It was raining and Karthick was getting late. He wanted to get home as soon as possible and go to sleep. It had been a hard day at the office. The time was 8 PM already. He walked outside the office gate with his umbrella in hand and started walking towards the bus stand.
Karthick was a well built, tall, dark and broodingly handsome 23 year old who had recently got a job in a banking firm, The Standard Chartered. However, he was someone who lived for the future. He would think about his career growth (or the lack of it) and be sad about it. He constantly thought about how he would enjoy once he started growing in his career. How he would be able to get everything his heart desired, only if his salary grew to another level (don’t we all).
Karthick reached the bus stand and started waiting for the bus. The metropolitan bus service had a limited service after 8PM and so it could be some time before he would get the next bus. He was cursing his luck. He had volunteered for some work, hoping that his boss would notice him. However, the work had gone badly and it had taken him an extra hour to finally complete it. So, he was late.
As he was waiting for the bus, he saw a girl dressed in a white salwaar-kameez come towards him. It looked like some vision. It was as if an angel was floating towards him. He could almost see a halo on her head. He was entranced and kept on watching the figure as it came into focus. It was indeed a girl. She was not beautiful in the conventional sense of the word. However, if he had to describe her, he would say that she looked beyond beautiful. Her face had a smile of contentment and her eyes were full of joy as she was walking. She did not have an umbrella and was getting drenched by the minute.
It looked as if she was enjoying the rain; every step that she took seemed to be part of an elaborate dance. Every breath was in rhythm with the rain. Karthick’s stopped breathing for a moment. “Could such a creature exist? Did she not have a care in the world? Did she not think how to get past tomorrow? How to grow and gather more wealth? Did she not care about anything on earth? How could she look so unconcerned? How can she manage such a carefree smile?” Karthick Thought.
As she came closer, he offered her his umbrella. She laughed and said “no, thank you”. Her voice was like the tinkle of small bells. He was enchanted by it and wanted to listen more of it. She then started fiddling with her handbag. Her hand went inside it and out came a small stick. She seemed to say a spell and the stick began to grow before his eyes and it turned into an umbrella. He realized that it had been a foldable umbrella all along and that his mind was playing tricks with him.
He said “Hi” but his voice seemed to fail him. All he could manage to do is clear his throat. “Hi”, he finally managed to blurt out. “I am Karthick.” His voice was high pitched. He could not recognize it himself. He was surely getting nervous. “Hi, I am Meena”, said she with a small laugh. He was sure that Meena was laughing at him and his nervousness. However, he was too bewitched by her to care. “So”, he asked “What are you doing here alone in this rain?” The moment the words escaped him, he knew there would be a rebuff. He should never have asked such a personal question. He wished he was wiped off the face of the earth. “Oh! Said Meena, I have some urgent work in TNagar and I live here” said Meena. She was apparently not concerned about his question.
Just then he could see a bus coming along. Karthick couldn’t help cursing his luck. The moment he had wanted the bus, it had not come. And now that he wanted to stay and talk with this girl, the bus had to show up. He looked at the board. It was going to TNagar and not Tambaram (where he was headed). The bus stopped and without thinking Karthick too got onto the bus. He did not want to miss an opportunity to talk to fascinating Meena.
He was amazed at himself. He had been the only non geek in college not to have any girlfriends. He had never chased after girls in his life. He had been much too busy planning his future to care. However, this was different. He could feel it in his bones. He wanted to get to know Meena. He wanted to be with her. “Is it a case of love a first sight?” he wondered.He took the seat beside Meena hoping against hope that she would not object. She did not. He was amazed that she was so open. There was a smile on Meena’s face as she asked him “So how come you are here alone?” She was clearly teasing him. “Well I work here in The Standard Chartered. I am going back home.” He replied. “Oh! No, I hope she doesn’t ask where I live. If I tell her I live in Tambaram she will surely understand that I am on this bus just to be with her” he thought. Aloud he said “I am going to visit a friend in TNagar first before I go home.”
“I hope she accepts this explanation.” He thought. He could not bring himself to set eyes on Meena’s face again. He was sure that her smile by now would have been a frown. Then there was the noise of the small bells tinkling again. She was laughing. Apparently, she knew what was happening at once. He finally picked up the courage and looked up. She was not laughing at him. Her short giggle had been on seeing an elderly couple holding hands. She still had a large smile on her face while watching them.“I wish my life partner is as romantic.” She said. “So Karthick how is life at The Standard Chartered?” Karthick was taken aback at the question. Should he tell her the truth that his life was not going as he had planned or should he just lie his way out of the situation. He decided on the latter “Oh! It’s a great company. What with its sprawling campus and soaring stock prices. It’s a privilege to work there.” He hoped that it would impress her that he was working in a big company. He just hoped that she would not ask his designation. He was a Database Administrator.
“What do you do?” He asked just to steer the conversation clear of his company. “I am a teacher” Meena said and then turned to face the window. She was studying the rain intently. The joy in her eyes was palpable. It seemed to Karthick that she would enjoy being in the rains. Just then Karthick saw something that made his heart jump.
The bus windows had been covered with the Sunlight filters and he could see the reflection of Meena’s smiling face on the bus’s window. He could not take his eyes off the reflection. “Meena, How much do people earn by becoming a teacher?” I asked, still staring at the reflection.“Enough to make ends meet, Karthick. It does not matter how much you earn but how much you smile. I enjoy my work. I need to spend my entire day with children and I simply adore them. They are so small and cute that I enjoy my time at school. Thus I am happy that I get paid for doing something that I like.”
“What are you looking at in the window Karthick?” Karthick was stunned. “Oh No, I have been spotted. What do I tell her now.” “I like to watch myself in the window as I talk Meena. I want to study the ex-pressions I make.” Karthick answered, albeit not very convincingly.Before Meena could reply anything, the bus comes to a halt and the bus conductor calls out “TNagar! Last stop. Everybody get down.” The crowded bus empties into the streets of TNagar slowly. Meena turns to Karthick and says “Nice meeting you Karthick. Do drop by my school sometime. It is very near the The Standard Chartered campus.” “Sure!” Says Karthick “I will.”
“My house is just next to the school.” Says Meena and then suddenly as if the idea had just occurred to her, she says, “Why don’t you come by my house day after tomorrow? I am getting engaged. I would love to have you as a guest on that day.”
“Sure” said Karthick now looking less sure than ever and walked away to find his own bus to Tambaram.
