...Notes from my cell phone...(sometime in the month of June 2005).
Mumbai traffic provides you with enough time to look around- you want it or not! I looked at that dark young woman sitting on the triangular pavement, attired in a shabby blue worn out sari. Her head placed oddly over her crossed legs; messy hair covering half her face.
She seemed a bit irritable; her left hand went inside the dirty polythene lying next to her, groping frantically for something while she scratched the insides of her right ear with little finger. She finally found what she had been looking for-a ball pen refill. She put it inside her same ear n started scratching with it. I felt like telling her it could hurt. Imagine a guy with laptop getting out of auto-rickshaw and telling a beggar on the road that! I passed the idea. She seemed to enjoy it, itching does that to you. May be I should tell her that, why am I so conscious of what people think?
A small child slept peacefully next to her wearing a torn half shirt n nothing beneath. Was that her son? She suddenly looked up, straight at me n her eyes locked with mine. There was something hypnotic about them which held me on. For a beggar on the road that was quite some attitude. As easily she burst into a smile, embarrassing me. I quickly looked away. Does it matter who you ought to be –I guess the attitude is from within.
I stole a glance at her again, she took that refill n brushed it gently, teasingly on the sleeping child's bare legs causing him to shift uncomfortably in his sleep. I realized she couldn’t have been her mother .A mother would let her child sleep peacefully. He must have been her nephew or her younger brother or someone else's child she must have been keeping a watch on. I kept staring at her, waiting for the traffic to move on. She had dark but clear skin with sharp features, her smile was bright n eyes had a certain spark. She didn’t seem to be unhappy with life or begging on the roads. I started wondering what kind of life they must lead. What did things like education, sports, entertainment n marriage mean to her? She was perhaps aware I was still looking at her so with a sudden glance she caught me again. I decided to play along. Still with eyes fixed on me, she slightly shook her body in a way so as to let her palloo fall from the front, showing her ample cleavage. I have seen enough women do that in my lifetime...I couldn’t help noticing she had firm n young breasts. My eyes perhaps stayed there a wee bit longer than they should have. But her next reaction caught me completely off-guard. This time she giggled at my response n I could feel my cheeks turning red, but though embarrassed I couldn’t help grinning sheepishly. The traffic finally moved, her teasing image lingering in my head for a while...
In spite of all the hardships she endured, she found time to be playful, she had an easy smile n she had discovered the effect of her blatant youth on men n found that amusing rather than embarrassing...She was not, unlike most of us, trying, but actually found happiness in small things…having just a little harmless fun!
Mumbai traffic provides you with enough time to look around- you want it or not! I looked at that dark young woman sitting on the triangular pavement, attired in a shabby blue worn out sari. Her head placed oddly over her crossed legs; messy hair covering half her face.
She seemed a bit irritable; her left hand went inside the dirty polythene lying next to her, groping frantically for something while she scratched the insides of her right ear with little finger. She finally found what she had been looking for-a ball pen refill. She put it inside her same ear n started scratching with it. I felt like telling her it could hurt. Imagine a guy with laptop getting out of auto-rickshaw and telling a beggar on the road that! I passed the idea. She seemed to enjoy it, itching does that to you. May be I should tell her that, why am I so conscious of what people think?
A small child slept peacefully next to her wearing a torn half shirt n nothing beneath. Was that her son? She suddenly looked up, straight at me n her eyes locked with mine. There was something hypnotic about them which held me on. For a beggar on the road that was quite some attitude. As easily she burst into a smile, embarrassing me. I quickly looked away. Does it matter who you ought to be –I guess the attitude is from within.
I stole a glance at her again, she took that refill n brushed it gently, teasingly on the sleeping child's bare legs causing him to shift uncomfortably in his sleep. I realized she couldn’t have been her mother .A mother would let her child sleep peacefully. He must have been her nephew or her younger brother or someone else's child she must have been keeping a watch on. I kept staring at her, waiting for the traffic to move on. She had dark but clear skin with sharp features, her smile was bright n eyes had a certain spark. She didn’t seem to be unhappy with life or begging on the roads. I started wondering what kind of life they must lead. What did things like education, sports, entertainment n marriage mean to her? She was perhaps aware I was still looking at her so with a sudden glance she caught me again. I decided to play along. Still with eyes fixed on me, she slightly shook her body in a way so as to let her palloo fall from the front, showing her ample cleavage. I have seen enough women do that in my lifetime...I couldn’t help noticing she had firm n young breasts. My eyes perhaps stayed there a wee bit longer than they should have. But her next reaction caught me completely off-guard. This time she giggled at my response n I could feel my cheeks turning red, but though embarrassed I couldn’t help grinning sheepishly. The traffic finally moved, her teasing image lingering in my head for a while...
In spite of all the hardships she endured, she found time to be playful, she had an easy smile n she had discovered the effect of her blatant youth on men n found that amusing rather than embarrassing...She was not, unlike most of us, trying, but actually found happiness in small things…having just a little harmless fun!
