…Locals, Mumbai and Me.

The sky was clouded. Standing at the door of the moving local train, one arm around the centre-pole and the other arm on my waist, I must have easily passed on as a king riding on his chariot. The first class of the local was unusually free and so the door was all mine. I turned around and checked what Bandana was up to; to find out that she was busy sleeping. As it would be inhuman to wake her up, I decided to enjoy the wind that rushed past as the train moved. Suddenly, everything around sounded like a pack of marbles, let off the highest end of a sloped surface. Noisy not just beacuse of the heavy wind, but also because of the lifeoutside: Slums and slum dwellers, hawkers and kids playing, lighting fire crackes, yelling machliwalis and train honking. Crass cacophony.

The train ran through a major part of Chembur station and halted. A couple of old grandmas checked in the compartment and a few giggling girls got off the train. The first-class men’s compartment was unusually full. As the train picked up speed, i was again, lost in thoughts. Sometimes it’s in my habbit to stare at people’s faces but think about what I should be eating that evening. It is not a grave mistake or anything but it just makes that person stare back at you, interested (if it is a guy) or make a ‘this-girl-is-so-weird’ face (if it is a girl, woman). The womenfolk end up thinking that I am desperate for their attention. Ha! That’s going to be the last thing to happen with me!

I was thinking about the wind, and remembering home and the wonderful food (can’t give up food even in my thoughts) when I suddenly realized that I was actually staring at a guy in the gent’s compartment as the thoughts climbed in and out of my mind. He seemed amused and obviously was. Which guy would miss such an event? A girl, a good-looking one (Ok, cut it!) is staring at you- what is more pleasing for a guy who must be tired after a long day’s work? He literally caught me red-handed and he began staring back at me. I tried to evade his eyes, but it suddenly struck me, that I had met this guy somewhere. He looked very familiar and yeah of course he was gorgeous. While I suddenly cut the eye-to-eye conversation from him, I was racking my brain, and my memory finally had to give up, ‘gayatri, we are sorry. This guy’s face seems to elude us’. So, for a confirmation I looked back at him to analyse his face. Seriously, I had met this guy before but didn’t know where. And then, something caught my attention.

… Will continue…

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