Netaji Subhash Station. Doors will open on the left. Please mind the gap.
The crowd in the packed coach immediately rushed its way out of the doors. As the coach began to get relatively vacant, I hoped for a seat; but in vain. I slouched back against the closed doors on the right; grateful at least for the breathing space I had now. I was completely exhausted and couldn’t wait to get home and crash into bed. The doors were taking longer than usual to close.
There will be a short delay in the journey of this Metro. We regret the inconvenience caused.
While I cursed my job for the amount of travel it required, I noticed a bunch of teenagers/college goers hanging around near the doors of my coach. It was an animated lot, engaged in an excited discussion that I am certain was as trivial as any of our gangs’. As I wistfully watched their group, my eyes fell on the girl in the corner of the group.
Dressed in a grey sweatshirt and jeans, with her hair in a loose ponytail, she looked like the stereotypical girl next door. She laughed at jokes cracked by all the three guys, but the hardest at only one of them; just so that he would turn towards her when she did. And her eyes were just as well glued on him throughout. So, I thought I might as well check out the guy too. He was the kind of guy you would not understand why girls fell for (although you might nurture a crush on him yourself). I admit that god had been generous to him in the looks department, but the look on his face and his entire body language reeked of conceit and obnoxiousness. He, by the way, was busy chatting up with a pretty girl on his other side. The scene reminded me of the classic cliché-the girl next door loves the popular dude who loves the pretty girl- a la Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. I even thought of comparisons with the Archie trilogy, but then, the pretty girl didn’t really seem as cunning as the Veronica character.
There will be a short delay in the journey of this Metro. We regret the inconvenience caused.
This time the announcement didn’t bother me as much, I was engrossed in the little show outside the door. Perhaps, bothered by the delay in our metro, the guy got anxious about time. As he was taking out his mobile, his sunglasses and a wristband fell out from his pocket. As expected our infatuated girl next door was the first to rush and pick it up. With a sweet obliging smile she turned to the guy to give him his stuff. The guy, however, was busy- worriedly discussing how the pretty girl might get late. He casually slipped the stuff back in his jeans without as much as a look in the girl-next-door’s direction. The smile was still on her lips but her eyes turned dim; uneasily she looked away from the guy.
I had not realized that a sympathetic smile had appeared on my face, until when, suddenly, her gaze met mine. She instantly knew that I had been observing, and strangely neither of us looked away in embarrassment. I smiled again, this time consciously.
Please stand away from the doors.
As the doors began to slide in front of me, she looked down for a second; looked at me, and then smiling looked back at the guy.
