Small Moments

Small Moments

It was just another ordinary day. Go to college, come back home, study, eat and sleep. I hitched my bag higher up on my shoulder and fought through the crowd full of people to board the metro. Just another day full of ordinary moments, where I shut out my mind and stood in the midst of an overcrowded metro just hearing the faint outline of their voices. There is no point listening to their conversations which mostly centre around themselves. Or probably not. I don’t care.
But then it happens.
I suddenly see him. Just his jet black hair catches my eye first. Sitting on the far right hand corner reading a book. He’s wearing a blue denim jacket over a grey t-shirt. Black jeans and converses make him look quite ordinary.
But then he smiles at something in the book. A charming lopsided smile. And it almost stops my heart. I want to wait and watch him all day. I want to go there and make him acknowledge my presence.

But I can’t. With such a large crowd of people in between us I can only stand helplessly and stare. But then the impossible happens. He stands up and goes to the nearest exit door and I realize that we’ll be getting down at the same station.

As soon as the train stops, I clutch my bag tighter and hurry out the door behind him only to crash into a huge crowd of people getting into the metro. Dodging and pushing past people I try to follow him with my eyes. I cringe to get a better view, without making it seem obvious.

I say to the group of people before me ” Could you please move, I need to meet someone”
Someone who I can’t see says irritably “Be patient madam. We’re all in a hurry. There’s no point pushing past this crowd.” Someone always has to say practical things at moments like these. I just let out a sigh and turn back and crane my neck to see him.
I run up the stairs and out of the metro station and spot him on the opposite sidewalk. He’s walking now. His head bent low, he clutches the closed book in one hand and stuffs the other hand in his pocket.

But there’s a traffic crossing ahead. I have to move now. Or I’ll get run over, worse get stuck. I reach the foot where I saw him last and frantically search for him. But when I do see him, he’s gone far, far away. The lights turn green and the crossing becomes empty. The cars zoom past and the faces of the people blur as I stand there frozen in spot staring at the tiny speck of his figure until he disappears completely.

He’s gone. The extraordinary moment comes to an end and I am sucked back into the same mundane, boring cycle of life once again.

Picture Courtesy – Google Images