Nobody knows him. He is your regular guy at office. Always arrives on time, and leaves on time. He is always found with the same old formals, the same old shoes, the same haircut, and the spectacled frame that hasn’t changed since eternity.
He makes himself comfortable in the office bus, without making a least difference to anybody already present. The pretty girl, with whom he shared the seat did not even look up and took notice. It did not make any difference to him, his face did not twitch. After all it was an everyday occurrence.
As the bus starts moving, he notices himself in the rearview mirror. Although he was just a few years out of college, he already appeared to have a thinning brow line. His hair was flowing with the breeze. The driver had switched on his FM radio. The bus with its slow whirring noise of the engine and rhythmic vibrations soon put our man to sleep.
In his dreams, he is again transported back to the time while he was studying. He found himself giving a speech during student elections. By the time he ended the crowd acknowledged his presence with a thunderous applause.
Although unknown to him at that time, the same song which was on the FM radio at that time was being played in the club (in his dreams) which he used to frequently visit while he had a active social life. With his friends, all were watching him dance and soon a crowd had gathered around him watching his every move. He was in high spirits, it was due to him that everybody was having fun; it was due to him that he was making their evening memorable.
The pretty girl in the bus came in his dreams and was highly impressed. He got the first kiss of his life her. With smiles on each others faces, he felt especially proud.
Suddenly the pretty girl started to say ‘hello’ with a broad smile. Confused he too said hello, wondering why the hello came after the kiss. After what seemed like a full second, she said ‘Excuse me’ with that same 1000 watt smile and with a slight poke on the shoulder.
Slowly the 1000 watt smile faded and she started howling uttering ‘Hello’ and ‘Excuse me’. He tried his best to understand the girl’s behavior but to no avail.
At the last instant she gave him a tight rap on the shoulder. This time making our man wake up. ‘Excuse me, this is the last stop and I am getting late’ said the pretty girl. Our man momentarily blurred, brought himself back to consciousness and reality. He smiled and said ‘Sorry, I dozed off’.
The girl while getting down turned back and looked back at him and gave him that 1000 watt smile, this time for real, and walked away.
‘Best thing that has happened today’, he muttered to himself, as he made his way into the platform to complete his harrowing journey back home. Again returning to his old avatar of the unknown man.
Life’s little happy packages come in little dreams, on a little joyride.
Life goes on in the city as usual……
