Pritam's Blog
Another Smile To Remember
I could probably write an entire book titled “Smiles To Remember”…
So, every night, at around 2-2:30, a cab stops by a couple of buildings away from mine. And a burqa-clad girl, probably returning from her night shift at a call centre, comes out of the cab.
The girl, she never looks left or right. She enters straight into the building within 10 seconds after the cab stops.
I see her every night and I feel a certain kind of attraction towards her, the kind of attraction one feels towards the unknown and unseen… The way she comes out of the cab and enters straight into the building without even saying goodbye to her co-passengers/colleagues evokes a certain kind of inexplicable curiosity about her in me… Why this discretion and hurrying up?
Anyway, last night was different. The entire locality has been lit up with fairy lights and it was looking beautiful - something this area is not usually characterised by.
She came out of the cab and stopped for a moment. She lifted her veil and watched the beautifully lit surroundings. And I saw her face for the first time, although it was not clear…
Next moment, she noticed me and rushed inside the building.
This afternoon, as I was on my balcony, watching the adults as old as 25 years down on the street, playing with toy guns, I saw a burqa-clad girl, her veil lifted up, on the street, buying vegetables. S
Then she stared at me. And I had this feeling that it was the girl from last night and many other nights before.
This time she didn’t run away or hid her face. She smiled. And like I hinted, it was a smile to remember…