Man To Man

I was probably in my early teens when I came across the phrase, “Man To Man” for the first time. It was an Indian version of the celebrated novel, “Pride and Prejudice”. The leading lady described the hero's first meeting with her Father using the said phrase. I had stared a second longer at the phrase. It really had not made any sense. I assumed that I would perceive the meaning of the phrase as I grow up. But, having no brothers and studying in an All Girl’s college did little to improve my awareness about the behavioral traits of men even as I grew up. It was only after joining an industry with a male female ratio of 100:1, that my awareness graph was prodded and cajoled to rise and discover the nonzero co-ordinates of the y axis.

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”.