Late in the afternoon

It happened on one of those days, you don’t really expect much. Not because you’ve suffered recent relationship-losses or something else of that manner, but for the precisely cynical reason that it will. I sometimes call it a summer late-in-the-noon realization (cause that is when it usually occurs).

 

I boarded a bus to the marketplace, which is pretty far off from where I live. It was like any other Indian bus, the most elegant feature of which is, not its colour or a particular make or a blazing radio, but its crowdedness. So unfortunately I had to stand my way through the distance. My eyes wandering, as they usually are when you can’t relax them for the simple reason that no one would allow you to, fell on 2 long fingers, moving in semi-circles with a pencil, planting sketches on the piece of paper held below. She, the girl with those fingers, was sitting right in front of me. And yet absorbed in a completely different world (the one you use your daydreaming-boarding passes for). I watched her for quite a while. The sketch wasn’t clearly visible as the sunrays slanted in a weird angle over it. But I saw her tear it and start anew. Once more the same time interval and the tearing part again. It was the third time when she got really consumed and took about 20 minutes, after which she had a amused yet content look in her weakly-hazel eyes. And then all of a sudden, she looked up, held the sketch up and smiled at me. I was stumped for even an expression. It was her face and I was in a double bind as to which one to look at - God’s or hers? Finally, after several cloud fly-bys maybe, I raised a thumb. And just then, to my utter disbelief, she snapped it again. I couldn’t stop as the words rolled outta my tongue – “what the hell was that for?”

 

She, in the most none-of-your-business like eyes, looked at me and said, “I was just relaxing”. “But…..” She cut across me, “If I had kept it, it wouldn’t have helped me relax some other day – I don’t want to make it precious”. The unspoken sentence hung in the air - I don’t want to lose it, and since I will, why keep it?

 

With all number-exchanging mood dead, I stepped off the bus, bidding her goodbye with an odd-because-awed smile. A friend of mine had been waiting for me. I walked with him to the gadget store I had set off for, but I realized I wasn’t with him. My mind was still perplexed, or bemused would be the word to use. It was an mp3 player I had come here for. And now suddenly, the desire came down crashing in front of my eyes. I didn’t want it now. My mate tried talking me out of it, but I had made up my mind. A coffee and some snacks later, the sun was running down, with a moon climbing up. It was time to leave. But before we did, he couldn’t help but ask, “what’s wrong with you man? Silent and all-confused? Didn’t even do what you’d spanned the entire city for? What happened?”

I don’t know where the answer came from, but before we parted, I calmly whispered – “I didn’t want to make it precious” Good night. Sweet…..nah don’t dream too much!!