That Known Stranger.

Pondering over her broken relationship, there she was, sitting on hard concrete at the side of queen’s necklace staring blankly at the Malabar Hill skyline.
‘What went wrong? Why did he choose her over me? Was I not good enuff for him?’
She blamed herself. She blamed him. She blamed the other girl. These multitude of emotions, in form of pearl shaped teardrops trickled down her rosy cheeks.

That warm southwestern breeze that blew over Mumbai’s neckline ..marine drive, every evening, was flowing over hers, comforting her.. like a guardian, wiping those tears off her face, guiding them towards the clouds.Immortalizing them.

                                           

“Hey!” She heard someone call. She didn’t turn around.She was too immersed in her own thoughts.The voice didn’t give up.. got nearer.. “Hey you!”

She felt someone poking gently on her back.That single touch reminded her of him all over again. All those thoughts clouding her mind. Her heart expected it to be him. She turned around.. not realizing that her eyes were still filled with sadness..and tears…

It wasn’t him.

“Hey! Shivangi!.. Whoaa! Dude you okay there? Or did I bother you amidst of admiring the beauty of marine drive a bit too much? Like a true poet that you are!”

She managed a questioning smile. She couldn’t really recognize who he was, though he seem to recognize her pretty well.

She was here to have some privacy, away from her friends, family..trying to find solace amongst the crowd. interestingly, she felt an unknown comfort with this ‘known stranger'. Though ‘leave me alone’ would have been her first response to any human contact, deeply within.. she knew she yearned for it.

“You know what, wait here.. I will be back in a few. OK?” He ran away from her with his back pack  in his hand, towards the streets.

He was already on the other side of the road, before she could nod a ‘yes’.. or for that matter respond anything to him.

She had lost herself again in her thoughts.. but this time facing towards the traffic, her thoughts passing in her mind.. like the cars passing her field of vision.

She looked across the streets.Blankly.Didn’t even notice when he got back.

“Hey missy!” He poked her again, this time it felt plastic. It was plastic. A bottle of drinking water and..
“A chocolate cake?!” She exclaimed.
He smiled contently and nodded.. This was the first thing she had uttered throughout this ‘meet’.

“Water.. to rehydrate your tear glands, and chocolate to.. well you don’t require a reason to eat chocolate do ya now!”  Grinning happily, he placed both the bottle and the cake besides her.

She was confused, her mind doing a sinusoidal breakdance. Her eyes being glued to the cake. There were memories, awful lot of them related to chocolate cakes, which triggered another mind storm of emotions.She resisted this time, holding back her tears and looked up to thank him.

He was gone.

She couldn’t hold back any more.. she sobbed. But this time comforted not just by the breeze but by this weird gesture by some ‘known stranger’..

Meanwhile in the mind of that ‘Known stranger’:
”Sale paisa kya tere baap ke pass jyada hoyela hai kya.. chala ladkiyon ko cake khilane..
Usne toh sale tuzhe ‘Thanks’ bhi nahi bola.. Cake fhekh diya hoga  Arabian sea mein.
Pura deen se bhukha tu tha..aur cake diya usko.. Logic ki barabar ma behen lagake aya
Shabaash!”