Pritam's Blog
Damaged People
Damaged people are beautiful in a way…
Or maybe “beautiful” isn’t the right word. It’s just that they have this uncanny talent of explaining things in the most bizarre way…
Shared the auto with a stranger this evening on my way home from office.
Actually, he was already in the auto but I hadn’t seen him. I gestured for the auto to stop and then I saw him on the passenger’s seat.
The autowalah wouldn’t have stopped since he already had a passenger but the guy tapped on the autowalah’s shoulder and he slowed down.
“Kaha jana hai?” the guy asked (“Where do you want to go?”)
I told him even though I was not planning to get into the auto with another passenger. With all my observational skills and ability to write ‘feel-good’ stories, deep inside I am a cynical person. I feel cynical especially when I see good things happening… I always think, “There’s a catch…” And I never believe in the goodness unless I have tested it multiple times… My bad!
But then again, it was probably the same reason why I got up in the auto when he said that he can drop me…to test him… Or maybe the other part of me thought that it’s better to take the lift rather than getting rejected by another 46 autos…
Anyway, the huge, rogue looking guy was reeking of alcohol and weed. Not that I don’t drink (I don’t smoke weed but I don’t have problem with others smoking it), but it was just 7 in the evening and the cynical part of me sensed trouble.
And the guy sensed my discomfort…
“I am a bit high…like every day,” he said. “But there is nothing to be scared of me.” He lit a cigarette. I lit my own.
We were stuck in the traffic near the Forum Mall.
He threw his cigarette outside and said, “Usually, it gets over when I reach near Adugodi Police Station. I think the traffic is exceptionally high today…”
I smiled and passed my cigarette to him…