Smitten – Part 1

 

 

“Here we are again” he muttered to himself, waiting at the bus stop.

Another day, another morning in this city. Samarth was in his usual blues, inside and outside.

“Why do they call it Monday blues anyway?” he asked Ranil, who patiently waited for his ride. “It’s not like it gets any better on a Wednesday!”

“OK, firstly calm down. It’s just a bunch of people waiting for a bus. And why are you so grumpy so early in the day?” asked Ranil, in his trademark calm manner.

“Why?? Are you really asking me why I’m grumpy?” blurted Samarth. “The same reason all of these people are. The same sick jobs, the same routines, the same bus routes. Everyone is sick of it. A bus comes in, and a chasm opens in a squeal and dozens of people get off. And a dozen more get in. And it squeals and gets moving again, a hundred times each and every day. They all hate it.”

“No Sam, I think you’re speaking about yourself. Relax, the bus is here” Ranil says, as he walks towards it.

Sam follows suit after a shrug. There’s not much one can do about it anyway. It seems to be the same everywhere, he assured himself. The bus starts to move before Sam could get on board. To avoid missing it, he gets in through the front door instead of the center like Ranil did.

“Late again, Sir?” the driver quipped.

“Yes Uncle”, he smiled weakly and headed towards when Ranil was standing. The driver smirked, not taking the ‘Uncle’ comment too well.

“He knows I’m usually late? The bus driver? Of a public bus? How routine has my life become?” he muttered, and stumbled towards the center.

As he walks through, a light perfume titillated his senses. He couldn’t look at the face, but he managed to see that she was wearing an orange chudidar.

“You’ll never change, will you?” smiled Ranil, as he placed a hand over Sam’s shoulder.

Sam wasn’t listening. He was trying to see the girl that he had just passed.

“Orange, orange… Orange!” he exclaimed as he saw her.

Dressed in a simple orange hued chudidar, she was holding the overhead handle grip that all buses seem to have. A maroon-watch strap adorned an adequately fair hand, that was partly covering her face. She was wearing glasses, not very thick rimmed but enough to notice that they were a regular pair. Light blue and quite unlike any frame he had seen before. Unique design, he thought. Her eyes lit up now and then as she spoke, and he could see her eyes smile when her companion said something funny. Even from across this space and despite his morning blues, he could have argued that they were the most gorgeous pair of eyes he’d seen in a long time.

She lowered her hand to gesture to her friend about something. Sam gasped in awe as he saw her now. She wasn’t the most beautiful woman he had seen. But there is a charm that some women exude that is quite incomparable to any beauty, ever. She was that and more. Simple, classy, exuberant and charming, he could go on in his rant describing her in his head. Ranil was talking to Sam all this while but not one word had gone through.

“In the most unlikely of places, one finds inspiration” he said out loud, forgetting where he was.

“Sam, what’s the matter with you?” said Ranil as he tugged at his hand.

“What?”

“You’re weirder than usual today dude. Is everything ok?”

“Yes, everything’s fine. They just got better” he said, and smiled at Ranil.

“Ok, good. Our stop is the next one. Stop daydreaming for some time”

“I’m getting down this early?” he thought in a mix of surprise and anxiety. Every morning, he would spend the drabbest 30 mins of his day on this journey to the office. And yet today, it seemed to have gone by in a flash.

A train of thoughts ran through his head now. How will I remember her when I see her the next time? Her glasses, never seen anything like it. Her smile; and that laughter that seemed to have been sponsored by the who’s-who of the Indian Dental Association, perfect in every way. He knew he couldn’t forget her for quite some time.

‘Will she remember me? Has she even seen me?’ he wondered.

But the time for questions was done. The bus screeched to a halt. Ranil tugged at his arm to get down as Sam reluctantly alighted the bus. He kept looking through the large, lightly-tinted windows to see her again. She was still busy in conversation with her friend.

 

…

(To be contd.)