Ramesh used to stand at the bus stop every morning to go to the office. He had a habit of observing people around him before the bus arrived because he believed that every face in the world was part of some story.
That day too, there was a crowd at the bus stop. Then a woman came and stood there. A light breeze passed by, and the sound of her bangles reached Ramesh’s ears. Without realizing it, he looked towards her, and at the same moment, the woman also looked at him.
And just like that… their eyes met.
Ramesh got nervous and immediately started looking around as if nothing had happened. But deep inside, he worried that the woman might think he was staring intentionally.
The woman also felt a little uncomfortable and adjusted her scarf. A child standing nearby whispered after watching this, “Uncle, it looks like a love story has started.”
Ramesh glared at the child, signaling him to stay quiet.
Meanwhile, the bus arrived, but the crowd was so heavy that boarding was difficult. Ramesh and the woman ran towards the same door and suddenly stopped after seeing each other.
The woman smiled and said, “You go first.”
Ramesh replied, “No, you go first.”
The bus conductor shouted, “Hurry up and get in, the bus will leave soon.”
Finally, both of them boarded the bus together and found standing space in the same corner.
While the bus moved with jerks on the road, sometimes Ramesh looked at the woman, and sometimes he looked out of the window. The woman also sometimes looked at her bag and sometimes at the busy world outside.
Suddenly, their stop arrived, and the woman got down.
While leaving, she smiled lightly and said, “We will meet again.”
Ramesh kept standing inside the bus and thought that although their eyes met at the bus stop, the courage to speak stayed behind at the stop itself.
People in the neighborhood say that sometimes love begins at the bus stop and keeps waiting there forever.
RAJEEV VERMA 