A room filled with about a dozen computers and bored men staring at them happened to be my first school for the awareness lessons. It was a long day and after hours of tackling glaring error messages, I wanted a break. I looked at my neighbour hoping for some small talk (read gossip) and started talking about the weather. He gave a few courteous nods and looked like he welcomed the break. I was happy and was brimming with all enthusiasm. But I was sadly mistaken as he immediately turned towards the guy at the other monitor and remarked ,“ Kalka match dekha kya ?”. Soon, the entire room was in a deep discussion about the batting talent of some celebrated Cricketer. I stared helplessly as the conversation looked like it could go on even without me. Deciding that weather was an uninteresting topic , I tried a different topic the next time. This only provoked my neighbour to start some elaborate debate about the best model of some cell phone company and eventually other electronic goods. I would not give up that easily and hence the next time I tried to start a conversation by remarking about the new employees in office. My remark was met with the highest amount of attention from all the quarters. I was quite overwhelmed with this new found success and was all geared up to finally have a conversation where I could participate. “Nayi Ladki Ke Saat Intro Karvayegi?” , asked my colleague in all earnestness. I did nothing but sigh
Once, a colleague asked me to help him shop for an upcoming sports event organized at office. After resigning myself to conversations with a highly limited range of topics, I considered this as a welcome break .We went to a sports wear showroom and the colleague picked up white track pants. I told him that it was not a wise decision as the pants would get dirty easily. “We play so that our clothes get dirty”, he replied with the highest conviction. I was quite taken aback and was looking for some support from the sales boy who was standing beside us. I turned to the sales boy only to notice him sharing a silly impish grin with my colleague. After this I began to notice that the silly impish grin which I prefer to call as “Man to Man Grin” is the most popular communication tool among men. It is a grin which crosses any cultural, social, regional or linguistic barriers. Now that I had established recognition with the “Man to Man Grin”, I began seeing it a lot more often. When a pretty girl passed by or if somebody broke the speed limit or if someone lectured , there would always be two men sharing the “Man to Man Grin”.
As my awareness graph rose I wondered why the other half of the human kingdom behave so strange. I never expected to find an answer but ironically found it from my 8 year old cousin. She was back from her school and was telling me about her day at school. A particular boy, Vishnu would trouble her a lot and would even pull her pig tails. I suggested that she should be talking to him about behaving himself. She shook her head saying that she would not. I asked her the reason for her decision. With a condescending tone and a wrinkled nose, she said “They are BOYS”.
