She felt relieved walking down the street heading for work on a Saturday morning. It meant that she will be spared the usual drama that unfolds on most weekends. The endless scraping and mopping of floor, piles of clothes lying in the corner demanding a wash, variety of dishes to be cooked for breakfast, lunch, dinner and her attention-seeking mother-in-law. Priya was glad that this morning will be nothing like the usual Saturdays. She hopped in on the first available bus and set off. The buses in this city were bigger than the ones back home, she loved to commute through them. The roads were broad and better and she loved the pleasant chill in the air here. This was probably the only thing which gave her some satisfaction in life apart from the busy working hours she usually had at her work. She tuned in to the radio on her phone to her favorite station and relaxed to the beats of familiar music.
The morning sun felt warm against her skin and slowly her mind drifted off again to a different world. A world that consisted only of herself and her thoughts. She would stare blankly at random things and think for hours most of her time trying to make sense of the differences in people, their opinions, beliefs and would eventually form her own base of thoughts. Her marriage gave her a new angle of looking at things, now that she was detached from the feeling of love she took off the rose-tinted looking glasses and saw things in a different light. She now had time enough to ponder over things which were unimportant before.
As the bus screeched to a halt she realized her stop has come. Getting off the bus she greeted Sheena waiting at the bus-stop. Sheena welcomed her with a warm hug. It’s been over a year since they have known each other but for them they were beyond friends, they were soul-sisters.
Sheena greeted her smiling: “How does it feel to be out of that cage on a Saturday?”
“Well today I am a free bird. Let’s discuss the plan. I told them I will be held up in office the whole day, so practically we have more than half of the day to roam about” – Priya replies with a wink.
“Let’s finish this training first and then we will go catch up with few of my school friends at the pub near-by.”
“And you think you can take me to a pub dressed like this?”
“Why do you always get so conscious Priya? You look well no matter what you wear. Your attitude is your best attire. However if you are still uncomfortable I will get you dressed in my jeans and a tee.”
“You know it’s not only about my clothes Shi” Priya retorts. “I have never entered a pub in my life. I would just make a fool out of myself sitting there among your friends. You can go ahead with your plan, I will just go back home and say that the training was cancelled.”
“Hey now, relax. Well then we are not going to the pub. We will decide once we are done here. Okay?” – Sheena says taking control of the situation.
Priya looks genuinely relaxed and heads to the rest-room.
Sheena watches her vanish behind the rest-room door with an understanding smile. She knows that Priya has put in a lot of effort to get where she stands today. When she first met her she was mesmerized by Priya’s beauty but was surprised at the same time to learn how little confidence she had in herself. Priya would mostly keep to herself which most people interpreted as her arrogance. However slowly as they got talking Sheena realized that Priya’s silence was her fear of the world. She has literally seen her world topple upside down in a matter of six months right after she got married. A nagging husband was just like a cherry on the top. Sheena knew Priya would still need sometime to come back to terms with the world and she decided to be with her during this journey.
The training ended in 3 hours post which they headed to the nearest mall for lunch. After lunch Sheena decided to do some shopping, followed by a walk in the nearest park. They talked and talked for several hours about the most random things in the world. Finally as evening dawned Priya picked up her bag halfheartedly from the bench.
Priya: “Thank you so much for spending the day with me Sheena. You might not realize but this indeed was like my day of freedom.”
“Now are you really thanking me??” Sheena pouts.
“No, I don’t mean to offend you but really I have never had a day all by myself in the last three years of my stay here. So I am grateful to have such a day and the fact that I could spend it with you.”
Sheena hugs her tight and releasing her from her embrace gives a quick peck on the cheek.
“Don’t forget to change your bus at Alpha depot, take the bus number 9 from there to your stop.” Sheena says waving back at her from the bus-stop. Priya smiles and waves back as the bus lurches forward.
The return journey in the bus is not very enjoyable. As the city comes to life the weekenders stray out of their homes to relax with friends and family after 5 days of continuous work. The bus is overly- crowded so she has to stand on a corner near the door. As the bus comes to a halt in the traffic signal Priya eyes a family on a bike. A couple and two children, one of them carrying a balloon, the other a toddler sitting on the lady’s lap who is sitting in the back seat. The lady has her arm placed on her partner’s shoulder. Priya smiles a sweet smile thinking of her time as a kid when father would take her out on Sunday mornings to the market. She would buy toffees of her choice over the counter, examine groceries father would buy at shops and extend her hands like the wings of a bird in the backseat of the scooter as her father rode back home under the summer sun. It aches to think how she always wanted a guy just like her father for herself but on the contrary how her hopes got crushed.
She came out of her reverie as people started alighting at Alpha depot. She got off the bus and stood under the terminal roof to take the next bus to her stop. She stood there for almost 15 minutes yet no bus showed up. As she took a seat on the nearest bench she noticed a physically disabled man standing on the platform. It looked like the right side of his body had very small and lean limbs. She noticed his worn down crutch held under the arm and how he moved with great difficulty with the remaining usable limbs. His sweat drenched clothes stink a little and his unkempt hair was sun-dyed. Her heart swelled with sympathy for the invalid. She thought to herself that in-spite of her troubles how lucky she still was to be independent, to walk freely, that no crutch was holding her up supporting her.
She rummaged through her bag and fished out a Rs. 50. She approached the man and held out the money for him to take it. The man stared back at her with an expression she couldn’t read for a few seconds and then slowly it dawned on her that he was not a alms-seeker. Through the corner of her eyes she noticed a worn out bag hanging by his able-arm containing things and a few papers popping out. Suddenly she realized the blunder she made and gazed at the man’s direction. She expected him to glower with anger and she knew she would deserve every word he says, for she has insulted him beyond any man’s self-esteem. However he just smiled an understanding smile and boarded the bus number 9 which just entered the terminal.
Priya couldn’t feel the ground beneath for a few moments, she went back to sit on the bench as the bus pulled away. The man’s smile felt like a slap on her perspective. She was remorseful and she hated herself at that moment. It was then she realized that there was something wrong in the way she was looking at life.
The situations in life are what we make of them, we can either accept defeat and take it to be our fate or we can agree to live with it and try to make life better irrespective of its presence. As the night sky twinkled with a thousand stars Priya realized that she has been a prisoner of her own mind. She viewed the man’s life the way she viewed her own, full of self-pity. However he didn’t pity himself for his condition probably that is reason why he could still smile back at her. With this revelation the next 9 number pulled up at the terminal. Slowly she got up wiping away a tear of gratitude towards the man who just taught her a very simple yet a life-changing lesson. And in the distant sky the moon slowly peeked out of the cottony cloud and lit up the darkness around her.