For the next few moments I remained
engrossed in my thoughts which did not have any specific object to feed upon. I
was thinking of the letter my wife had written to me sometime back and which
had reached me on the previous day. It was a long list of grievances about my
mother. She wanted me to write to my mother on her behalf. I brushed aside all
those concerns for a while, and started enjoying the pitter-patter of the raindrops
on the window-sill. I had to finish my coffee and get ready to go. I could not
prolong my stay indefinitely long. Before making up my mind to get up, I looked
at her and found her looking at me with a certain curiosity. I returned her
glance with a seemingly non-chalant look, balancing the act between trying not
to offend and trying not to look rudely indifferent either. In that brief
moment of awareness, she gave me a faintly visible, qualified little smile. It
was oddly radiant as certain unexpected, half-revealed smiles are. I smiled
back, less radiantly, taking care that my smile did not carry any unwelcome
signs that may cause a misunderstanding. But I was overwhelmed, to be sure.
The next thing I knew was that she
was out of her seat and having covered the distance in a few steps she was now
standing by my table.
I got up from my seat and requested
her to be seated and be comfortable. She bowed slightly and sat down facing me.
“Are you from Asia?” She asked after she had made sure with a slight
observation that I was a good guy. “I am from India.” I replied.
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