An island of calmness amidst the hustle

I came out on the first floor and walked outside. It was lunchtime, and there were so many people wearing tags with logos of different companies. I looked at the gang of girls walking ahead of us—two people among them were talking to each other, and the rest were giving their ears and sometimes their voices to the conversation.  

On the right side, one guy was walking toward us alone, with a poker face. behind me there were so many mre groups, walking around the big courtyard post lunch. It's rare to see people walking alone here; most are either with others or engaged in conversation over the phone.  

I approached the railing at the end of the courtyard. People were standing there in groups, talking to each other. Some groups were formed based on people working in the same company and speaking the same language; other groups were based on people working on the same projects. Language-based groups seemed to be talking more, while project-based groups defaulted to English, and the pace of conversation was slower. It looks like it's easier to talk to another person in one's mother tongue rather than in any other language.  

I noticed this among friends and colleagues whose mother tongue is different from mine. When I am involved in the conversation, topics are a bit harder to come by and end faster. However, if I am doing something else, the same groups have a lot more to discuss. People seem to be happier and louder while speaking in their mother tongue.  

However, this is not the case with kids in our apartment complex. They talk to each other in fluent English, and there seems to be no shortage of topics. Probably, they are more comfortable with English since they started with it—unlike people like me, who switched to it because of work and moving to a new city.  

Coming back to walking, there was a long moment of disconnect from everyone around me. What am I doing here? Do I feel any connection with anyone nearby? Maybe not. It's like an island of calmness (or maybe nothingness) in the middle of a crowd. I'm not sure whether that is something to be enjoyed, but it is what I am feeling at the moment.  

Sajeev