the reason why I chose to take up science after 10^th, quite unaware of the impending disaster. In those two years of my senior secondary school, I realized physics was the ‘worst’ subject. It brought me nothing but tears and frustration as well as many late nights. How much I wished that that bloody apple fell on Newton’s head and he..! Right from the beginning I never understood if acceleration can be infinite, though I guessed retardation can surely be! Physics in school was fun – beg your pardon, not ‘physics’ but ‘physics classes’. I remember once asking somebody the physics behind swinging, to which the person replied,”The physics behind swinging is to rotate your centre of gravity.” Lol! I don’t know why? - may be dirty mind of mine, I found it really funny! And how can I forget  our honorable dean cum physics teacher who came late to the class – well, he was forced to, for we put chewing gum in the lock of his office. I was quite indifferent to all that was taught in the class.

The worst part of the story was my coaching institute where I spent 2 hours thrice a week listening to something which couldn’t make its way to my brain. My friend, Sayak Mukherjee was good at physics and he used to ask me questions on physics purposely, to increase the level of my frustration – sahi mein dost hote hi hai – ek number ke kamine! But all thanks to Sayak, for he gave me support during those physics classes where I sat waiting for the weariness to end.

Once, I saw some spikes on ice cubes and was quite fascinated. So, I asked someone, some future Newton may be, and the reply was – “Spikes! why don’t you try one for a change!” Curses be on him and physics. Once we were being taught Van de graff generator. Nothing about it interested me, except the idea of how my teacher would look if he got a shock from such a generator!  From the above mentioned episode, I am quite sure you must be thinking that I was screwed up, yes! I actually was. I once got as low as a mark out of eighty.

When I came to Stephens I was more than happy that I had dropped this damn subject. It was only then that Mr. N. Raghunathan, our respectable HOD told me in one of those statistics tutorials – “Gaurav, you should have taken physics!” I didn’t say anything and got away with it with a smile for I knew he can’t, for that matter nobody can understand the state I have been through!

School Memories-- LA JOIE DE VIVRE – THE SEARCH IS ON..

“Stop it…shut up…too uncivilized and uncultured!” was what the world remarked when my best friend Jasleen and I let out genuine bursts of laughter during recess time. Laughing, as we moved past the school corridors, we were greeted by frowns and dejected looks of who seemed like people jinxed by lack of cheek bones. They mistook our laughter for contempt and disdain.


Smiles and sniffles inevitably make the fabric of life; unfortunately I get to see more of the latter. Everywhere I see glum people caught in a race of achieving something – something that even they are unaware of. There is greed, there is madness, and there is lust. But nowhere do I see celebration and laughter. Of course you would argue that I can’t see ‘abstract’ nouns, but feeling them too is a pearl out of reach.


When my teacher would rebuke - ‘What causes you to create that nuisance?’, ‘Genes’ would be honest reply. ‘Mam, I have inherited it from my parents, My dad’s laughter is audible in the entire locality and my mom can’t help controlling hers.’ The other day, one of our neighbours remarked, “So, you do yoga, I see”. Yes! Now we find laughing in yoga classes only.


It is ironic that today laughing is perceived as an art to be acquired by special training. There are laughter clubs and laughter shows to connect people to their civilizational roots. Even the Holy Koran enshrines, One who makes one’s friends laugh, deserves paradise. But considering the present situation, it seems paradise would be rotting empty.


Smiles and chuckles are the only means of expressing joy known to the present generation, guffaws and ‘thahaakas’ seem to have melted into thin air. Even laughter soaps are watched with emotionless brooding. Studies suggest that a child laughs on an average about 400 times a day whereas an adult laughs only 15 times. Among many things that are getting extinct today, belly-aching laughter is one. Smiles always help to shoo our blues since they have the instant quality of changing the very matrix of mind. Research suggests that laughter actually helps in losing weight and preventing obesity. Now before you start replacing dieting with laughing, one last thing.


Optimism and laughter are grease and glue of life. As someone whose Facebook status reads ‘ Jalnidh is happy being alive’ – I would say that I found one reason to be glad about –Life! Life is for living. We ought to live every moment to the fullest and experience la joie de vivre in every nerve and artery of our body. Let sorrows take wings and happiness stay. The show must go on…