It was evening time. I was told that after getting down the stairs of my first-floor house, I have to turn left, take a right and then the left and there will be a small market where I would find a sweets shop, small but neat. I followed the instructions and found the shop easily. There were some street dogs barking and growling, but I was fearless – fearless as if the whole world was mine. I paid the money to sweets shop owner in lieu of the fresh laddoos and started back for home. Something strange happened and I forgot my address. Instead of 95, I remembered that my house number was 92 and thus landed in the back row of my new colony. But this couldn’t be my house as its entrance was towards west while my house entrance was towards the east. The family in the ground floor of 92 helped me in finding out my correct house. Sun had started setting and it was a little dark by now, but I was fearless. This small instance is still alive, fresh in my mind.
I have landed into my early fifties. Recently we shifted to a new colony. I ensured that we have fresh laddoos and other things in place for the Grah Pravesh Puja ceremony. Pandit Ji asked for some additional material and I had to step out of my new house to get it from a nearby temple. The temple was not far off, but I could feel a little fear inside me. There were no dogs barking and growling around, but I still was a little fearful. I was not certain what the reason of this fear was. While returning back home, I again forgot the house address. I tried asking a young boy around for some assistance, but he ignored me. Probably he did not see me even he was in front of me. He was doing some multitasking, aggressively typing on his smartphone – on WhatsApp and simultaneously listening to music with earphones stuffed in his both ears. I got desperate and fearsome.
Somehow after some time and walking through some streets around, finding nobody to assist me, I started feeling lost. I got so lost that I forgot that I have a smartphone in my pocket and I can call someone at home to get some assistance. Somehow, my daughter called me on my phone, and with the help of our neighbors guided me back to the house. I am wondering if we have advanced in life with the technology or have got lost and started growing in a fearful world.