~ GenNext Girl…~

She came with a whim and ignoring all of the customers standing in the shop turns her head to look out for the refrigerator. Quickly she finds one and by saying “excuse me uncle” , he addresses me with a smile. Turning my head, I acknowledge her etiquettes and give her a space to open up the refrigerator – she quickly picks up her favorite drink – a can of “Coke” and closes the door and heads towards the paying counter.

Sliding through all of us, she confidently asks the shopkeeper and thus speaks only two words which makes all other customers turn their heads and look towards her …” Uncle, Scanner hai?”, she is certainly not an attention seeker but her gesture makes us all give her a captivating look.

The shopkeeper quickly puts forward the PayTM scanner with a smile and also with a sense of intrigue to see how this 11–12-year-old girl will pay for a can of “Coke” she had picked from the outside refrigerator. The girl is in a hurry and quickly scans the PayTM scanner and pays the requisite amount.

Two aunties standing by the counter see all this happening and are feeling a little outdated, as they were not accustomed to the new pay method and were buying their goods in cash – the young girl had certainly made her point and quickly paid the shopkeeper and said “Thank You Uncle!”, turned around put her purchase in the bag she was carrying. Finally, she caught hold her of bicycle and confidently turned it around and paddling around she just vanished within no time!

All this happened in just a fraction of second, we all laughed and also hailed the confidence of such a small girl, who was all by herself and not escorted by any senior or parent – a rare sight in Delhi at this hour!

The shopkeeper was a little amused as he hardly gets such a cute customer quite often, the ladies were bemused with what they had seen, a little girl brimming with confidence and etiquette makes her mark and sets an example for many of us. One of the auntie could not stop her vocal chords and thus spoke “ Aaj kal di generation 😊 baut confident hegi hai, is chataki jahi kudi wal dekho! [today’s generation is very confident, just look at this young girl…] – her Punjabi accent was a perfect one liner made us all smile – but not before I giving her a soft reply  - “ Auntiji, zamane de naal chalna chahiyeda…eh generation apne time naal sahi hege ne…[ Aunty, we should be with the times, this generation is with the times..]…

We all had a final laugh before we took to our own chores, not before acknowledging todays event as trailor of things to come, I know she lives in the vicinity, looking forward to meeting her again…this time surely she deserve my kudos for the GenNext girl she is…