I had an immediate urge to ask "क्या टूटा?" (What's the new thing that broke?) in a very slanderous tone - making fun of the situation and also in effect belittling the other person for an accident that no one wanted to happen. I stopped because Amit, whose house we were in, rushed to the kitchen and asked Alpana "कहीं लगी तो नहीं?". (I hope you did not get hurt!)
I felt ashamed of myself.
Throughout my growing years, this was possibly the first time I had encountered such an emotionally intelligent response to an accident like this. I realized that I now have a choice - between the regular response that I had been used to and the new response that I just experienced... Now I consistently choose the latter...
A realization also dawned. That at times people who we work with don't even know that they have choices available - because they are never exposed to the alternate responses. So, when we are not happy about the way someone is 'reacting' in a situation, we would do a lot of good by simply 'proacting' in the same situation and demonstrating a response that a 'transition person' would give. Others will automatically accept the new way to respond sooner or later and be thankful to you :-).
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