by Vani Shiroor

Created on: October 04, 2008   Last Updated: October 06, 2008

An Episode

It all started on a foggy morning. Even her mind seemed all foggy with what had happened the previous day. Tara's mind raced back to the series of events that took shape at a fast pace. There she was, standing at a bus stop early in the morning. Hoping to avoid the heat of the sun she decided to take that first bus which seemed to be cooler than the afternoon buses. The humid moonsoon heat was making her sweat even so early in the morning. The bus stop was covered with the puddles from the in-frequent rains which left behind nothing but muddy paths, filthy vehicles and thirsty lakes. The monsoons that year were insufficient for that metropolitan city. She was a school teacher dressed in her best cotton sarree starched and ironed especially for this day. She had saved up on her meagre salary since a year to buy that blue cotton sarree which she had eyed on another cold winter day a year back. That was another reason she wanted to get to her school fast that day. Before the crowd kicked in and stampled all over her treasured possession. She knew she would have to wait another whole year to get another sarree just like that one.

Wiping the trickles of sweat on her forehead with her neatly folded hand kercheif, she looked at her watch which was yet another thing she treasured. It was her favorite wrist watch her dad gifted to her, a couple of years ago when she was venturing out to live on her own as an independent woman, following her dreams. That watch reminded her of the dreams her Pa and she had weaved together on the river bank in their home town. It reminded her never to forget what her real dream was. To become a special somebody in the cut throat world of lot of common people. She still had a long way to reach there whereever that was. But, with the wrist watch holding her hand, she knew she would get there safely someday. While there was still time for her bus to arrive, she decided to take a walk down the sidewalk. Or not. She might loose her spot in the line. May be, she thought, she could sit down on the bench behind her. But then voted against it thinking of the dirt and the crumple that would settle on her brand new possession. Her beloved outfit.

She was thankful in a way, it didn't seem like it would rain that day. Atleast she wouldn't have to restartch her sarree. Just while she was so involved in finding ways to safegard her new acquasition, her eyes got stuck on another passenger in line who absolutely seemed out of place. He was a handsome

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