The main tool that the personal bubble is created with is the revered earpiece.
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The walkers’ morning routine begin only after they firmly don their headphones or earphones. As soon as the gadgets are on, a virtual bubble is formed with the song defining its boundary. As they hit the road, they are consciously restricted to the bubble, and these invisible zones around them are countless as they pass by a dozen people just like them down the road, timing their footsteps to their songs and blissfully unaware that they are not alone in their sojourn.
On a typical morning walk, I myself find music to be an unobtrusive companion that pushes me to maintain my stride. The same song plays at the same time at the same place I walk through daily, and it isn’t surprising that I inevitably meet the same people. Walkers and runners like myself are nothing but strangers to each other, content in their state of unfamiliarity and living in their personal musical bubbles.
The bubble often blocks out the outside world that seeks to engage with the individual in the form of greetings from friends or acquaintances. The beats of the song firmly reinforce the personal bubble, allowing no cracks to appear in the invisible dome as one runs down the same road, oblivious to the call from a friend they just passed by. What could have been a break in a mundane morning routine continues as a ritual that seems to demand a sacrifice — a chance to interact with a tangible world distinct from the melody-induced one.
However, music is only a catalyst to the creation of a personal space, and does not isolate the walker by itself. The main tool that the personal bubble is created with is the revered earpiece, and as a friend mentioned in passing, there need not be any music playing through it. The very appearance of the device points to a need for a personal sphere, which fellow walkers know better than to violate.
A personal space that transports the walker to another realm, either one of silent reflection, or one with virtual interactions with those not physically present with us on our walk, is what the earpiece creates.
As I take in my surroundings on a mundane evening stroll, I realise that an elderly man’s earphones transport him to a comforting era of 1980s movie hits. A college student runs by, her headphones transmitting life lessons from the fitness influencer she idolises.
A young working professional jogs along, his earpiece connecting him with his parents living on the other side of the world. While these random individuals are brought closer to the people they are unable to physically be with, they are taken away from the people who actually are with them.
Published – June 01, 2025 04:28 am IST