It was 1st November and i got stuck up in DAKC with
my access card issue. It was almost 10.30 pm by the time I swiped out. The hunger
seemed to have vanished and all I wanted was to drag myself to my flat and make
a crash landing on bed. The weather too seemed a little foggy and dusty.
I could easily feel every step I took because my new
leather shoe was torturing my ankles with excruciating pain. My walking stance
changed to a limping one after some time.
It’s almost 2 weeks that I had joined DAKC. It was
just what i had dreamed of "to work in a big company both capital wise and
campus wise." I never thought that shifting here from Delhi would be so
easy because language and cultural difference were the prominent fears that I
had while landing here. One thing that I really liked about this city was its
awesomeness. The evenings are equally chaotic as the morning calmness. The long walk back to my flat from DAKC was a
lonely one this time and brought back the Delhi memories.
By this time
you could feel the mild winter chill crawling up your legs in Delhi but not
here. It’s just the same weather all the time. I was feeling sunken by it as I
stared down the maroon and yellow colored tiles of local station which I cross
daily to reach my flat.
So I thought that listening to some music would be a
better Idea to float from delhi thoughts. My face felt completely dry and life less dumped
under a layer dust. I took out my headphones and felt listening to radio music
might cheer me up. The song in the air was ‘phir se udh chal’ the ROCKSTAR song
and after a while something happened.
The tune of this song filled my lungs with oxygen. I
thought I wasn’t breathing until before that and then everything started
looking a bit brighter and clear. The more I breath the more thing began
shining. I looked up at the sky for the first time I could see the bright
yellow colored “M” of McDonalds on the background of dark blue night where the
moon seemed like a drop of light leaking through the roof of sky just about to
fall on earth.
It just hypnotized me and before I could realize I
was standing at the entrance of the restaurant were the red haired and yellow
pullover statue of the McDonalds guy sat in the middle of a bench smiling at
nothing. By the time I walked in it was
closing time and waiters were busy cleaning the chair and placing then over the
tables. My hungry stomach made me buy a McEgg and pepsi. The ambience was calm
and some song was playing in the background.
At one corner of the restaurant sat a couple. They
seemed newly married and supremely hungry as well. The lady was wearing a pink
kurti with puffy shoulder stitching very similar to what the 60’s heroines used
to wear. This is the best way I can explain it. She was wearing loads of silver
golden and red bangles in both her hands like a bride. She had narrow eyes and
they were sharply pointed at the outer edge like a knife. Her hairs were curly
and were bunched together like a bun. She had a frail and thin figure very
similar to a special portrait kept on the walls of my heart.
The man brought some burgers and sat in front of her
and they looked very similar to how we used to look. Felt like I was seeing
myself from the outside. The boy gave first bite of his burger to the girl and
so did the girl to boy. Both were smiling and the smile made their teeth
sparkle and the happiness just made her lips lusty red and formed dimples on
her cheeks. They went on eating and talking and laughing together. I don’t know
for how long I was staring at them but all seemed like a replay of a fragmented
event from my memory. The events of Rajiv Chowk blindsided my vision as I got
carried away by them. Smiling and remembering those days. I never knew when
they left but I was still starring at that corner and smiling like a stupid.
By the time I came back to myself my burger was
stone cold and the melted ice made my Pepsi very dilute and tasteless. There
was absolutely nothing in my mind at that moment just shire happiness. And the
moment I stepped out of McDonalds and starred up towards the white droplet of
light in sky only one sentence came in my mind
“MISS YOU MAM”.
It transformed the happiness in my mind into a big
smile on my face. It brought a gush of cold fresh air into my lungs and this
just made my vision fresh and clear as I started my journey back to my flat
with headphones in my ears and listening to radio. The only difference this
time was now there was a hop in my walk.
HAPPY DIWALI TO ALL MY READERS
hope you leave a comment on this article too.
