The Traffic Signal

THE TRAFFIC SIGNAL

The soap just slipped off from hands. And by the speed at which the bucket fills, it seems that even the water from the tap is not awake from its slumber.

Blame Budweiser!  I cursed in my mind. Last night was a blast. One of my roommates is getting married in a week and it was his treat. As he says, the beginning of “ the last week of freedom”, for him. We all drank, danced, drank, ate, drank, shouted, drank and drank and drank. At some point in the night, we slept, as if we were shot dead. And now I am standing in the bathroom , woke up late , struggling to get ready in time and reach the office, and this damn soap doesn't give a damn about my feelings. Damn!

Somehow I got ready and as usual had the cup of black tea, the daily breakfast , and grabbed my scooter key and ram downstairs of my apartment building. This part is the killer one. My apartment building is a 4-storeyed building and guess what, we stay on top! And after having a “sumptuous” breakfast, the breakfast itself melts away after running down all those stairs. Damn!

And the next hurdle. I own a submissive, sleek and slim Vespa and it doesn't take much space in the parking lot. But I seriously do not know how on earth does the parking lot turns in to “parking- a- lot” in the morning. And now, I have to figure out a way to get my Vespa out and start smoking to my office.

Finally, I hit the road. Well, one cannot absolutely say that he or she “hits” the road in this City. The traffic is too much that sometimes these roads can be the best teachers to teach patience. I am proud that I am a very, very patient guy! Yes, I learnt it the hard way. But, I love the morning ride to my office. Obviously, the traffic is much less compared to the hectic evenings, but what I love the most is the cool breeze while I speed on my Vespa and also the beautiful girls who either ride on their scooters or sit at the back side of their boyfriends’ bikes. Either way, I don’t mind! No, wait. I do mind, because I have been waiting for a long time for a girl with whom I can ride on my scooter. I am pretty sure that, even my Vespa dreams of it!

To be precise, there are 11 traffic signals en route my office. Yes, you heard it right, 11. And now I am stuck at the 7^th signal. The light is still red. The timer ticks down. As usual, through my black Rayban, under my helmet, I have been scanning around to check whether any chicks are there or not. Damn! What a day! Forget chicks, not even a single lady soul around.

Suddenly, I felt a cool breeze around me. I just turned around and saw a beautiful pink Scooty Pep that just reached on my right. I looked up, obviously with high expectations. And there she is, with a dark blue helmet, a ladies cooling glass, a slight shade of lip gloss…yeah, she was not just beautiful.. she was just awesome! I saw that her two ears are plugged in with a headset and obviously she is enjoying music, and not at all looking around. Can’t she just turn her face around? Can’t she see this smart guy on his beautiful Vespa, standing just besides her? Then it hit hard on me! May be I am not smart or handsome enough for her? Or does she have a boyfriend? Oh, why the hell am I thinking all these! But, why the hell can’t I take my eyes off her! I felt as if I am moving backwards as in a dream…No, wait..is she moving forward? Away from me? Oh no.. wait sweetie…

HONK!!HONK!!!HOOONK!!!!

What’s that? Oh my God! The signal had turned green and I was stuck in her thoughts. I could see a long line of vehicles behind me , with their drivers calling sweet words on me! I looked around.. she is gone. I started my scooter with a heavy heart.

I reached my office, obviously late, and I sank into my seat with disturbing thoughts. Yes, I have been thinking about her all my way to the office. And still now, she is disturbing me. I have seen more beautiful and sexier girls than her, but, why my thoughts are so stuck with her? I have a hell lots of work to do and still why that girl is holding me back from doing that? Am I in love?? I laughed out at that thought. Falling in love with a girl that you met at a traffic signal, whom you will never ever meet again? Or at least the probability of meeting the same girl again is very very low…close to zero! But still, there is a slight chance of meeting her. For the first time in many years, I prayed to God, which I never do as an atheist, that let that slim probability be true. After all, God itself is a big probability!

The day passed by without much events. After giving the responsibility of sorting out on the probability stuff to God, I started off with my job as usual. But still, the day seemed a bit different to me. I was immersed in thoughts. My colleagues thought I was planning something for my projects, but they never knew I was thinking about my ‘project’. After my office hours, as I was riding back to my apartment, I wanted a traffic block at very signal, so that I can look for her. I looked for that pink Scooty Pep at every other signal, but I couldn’t find any sign of her. I felt sad and my belief on that slim probability started to fade. God? After all, He Himself is a goddamn probability!

I had a bit more beer the last night as I had to get a fast sleep so that I don’t think much of that Scooty girl and screw my sleep. And, for me, everything seemed so slow and boring. Again, as usual, I was on the road, with my Vespa. And, here I am, stuck at some traffic signal, I did not bother to count which one, as I usually do. The signal is still red. I took off my shades and rubbed my eyes and had a clear look forward. I am far behind the queue, and I don’t think I will go through this signal in this go. As I was about to put back my glasses on, I saw it…a pink Scooty! Will it be her? The Scooty is about 10 meters in front of me. I want to reach there, somehow! I looked around for space. Damn! Come on…Yes! I turned my Vespa to my right, squeezed in between two cars, dropped into a gap on to the extreme right side of the road. I moved forward with my eyes stuck on the Scooty. I looked up on the traffic light and I can see that only 30 seconds remaining for the red to turn green! Come on, please help me, my divine probability! I kept on moving forward through that congested space. I can see the seconds rolling down..7..6..5..4..i am almost there! I reached just behind the Scooty and damn, the signal turned green and the traffic moved.

I was a bit disappointed but still I had a hope of catching her in the next signal. I kept my scooter just behind her without letting her go away this time. And as I had expected, the traffic stopped at the next signal. I looked up. I have 60 seconds. I moved my Vespa to my right and forward to the Scooty’s right. I held my breath for a second and looked casually to my left. My heart was beating like Shivamani’s drums! I was praying to the divine probability, “this should be her, please!” And I looked at Scooty owner’s face. Yes, that was her! Unknowingly, a smile carved out of my face. I did not realize that I was smiling at her. I know my smile was out of relief, happiness….love. But, not for someone who watches it. And here, that someone was herself! She was looking right at me! The smile on my face was dead. I don’t know whether I look like an idiot now. I couldn’t even turn my face away. I was stuck in a catch 22 situation, or to put in a better way, ‘caught 22” situation. She was not wearing her shades and those eyes were drilling into me. Of course I can look in to those eyes and be there for my lifetime, because those were such a beautiful pair of eyes I have ever met with, but not now. Those eyes are killing me, in all the possible ways. Is she angry? Or is she being sarcastic? Will she slap me now? Fortunately or unfortunately, the signal turned green, and the honks from behind made her drift away her stare and leave me in peace. But, the traffic light on the way for me to reach her heart, still remained red.

Even though, I met her again, my office hours were still dull. Mixed thoughts troubled me like anything. What could have she thought? Why didn’t she tell anything? Will I meet her again? I looked up to the divine probability. Yet again.

Evening. I was on the way back to my room and again stuck at a traffic signal. As I was just checking the fuel gauge, I felt a scooter just came and stopped to my right. I looked up and it was her! Oh my God…what will happen now…She took off her helmet and let her hair fly free. I saw her wavy, brownish hair, flying free in the soft wind, with the evening sun pouring its beauty on them. That was a beautiful sight for me. Suddenly, she looked at me and again, my eyes got locked in hers. And then happened the unexpected. She smiled at me! I was shocked, a smile when I was expecting a slap? I couldn’t believe it. I turned to my left to check whether she smiled at me or someone else to my left. No, there is no one there. She was smiling at me! And on top of that, she said, “Hi”. I felt like I was clean bowled by the best bowler in the world!

Bliss!

I wanted to say a “hi” back,  but those words got stuck in my throat. But, somehow, I managed a “hi” back, which was in a shivering voice and half of that word came out. She might have thought that I coughed. I did not know what else to say and I guess, even she was clueless what to say. And what to say in the middle of a traffic jam! Suddenly, the horns started blaring and the traffic light turned green. I had a wicked smile on my face as I started my Vespa, thinking that the traffic light on the way to reach her heart has also turned green…

I did not want to drink that night and sleep fast. I did not want to stop myself from thinking about her. Even though it was just a smile and small ‘hi’, that meant like an Oscar and Nobel at the same time for me! Will I meet her tomorrow? Dammit! If I meet her again, I should open my mouth and talk…ask her out…ask her phone number…talk a lot…and propose her! Thinking and thinking about a thousand things about her, I slept off at some point of the night. May be the sweetest slip off to sleep in my life!

I was totally a different man the next morning. Woke up early, got ready, had breakfast and raced to the road with  a big smile on my face and a broad smile in my heart. Somehow, my mind was telling me that I was going to meet her today. At some traffic signal, on the pink Scooty Pep, under the dark blue helmet, a beautiful face will be waiting for me…One may ask me , “what the hell! You haven’t talked to her…You don’t know who she is…and you are in love with her? “ . Yes, that’s a logical question to ask, but, I don’t know, I feel so. For the first time in my life, I started to love traffic signals!!!

1…2…3…4..I was counting the traffic signals as I went past each of them. Finally, I reached the 7^th traffic signal. I looked around…couldn’t find a pink Scooty. I looked around again. Yes! There it is! The pink Scooty. Is she wearing a jacket today? May be , it’s a cold morning. I found some space and rode my Vespa to the spot I found the Vespa. With a smile, I looked up to my left. Oops! That was some old man riding on a Scooty. My smile faded. Where is she? Has she taken a day off from work? I looked up to the traffic light. 80 more seconds. My heart was racing to reach the next signal and get stuck, and then look for her. But, 80 more seconds.

“Taaza Khabar..Taaza Khabar”, a newspaper boy was walking around with newspapers held up in his hands. I see him every other day. Must be around 12 -13 years of age. Poor chap! I thought of buying one copy and kill the remaining 60 seconds. I could see many people buying the newspaper this morning and I wondered what could be the reason?

“Hey, one copy here”, I called upon the boy. “Sir, hot news, sir, sirf paanch rupiah”, he was excited to get his 5 Rs. I bought the newspaper and gave him the money. I looked up. 30 more seconds. OK. Let me read the main page.

“Sachin Retires…mmm..yeah, he should…Modi or Rahul? : The Big Debate…who ever comes , increase the salary…”, I was going through each headlines and suddenly I got stuck on that news.

“ 23 year old girl raped and murdered by 3 people”, I thought, “ That’s like a common news nowadays..mmm..”, but the photo of the girl tore my heart apart. That was her! The girl that smiled to me a day back! The girl who taught me to see dreams!

I was stunned, shocked and destroyed! I couldn’t come back to my senses for a while…I could hear faint voices of people swearing at me for not moving my scooter when the traffic light turned green…I could hear faint voices of blaring horns of vehicles behind me…I couldn’t move a muscle….I stayed there numb…dreams shattered…heartbroken…I have lost a girl who had conquered my heart with just a smile and a simple word…just when I thought the light had turned green for me to go for her heart…

…and I looked up. The traffic light has turned.. red.

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