"X" for "X" . Finding the unknown "X" , Xenophobia and much more

"X" is a wonderful alphabet even if it gives us very few options to write as there are less no. of words with X on which we can think and write.

"X" is an alphabet much loved by mathematicians.  It is very normal to find a huge equation in which "X" is "unknown" and you have to solve and find it. We have to find "Y" too some times but it is X which is the heart favorite. You always have to find it and the eureka feeling when you finally find it gives a great relief . I never liked maths. Other than simple equations like X+2=5 rest all used to scare me. Some times I used to feel that this "X" had pasted a big bold X on my face and I used to do many silly mistakes which lead to bad scores in Maths ! Years have passed and we still solve the equations and find the "unknown" . Some times I feel I should solve "X" like below 

or may be console algebra by giving some reply like below :P

I may or may not like maths but I started disliking "X" due to its desperation to be found. It is unknown till we don't assign a value to it. Similarly there are many "X-Men" and "X-Women" in our lives. No I am not talking about mutant heroes and heroines from the Marvel world. I am talking about those strangers and unknowns who keep bumping in to us every now and then. The fast pace of life gives us a chance to come across many new people. Even If I don't suffer a lot from "xenophobia" which is  an irrational or unreasoned fear of that which is perceived to be foreign or strange I some times despise strangers . I cannot randomly talk to some "X" and get friendly. Some people make friends in trains , flights , metros but I am not in to it. These days due to alarmingly increasing crimes as soon as I enter in to a bus or train I bury myself in a book or plug my ear phones and act dead to any passer by if I am travelling alone.

I cannot trust any one easily and I absolutely talk crap when a stranger initiates a random conversation. Later I wonder if it was me who spoke all that . Few conversation snippets I had with few random people are like below.

Once I was going home from hostel for holidays. There was an old man sitting opposite to us and unfortunately we had a train-crossing  signal and our train halted for more than half an hour. Old man started talking to me and my friends who were all girls about the importance of education and getting jobs and how to be strong individuals and how it is most important for a girl to earn. He suddenly looked at me and told, "Tomorrow when you get married you should also be able to stand on your feet!" He was talking as if he was possessed. My friends were giggling and I was feeling sleepy due to his perennial gyaan (lecture). I nodded and couteously smiled every time . The train was not moving but his words were definitely speeding up. From college to country to politicians to cine actors to superstitions the man spoke everything.

At one point I wanted to ask him , " Ye sab aap muft ka gyaan dete hai or paise lagte hai iske?" (the famous jab we met dialogue by Kareena Kapoor which means do you preach all this for free or do you charge?). From that second I was literally scared to respond or start conversation with some "X" . Instead I will die of boredom . If I have nothing to do I can even count the number of electric poles in the station or just get down and explore  it but I can never talk to strangers! I acted as if I dozed off and by God's grace train moved that fateful day.

Due to hostel life I used to travel frequently and I have had "X"treme "X"periences with few "X"es . Oops Its sounding like my ex's ;-) . I meant some "X" again! Few Seniors who were strangers used to rag us in trains. Few random people used to ask random questions to which other than giving polite replies there was no escapade.  My book reading habit immensely increased due to my journeys and half of the credit goes to Xes! This is the only good outcome of the interaction with all those Xes.

Not all Xes are bad. Some Xes leave us in peace and are definitely not very nosy. Two days back I met a girl working in Wipro in my sleeper coach bus. She suddenly asked if I belonged to Hyderabad. As my experiences were not great in past I replied hesitantly. She initiated the conversation and we spoke a lot. Strangely I didn't get bored. We discussed job market , bench rate in IT companies , monotonous work , Infosys Vs Wipro and so on so forth.  She said as if she is giving an explanation that she is the only child and hence she talks a lot when ever she finds a person with whom she can talk. I smiled and said , "It's ok. I would have been bored . Good that I have company." We spoke little more and slept off. Mine was the first stop and hence had to bade good bye when I suddenly realised I didn't even ask her name. We hurriedly exchanged names and email ids :P 

I am sure I might not mail back but who knows we might bump in to each other. This is a small world of  X, Y, Zs.

Hence all the "X"periences were not scary and didn't lead to xenophobia. What are your "X"periences ? Are you Xenophilic or phobic ?

Do you usually talk when some "X" intrudes ?

X is interesting when you shed it and shift from XL to L.

X is not so interesting when you realise you have a fracture in the X-ray.

X can lead to disasters when even a single alphabet is misplaced in the X-chromosomal chain.

X again gets interesting when you know that Xerophilous plants are those which grow in deserts and in limited supply of water ;) This reminds we used to have a plant opuntia at home ages back. Its flowers are so welcoming even if it has thorns - The plant reflects "life" a lot :)

Good day!

Am so glad I finally found "X". This was much tougher than the algebraic equation :)

This is my 24th post for "A to Z blogging Challenge 2013" !