It was evening and Devat was returning home. His steps took him inside the metro train station.
There was no crowd, it was a Sunday evening and the peak of summer heat had made staying at home a preferred choice for many.
Devat stopped at a coffee stand to have cold coffee. His new job was taking up too much of his time, even eating into his weekends, but somehow Devat had convinced himself with the good pay that was coming into his account every month.
The cold coffee slowly disappeared into the straw and the disposable plastic glass became empty.
Devat was looking at one thing, the elevator doors, he was drinking his cold coffee at a precise pace to time its finishing right at the moment the elevator began its descent from the floor above which would allow him to walk and reach it just before the doors opened, but he missed it as a cleaner placed the sign of wet floor and began his work, so Devat found himself going for the escalator instead.
The escalator went straight to the second floor of the station where the ticket counters were. The elevator which moved down, ran parallel to it, and on it was this woman, there was a wide gap between people before her and after her.
Devat did not notice her at first, as he helped an elderly gentleman get on the elevator. Then he looked up and noticed her smiling back at him. It felt like a genuine smile despite the trust issues that people have nowadays.
There was a time when Devat would have wholeheartedly welcomed a smile of such nature. But a failed marriage had taught him a few things.
It began with a smile too, at the marriage function of a friend’s elder brother. Along the smiles, numbers were exchanged, the initial text messages transformed into phone calls with both of them walking ahead into meeting each other.
The relationship which developed as a result continued for the next two years, elevating into a marriage which everyone thought would end up being among the best that had taken place among the known.
Things end, that is one fact you cannot deny. Speaking more clearly it is more like our connection with them ends, whether it is because of a decision which we consciously make or whether it is the direct result of someone passing away from life itself.
Devat’s marriage ended at the moment his wife saw another life which appealed to her more and the image of a married life lost the meaning that it once had.
Devat let her go, after some point it feels like imprisoning someone when trying to keep him/her against his/her will.
The escalator kept moving and Devat remained lost in how things had turned out till he realised he had reached the end of the escalator. He turned to see down to find the woman having reached her end but still looking. That is when Devat decided to take another chance as he stepped on the escalator down.
Written by Anuran Chatterji
Early Morning Memories 
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