Falling Apart

Strong cold winds buffeted me and my head throbbed lightly from the ever faithful hangover as I stood at the roadside coffee vendor, sipping my morning dose of cheap caffeine. Impatient as always, I checked my watch. I had to sit down with my client in fifteen minutes and my friend was still not here. A drop of water fell on the crystal clear glass of my watch. I looked up.

The skies were heavy with clouds, it would rain soon.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves. It didn’t. The weather didn’t calm me like it used to before. Now it was just an element of a passing time. A time that was too slow in my bid to spend my life away. My mind wandered back to a day some years back, to a moment of sweet smell, long flowing hair and a happy laugh on a similar rainy day. Long back, when time wasn’t so slow. Maybe time is getting older like me. I smiled despite my irritation at my friend who had gone on a ‘bass paanch minute’ drive.

The Guardian

Dusk had moved on, and now night had caught up with us when we got to the snacks stall we frequented most days. The vendor, knew our orders and preferences by our faces now, and served us before other waiting customers. We obviously loved the treatment! As we sat down on our parked scooters, I noticed a small girl, not more than ten years old,  standing all alone and talking on one of those fake mobile phone toys for kids. She smiled, and swerved her hips and legs, drawing semicircles on the ground  as you would see girls in movies do when talking over the phone, and she kept up a continuous stream of excited chatter. Ample pauses were given for her imaginary friend to respond, and what must have been apt reactions to her friend's responses followed. I grinned at this, not everyday you saw a sight like this! A kid in the middle of the road talking unabashedly over a toy phone! I showed her to my friend and  he too couldn't help smile. God, joy is infectious to us humans!  But drawn by our more basic desires, we turned our attention to the smoking hot plate of pakoras in our hands. If you concentrated hard enough maybe you could have seen the steam lift the aroma of the food along with it and make a straight course to my nostrils, it made my stomach groan and mouth water.

The Aura of Life

I had slugged through the night, moving in and out of consciousness and had somehow managed to finish my chapter on Auditing (except of course the few things you detest to your core and don't touch no matter how desperate the exam attempt) by, what I like to think must have been the first light of dawn. And the joy and satisfaction of a week long endeavor having finally reached its conclusion made me rush out of the 24X7 library to stretch my legs and get  some fresh air.