The Pink Balloon

The clock was ticking faster than usual. The RJ had just mentioned the time check, it was 10.14. He was already running 14 minutes late for his office. Not that he was answerable to someone back in office, but it was this habit he had worked on real hard to improve. But there was nothing much one could do with this city traffic and the traffickers. Even after an year here, he was still getting used to this kind of barbaric behaviour on the roads, which was very unlike what he had seen ever since childhood.

It was a regular left turn from the signal, when suddenly he came to a screeching halt. The moment was seized. There were tons of mean machines behind him who just about managed to avoid a hit. But that didn’t seem to bother him.
All he could see at that moment, was a pink balloon flying to the middle of the street. The balloon was half deflated and had a string attached to it… probably a used one. But it was not that balloon which froze him and his already over heated machine. It was a kid, a roadside kid as we all like to call them. The kid was sun burnt, half naked, with only a torn nikkar to cover his body. He had some cuts n wounds on his right leg and arm. He could see the kind of pain which had inflicted his tender soul, making an optimum use his existence. But still, he could see a smile on that kid’s face- A smile which eludes most of us – A smile of contentment, a smile of satisfaction, a smile of happiness, a smile of being free.

The kid had nothing to loose and hence indulged in whatever he thought belonged to him, this balloon being one of those. The balloon had slipped from his hands and he chased it till it flew to the middle of the busy street. There was this abrupt transformation of emotions. The face beaming with an almost infectious smile was overshadowed by the fear of loosing something… something, which meant the world to him at that moment. The kid’s body came to a momentary pause, but his thoughts and his emotions were far from freezing. Hearing the screeching of the tyres, he hesitantly walked towards the balloon and that captivating smile returned. With a very prompt about-turn, he returned to his abode, with a priceless pink balloon.

The rest of the journey to the office seemed pleasurable and smooth.

In Case, No Case . . . ! !

“Hello Sir! Excuse Me Sir! (extending his hand) Hello Sir, I work for Qrst bank, and we have some really good schemes for people like you.” (a little pause, not long enough for me to say anything though) “We have this scheme for Credit Cards. Sir do u have any credit cards?” a little head movement, which even I am not very sure whether it was for yes I do or no, I do not. But never mind he figured that out by himself. Continues. “OK sir. Our bank gives you credit card for free sir. And you do not have pay anything extra also sir. And for the yearly fees of three thoujand rupejj you will also get an free health insurance of rupejj two lakh for free sir. It covers your complete cost of medical, health and accident sir. You can also nominate someone for the policy sir in case you die in an road accident.” Sharing a leaflet, he continues, “Sir. You can go through all this what is written here now sir and if you think you are interested in this, then I will get the more details for you and we can complete the formalities. And sir, we take only 24 to 36 hours of processing time sir. We verify your past banking record to check whether you do not have any bad records. And once it is all done sir, you can use your new credit card for free sir.” Looking at me intently, anticipating some reply, it did not matter whether it would be a yes or a no, just any answer, he did not want to waste his time on single person. After all the queue outside the ATM counter was not that long today and unfortunately for this person, there is no problem with the ATM machine either which would hold the queue for longer.

Seeing a blank look on my face, I guess he got the answer. Very decently and politely he took the leaflet from me and put it back in his file.

Regaining his self confidence all over again, he approached the last person in the queue. And everything started all over again.

Rendezvous with the stranger

The class was abuzz with several voices, some nervous, some excited, some anxious, some serious and some… well didn’t bother much about what was going around. Harman was one of them. He didn’t bother about who the guest lecturer was or what exercise would he undertake. It was the personality development session at one of the most popular MBA coaching classes in the Country. He was busy drawing a cartoon of his English faculty, though she was a nice person, Harman always thought of her as a devil in a saree. The reason is still unknown to many as is to him. It was just one of those pre-conceived notions one has. I guess.

Suddenly the class went into a mute mode and Harman surprised by this sudden & uneasy silence around him, for the first time raised his head, to find a huge dark figure standing in the middle of the classroom. The Guest faculty for the day for PD session.

His accent was British and his task even more so. He divided the entire class into several small groups and there started the exercise. Each group, one by one would send their candidate to talk on the decided topic which had to be prefixed with the student’s introduction. Then the person would be questioned by the other groups. So much for anyone developing his / her personality in a single day!

Still busy with his work on the cartoon, Harman kept himself away from the discussion happening in his group, comforted with the fact that he would not be asked to go first from the group. While giving the brushing effect to the cartoon, his Cello Gripper slipped off his hand and the cartoon he was half way through, suddenly seemed imprecise to him. He could feel a heaviness mounting on him, all eyes fixed on him. It was only after the faculty called out his name twice that he could come to the senses and to the realm of reality. Coping up with this sudden development, he looked up. With 5 minutes to prepare himself to speak on the said topic, he was left with less time to blast his group mates, he hurriedly made some points on the back side of the paper which till now served as the canvas for him.

Unfolding his sleeves and buttoning the cuffs, centre aligning the shirt & trouser, he made his way through the congested class. Adjusting his glasses, he started off with his name and other mandatory details, which qualify to make any introduction complete and the talk on the said topic followed. It all went pretty smooth, much to his surprise and many others, which included his group mates, his faculties - who had already given up on him. Though, deep within Harman knew that this was far from over, with the questioning round yet to commence. He found some comfort and confidence after a few initial questions which he answered. A sense of confidence started to fill him from inside and he was ready for more. And he had more. And more.

As he was readying to make a move towards his seat, he heard a thick yet sweet voice. “Excuse me, I would like to say something!”. Harman could feel the sudden jerk in his knee, compelling him to stop. Talking to himself, “I knew it! I cannot be left so easily!!” he slowly raised his head, his eyes searching for the voice which stopped him. A thought running through his mind, whosoever the person be, she said, she wanted to say something and not ask…this thought somehow comforted him and he could feel his confident self regaining. He found the person, sitting on the 5^th bench from where he was standing. A girl clad in a pink salwaar kameez, whom he had never seen before. As if reading his thoughts, the girl introduced herself, “Hi! Am Neha”! pausing in that moment, Harman felt a disconnect with his surroundings and went in to the state of trance. His eyes were busy observing this new stranger, who had triggered this sudden gush of anxiety and excitement in him. He could see her round face, which he thought was blessed with the most wonderfully carved out eyes, almond shaped, aptly covered by curving eyelashes, the combination which he had always liked. Picasso work, he thought!. He could see her smiling face bolstered by white sparkling diamonds on her neck and pierced ears. Diamonds are girls best friends after all, they are known to bolster confidence in this adorable species. Thick black hair, long enough to cover better part of her back. All these observations made him want more. He hurriedly tried to explore her, as much as he could, from that distance, wanting to fill his eyes to the fullest. He suddenly felt the gush of adrenaline through his spine. He saw her lips which were moving, but little did anyone know that what she was saying fell on deaf ears. But a loud noise of clapping and cheering disturbed him and he was unwontedly pushed back to the reality. Trying to make sense of what just happened, which eluded him completely despite the fact that he was there, very much there in the centre of everything. He still couldn’t take himself away from the awe of this sweet stranger.

Little did he know that what he was experiencing now, was just a reciprocation of what she had felt when he was standing there in the middle of the class, trying to make sense of all what he was saying. Everything started to make sense now, everything started to fall in place, those mute movements of her lips, the clapping and cheer which followed after that. It was the bravest public confession he had ever experienced or seen, to say the least. With just about managing to smile back, he hurriedly rushed back to his seat.

That was for the first time when both came face to face after the class, and what followed after that was another beautiful journey which both of them enjoyed for the time to come.

Until recently.