There is a multitude of people surrounding us. A
vast sea of people within whose confines our existence is often concealed.
There are all kinds of people. People who are kind. People who are selfish.
People who are mysteries. People who are lost. They are all outside us and yet
within for we are but mere humans. Perfection is a flaw that some of us choose
to live in. But for most it is just being human and being so in the most
extraordinary way!
The past week has been enlightening. I work and I travel
and I come home only to find myself repeating this ritual and wondering what it
means. I was troubled by trivialities. But as I sat on the public transport
that bears the brunt of a “cosmopolitan city’s” existence I realized that the
different faces around me had stories of their own. Stories of a lifetime. And
so I thought to myself,” Would it not be interesting to imagine their lives as
my own for a day ?”
Troubled question for it comes with equally troubled
answers.. I see the face of a mother who is looking at the watch every two
second and waiting to return home. To a family and its responsibilities. I see
a girl reading a book oblivious to the world around her and the constant change
of passengers in her adjacent seat. I see a child tugging at my kurta while
grinning and I think, “There’s a happy face!”. I see faces that are laced with
anger and doubt, malice and hate, dissatisfied yet undefeated. There are bitter
faces and sweet faces and faces who make me wary. But bitter faces have harsher
truths of life’s bitterness embossed on them. And sweet faces are well just
sweet! But every face is complex riddled with doubts and uncertainties that
bare themselves unto the day’s end. Pretense can be only for a while but the facade has to wear off. It is amazing to
see that even in this mad rush of people and sweaty foreheads; there are smiles
exchanged between strangers. There are those faces that belie trust and help
when you find yourself lost and disgruntled. And when it is so simple to be
rude and oblivious to anything except your own skirmishes, these faces act as
buffers to control your own rage at life and be calm. Such faces draw you home
and you realize that life for all its
bitterness, selfishness and unfairness can still make you smile. That even in
times of desperation a ray of light falls that warms you up and rekindles joy
within you.
Life isn't about brooding over mishaps of supposed
love. It’s about acknowledging the warmth that a stranger emanates and maybe
sometimes it’s okay not to be skeptical about every little thing. That humans
make mistakes and it’s alright. In this magnum opus of life we are playing our
part that is somewhere making something complete in the universe!
