Rishtey...

Haven’t you come across strangers, who at the very first glance seem so known? Haven’t you made friends with people whom you never exchanged even a single word… just a smile or a nod maybe. Some people whom you see daily but don’t know who they are, and then suddenly the fade away but you never forget them. This story is dedicated to all such strangers who have been close to my heart.

I wake up early at the sound of my annoying alarm and then push my blanket away unwillingly. My bed keeps screaming and asking me to not leave him alone. My pillow calls me back and the blanket weeps to be thrown away. But after this initial daily motion of 5-10 minutes, I finally get up, put my snoozing alarm to rest, brush my teeth then my hair, gear up in my jogging suit and out I am in the fresh air. I can breathe the freshness of the mornings. The best part of the day; sun shining and not burning, birds chirping and not tweaking, Bicycles riding and no bikes racing and most importantly people smiling not sulking. I don’t have a particular route, I go where my feet take me. Usually a 4 km round and then some stretching in the park in my society. The jog is mostly a pleasant affair, except when some wild dogs make you run for your life or ghosts from some scary movie from last night haunt you and you feel they are following you. Some fast music quickens my pace and keeps me going. Finally when I enter the park I am always welcomed with a smile. Smile by a middle aged lady, she is present everyday at the park. We exchange a smile, a nod and then I start my exercise. She takes rounds of the park walking. We two have known each other for almost an year now. I note her expressions daily, at times she has a persistent tension on her face, that day she even walks faster than usual. At times, she seems to be too tired. Mostly she is jovial and smiling. I noticed a bandage on her hand once, out of curiosity I asked “hey hope everything is allright”, she replied smiling “ Oh this, no no everything is fine, I just burnt my hand in the kitchen, it will be ok in a few days”. If I bunked my regime, she would definitely ask me the next day. If she did not, I would think that even she was a defaulter. We had a cordial mutual relation, that of perfect strangers. We never bothered to ask each other whereabouts or names. It was just as if we existed in some parallel worlds which meet in the mornings.

                At times she would get her cute little daughter along. She would run around singing “ring-a-ring-a-roses” and keep plucking flowers and presenting it to random people in the park. Her name was Roma, must be 4 years old; Pretty girl. At times she would come with an aged woman. Once she did not come for one whole week. When she did, she had a sad long face. When I asked “all ok?”, she replied, “my mother-in-law(that aged lady) passed away.” I gave my condolences and carried on my routine.

                Today it has been more than a month, she has not showed up. For a few days I kept thinking of reasons that would have kept her from coming. Reasons like a vacation, maybe ill health, maybe her daughter is sick. I used to say a small little prayer for her well being. I imagine her warm smiling face every morning. We were strangers, yet I had some connection with her. I felt wanted in the park as if someone was waiting. I went prepared with a reason if I missed my walk any day. I liked meeting her.

It has been more than six months now. Well she might have shifted to a new city or a new locality maybe. Shouldn’t she have informed me? I wish we exchanged more than a smile. I wish I knew who she was, for she surely was a comforter. Some cosmic force or human nature, we were strange friends. I so dearly wish we would meet again, in the park on the road, somewhere, sometime and this time I would surely introduce myself. I wish she is still in this universe.