As I go out for a walk, I look at the weather and feel good about the overcast sky that is keeping the day pleasant. I look around and think of the few trees that have managed to hold on to their life in the concrete jungle, and admire them and the people who planted them. I feel grateful and happy, but not for long. A cabby honks and drives past me at a speed unreasonable for the small road we are in, and I get irritated. I instantly recall of some insecure cabbies I see on the road, who have the practice of habitual honking every few seconds even on the empty roads. They used to make me go crazy once but I smile at them now and pass them as silly folks. The whole thought process now expands to Bangalore's fast growing traffic that has increased the commute time to twice what it was a few years ago. There is no reaction in the mind for this one, it has become a thought too common and gets ignored. It is no more than a few seconds before I move on to a much larger picture of Bangalore's fast, unplanned growth and all things sundry. All of it was broken by pretty girl who walks past me from the opposite direction, and there is an attempt to assign her with a prettiness quotient! I am now walking on a nicely laid footpath with no loose stones or any such surprises, and I begin to feel grateful all over again. The process continues, forming a chain of unrelated things..
No wonder they said it is all in your mind - happiness, sadness, joy, sorrow, call it what you wish. And we ofcourse continue identifying these emotions with external stimulus.
