This very act took me years. The physical act of sitting down and typing out the words. Once, frustrated by my utter lack of activity during the entire vacation, save to either get another book or a pack of juice my father had asked me, "What happens after you read all the books ?" Being an engineer he couldn't help but wonder that on the occasion of input there must be some output. I really had no response to that . So, as usual I went back to Lata and her mother's determined search to find a suitable boy .
But alas, I could not remain in that momentum for ever . Things happen and one needs to express that out loud . To friends who give you a patient ear inspite of it being the most inconvenient of times . Or your sibling , who doesn't really have much of a choice. Or by finally typing it out.
Meeting new people is irritating and at times exhausting . Its even more so when the new people start discovering they cannot pigeon hole the person across . That lead to awkward conversations and strained silences. That is usually my situation . I rather take refuge within a book than to make idle chit chat .
And then on one ride back home from the office on a Monday evening no less, she sees someone and he actually offered her a seat . Not to sound cynical but yes, her faith in the human race has been diminishing and its very good to be reminded once in a while that all's not lost . Not yet.
HE smiles at her and she returns his smile . Both of them then go back to their respective companions. She to Kamala Das's autobiography and he to Hemingway's Old man and the sea. She sees the book in his hand and immediately wants to discuss the book she had last read in school but has no clue how to initiate a conversation with a complete stranger.
The passing of tentative smiles go on for a few minutes and the the metro comes to the final destination . Since Bangalore has 6 metro stations to begin with, the ride is much shorter than she would have liked. She notices he had dropped his earphones, picks them up and returns them . He gives her a smile and thanks her profusely . Then he tries to talk to her , but she is so wrapped up in getting out of the station that it doesn't even register . After a full twenty seconds when she realises that he is far behind .
If only .... She was not in her head so much ...She has the guts to go back and talk to him ... How often do you come across Hemmingway reading geek ? She hadn't .
So here is to another day ..another chance ....another metro ride...and those crucial twenty seconds.
