The Other Side

Ever since she arrived at the city, Smriti has been fascinated by its charm. It defines why the US of A is called the melting pot of the world. As she was standing at the cross-section of 42nd and 10th, she once again appreciated the diverseness the city has to offer. The collection of people white, black, Hispanic, middle eastern, Indians, Chinese wearing formal suits, trendy jeans, baggy pants, funky t-shirts, traditional thobes, colorful sarees, beret caps, English hats with their hair swinging low, trimmed, spiked, colored, spiraled, tucked … The walk sign went on. The small world stepped on to the street absorbing Smrity in its course. She blended in the crowd of New York.

Smriti hated walking with ipods. She considered it an awful way of cutting oneself off from the world. Only fools walk listening to ipods. They don’t know how much life they are missing all around them. She was despising the white leads that ran from the side pocket of a Chinese girl and culminated into two soft tiny earbuds, when she spotted Alec.
“Hello Smriti!” greeted Alec, his long sharp face beaming with a hearty smile.
“Hi. How are you doing?”
“O, I am great. Thanks. What’s up? Walking around alone on Friday night? Still no friends in New York! Are you staying alone?” Alec worked in the same office with Smriti. He knew a bit about her.
“Oh no! I can’t imagine living alone. It would be so boring. I live with another girl. But she had to leave for her friend’s wedding this morning. She had invited me too but I couldn’t get a leave.” Smriti made a sad face, pulling her cheeks down, curling her lips and the eyes subtly wet. Alec couldn’t hide a smile; however promptly wiped it off.
“It must be hard to be away from your family.”
“Sometimes it is. But not always, if you have friends. In Mumbai, it was so much fun. I was there before coming to New York, you know that, right?” Alec had no idea but he dared not interrupt Smriti, who didn’t wait for his response either. “We were eleven people in our group. We all used to go crazy every other day. You can’t imagine office colleagues being like that. Chitchats, leg-pulling, movies, eating out, hunting the malls, beaches, chaats, long drives …” Smriti’s voice drifted. Alec opened his mouth to say something. “You don’t know what a chaat is, do you?” Alec swallowed whatever was coming out. “Don’t worry, I will make it and invite you to my place someday.”
“I am sure,” Alec faltered, unsure what an unknown Indian dish would be like, “it will be very good.”
“You bet. I made it for Kumar’s birthday. Everyone liked it. It was yummy! Kumar was a really nice guy. We packed everyone else to go to the movies every Friday. I love watching the first day first shows. And did I tell you about our Goa trip?” Smiriti with her eyes round and glowing continued, “It was awesome! And guess what happened there. I told you about Rahul, that lethargic idiot; he never used to talk much. We were celebrating New Year’s Eve on a beach and I asked him to sing. You should have seen his reaction. That was his worst nightmare. But I was stubborn and so were some others. We pressed him, coaxed him, abused him. And finally he gave up. He sang. And …”, she slightly swayed her head from side to side, “what a voice he had! We had no idea. It was breathtaking. I will show you the pics from our Goa trip one day. Oh! Actually there is one on my desk in the office. The whole gang. When I get overloaded with the work, I look at it. The spirit inside helps me keep going.”
Smriti paused as she relished the spirit once more.
Alec grabbed the chance. He spoke his eyes squinted, “Aaaaa …. You know what! I actually have a friend waiting at home and I am supposed to get back with a pizza in five minutes”, he kept his lips slightly pulled in and pressed together as he finished.
“I am sorry. I kept you waiting too long.”
“No problem. Now I know where I have to go when I have to relax in the office; to imbibe the great Indian spirit”, Alec smiled as his voice switched to a melodramatic tone in the last part of the sentence. Smirity giggled. “Catch you later.”
“See you.”

Smirity was at the verge of the sidewalk when he heard Alec calling from behind, “Hey Smriti”. She turned. “We are driving to Rochester tomorrow morning. Would you like to join us?” Alec screamed.
“I would love to.” She shouted back. There was no second thinking, she always loved going out. Alec held out a thumbs-up and hurried towards the pizza place. Smriti waved and turned back to cross the street.

No sooner had she stepped on the road, when a chill ran down her spine. There was an SUV with its beam light on headed straight for her. She hadn’t noticed that the walk sign was off. Her senses went numb. The muscles refused to move. Everything seemed distant. What remained was all but a blurred vision like a painting obfuscated by an upturned glass of water. The isolation from the outside somehow triggered her inner core. Her first fleeting memory, the jealousy for her neighbour’s talking doll, the excitement of receiving her first prize on stage, the pride on her first composed poetry, the agony of her best friend’s death, the shock of her first period, the sensation of her first kiss, the confidence in joining the first job, the satisfaction of buying her parents first gifts, the thrill of leaving her country brushed past her. All her momentous feelings, treasured and loathed alike, came pouring down on her as if someone had opened an over-packed cupboard.

It took her a few seconds to realize that she was actually still alive. The car had screeched to a halt few inches from her. She was safe, although shaken. She stepped aside. Now she could see the driver, a middle-aged gentleman, gazing at her muttering under his breath. As Smirity mumbled a thank-you, she couldn’t miss the look on his face, a strange amalgamation of alarm, rage, disgust and relief. Deaths and near-deaths have peculiar effects on human beings.

Her initial plans were to go back home and cook. But it was too late and the recent encounter had left her is a disarray. She took the easy refuge of the glittering Macdonalds on 8th street. By the time she collected her order from the counter, she had already spotted the only Indian in the store. To fully recover from the shock, she needed to talk and the guy at the corner table looked like the perfect companion for a little chitchat.
“Excuse me! Can I sit here?” The guy seemed lost in his thoughts. “Excuse me!”
He looked up, inspected her for a moment, then appearing utterly confused in face of this unforeseen predicament of a girl wishing to talk to him, replied, “Ahhh … I am expecting someone.”
She didn’t really believe that. It was a bit embarrassing too. But now she had no choice. She apologized and took a table by the street from where she could observe the passersby. She wished she could see someone familiar! She hadn’t even taken her first bite when she watched the guy at the corner table pick up his bag and leave. So he wasn’t actually waiting for anyone. He just avoided her. That didn’t make her feel good. As she pecked at the burger, she tried to concentrate more on the trip tomorrow. This would be her first trip outside New York. Alec was a nice guy, and it got to be fun. That worked. Her mood improved. She could feel the excitement and the liveliness creeping back into herself.