MATE - Part Two

Simi kept a keen eye out for Pritam, her beloved while her fingers twirled around the bow on her purse.  The plan was to meet in the train, he had his ticket and she had hers and one whistle had already gone off, but he was nowhere in sight. Then, with a final whistle piercing through the station, the train carriage jerked as the engine made its first move to pull it out of its home.  She searched once more through her small window, within the bustle of the crowd on the long platform, her hand ready to wave him down to her location.

The train moved slowly before picking up speed finally leaving the station behind.   The view from her window changed to a staggered skyline of multi-story houses, laundry drying on lines on the terraces, transmission wires networking over neighborhoods to extend beyond their limits, children walking, running or playing close to the railway tracks. 

A deep sigh escaping her thin, rosy lips, Simi leaned back into her seat.  Noticing the figure crouched in front of her, she offered her name and proceeded to make conversation with a deluge of questions.  Ria looked up, gave a curt greeting before returning to the screen in front of her.  Unperturbed, Simi continued to chatter commenting on the scenes they passed outside.  From the chaotic landscape to the unattended children so close to the tracks, but Ria offered no response.

Simi finally took the hint and relaxed back to gaze outside at the world passing them by.  Concrete jungle became sparser until all she could see were lush green fields ripe for harvest.  Dots of bright colors appeared at intervals hunched over with scythes in hand.  She admired the hard labor these men and women in the fields endured to feed the nation.  Her life had been of luxury where delicacies magically appeared at the table or her special requests accommodated without pause.  It was Pritam who opened a whole new world for her and helped her realize how she took so much for granted.

Simi turned to Ria again and asked if she was reading a romance novel, receiving a nod and a “mhhmm” in response.  Cheerfully, she went on to share, “I used to read those all the time, until I began to live it in real life...”  Ria lowered her e-reader as Simi declared, “…until I met my soul mate.”   Ria closed the flap, and looked up with arched eyebrows at her cabin mate.

to be continued.....