What gives you direction in life?

Bhavin walked out of the metro station. Waves of people rushed out
along with him, most of them walked past him. Bhavin was relaxed,
there was no hurry today, the next day was a Sunday, hence this
Saturday evening he would dedicate to nothing else but relaxation.

Bhavin took notice of the people around. He found it odd, for four
years he had been coming to this metro station almost every single
day, but he was yet to see a familiar face.

“Excuse me..”

Bhavin turned towards the voice and saw an old lady standing, she
seemed to have been waiting there for someone.

“Can you please tell me the time?” she asked.

Bhavin checked the time on his wristwatch and replied, “It is 7:20 pm”.

“Thank you. I am waiting for my son in law. He was supposed to pick me
at 7.” replied the old lady.

Bhavin looked at the few cars which were standing near the pavement,
they were all cabs. No one present around looked like he/she was
looking for someone. Bhavin looked back at the old lady and offered
his help, “If you know his number, then perhaps I can call and ask him
where he is.”

The old lady recalled the number and told it to Bhavin. Bhavin wrote
the number in his smartphone’s dialer and read the number out to
confirm it. The old lady thought for a second then asked to change the
last digit of the number. Bhavin dialled the number thrice, once it
did not connect and twice it was not received.

“He is not receiving the call. Maybe he is nearby,” said Bhavin, still
looking at his smartphone hoping for the fourth call to be picked.

“Ohh! I will wait then. Thank you once again and I am sorry to have
taken so much of your time,” the old lady said smiling at Bhavin, but
the smile couldn’t completely hide the signs of worrying.

Bhavin glimpsed at the time on his phone and spoke, “Let’s wait then.
I’ll be here until he comes.”

The signs of worrying started to fade from the eyes and then from the
rest of the face of the old lady “I will be fine; I have come here a
few times on my own. You should continue on towards your home. A young
man like you must surely have other plans awaiting your arrival.”

Bhavin smiled. He had never met either his paternal or maternal
grandmother. They were no longer in this world when Bhavin was born.
His bond with his math tuition teacher was the closest he had come to
the glimmer of having a grandmother.

“I do have plans, but this is the one I have right now, to wait here,
along with you,” said Bhavin.

Both of them engaged in conversation about each other’s life as people
continued to rush out of the metro station, vehicles continued to move
on the road and the wait continued.

Written by Anuran Chatterji

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