Whereas it is true that self imposed solitary confinement allows my mind to explore uninhibited limits and lets my creativity flow freely, I have recently come to believe that - at times - some good can come out of interacting with people in general. I had always toyed with the notion, and sometimes allowed it to linger for more than a couple of seconds but was never convinced of it until I happened to have a rather mentally stimulating conversation with a couple. Other than the fact that we had received an equal number of years' of education we had very little in common. To start with, the education we had received was imparted to us in completely different eras and geographies, we were in different fields of work and we belonged to different age bands. It was in this apparently mismatched and dysfunctional group that I had the aforementioned epiphany.
The discussion began with the common courteous enquiries about each other's work and personal life in general, gradually panning out to superficial discomforts and comforts each one of us faced. Absolute random things were then picked up to evade an awkward silence, given that the popular topics of conversation had been used up. What had begun as an attempt to keep the talk-fest going became a rich confabulation which started with cattle insurance leading us to ponder why the Jersey cow is a superior breed, and why it finds it hard to survive in India. Logically we discussed common diseases affecting cattle. From there we went on to micro financing and credit life policies. There was a brief literary discussion on authors and research dissertations reaching religious scriptures and commonalities between different religions of the world. There may have been a sprinkling of political affairs, driver's licenses, commuting, weather and things that have left my memory. The point of all this recollection is that I came back home tired with all the talking - it was a couple of days' worth for me - but happy that I was able to hold it up with the myriad and rather quick switches in topics. Just made realise how much I know, and more importantly how much I remember. One of those rare occasions where personal human interaction did not make me want to weep.
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