Life is a journey of events, a few of which are a result of our deeds while the rest are decided by our fate or destiny. While most of these events are of sublime flavor which just impact our life to a slight extent, but a few impede so hard, that life takes a new shape and a complete new course is shaped.
A similar incidence happened with me few years ago, a co-incidence bestowed upon so as to turn my life in a complete new direction. This proved to be a turning point of my life and it transformed me into a completely new person. A freelancer boy as I was, became dedicated towards someone, got an objective to achieve and finally learnt how to love. This change didn’t happen overnight. It took its time, but it transformed me into a better person.
It was around August 2007 and I was amongst the group of engineers freshly recruited by one of India’s dream IT Company. We stayed in hotels in the central Mysore city. It was a usual early morning when I was waiting for my company bus to arrive. I neatly tucked up my tie coz it was getting below my belt. Being a part of India’s finest organization, I always advocated perfect attire.
The bus came perfectly on time and me and my friend boarded it. My friend captured window seat on the third row while I took the middle one beside him. The aisle seat to my left was empty when the bus started. I smirked in my mind on the thought that I can utilize this extra space to give my body some extra comfort, stretching my legs a bit towards the free space.
But after a few hundered meters, the bus driver stopped the bus again and I saw a bunch of girls entering the bus. This was unexpected. The company had clearly segregated transportation of boys and girls, then how can these silly girls enter our bus, a thought came to my mind. I had made up my mind to continue the utilization of that extra space I got on my left, and had clear plans not to entertain anyone. But soon I heard a feminist voice ‘Please shift a bit.’ There was a girl standing next to my seat and she wanted to grab that space of mine. I felt uncomfortable, but as a sign of courtesy, I shifted and she got the space to fit herself in. She was of bright complexion with medium height. She was wearing a light-grey salwaar-kurta which was covered by dark-grey dupatta on her shoulders. She had straight hairs and was sitting quietly beside me.
Initially I thought to remain quiet, anyways we were about to reach our office in 15-20 mins. But then an unexpected urge came from inside that I should start some conversation with her. I was unsure what should I do. This uncertainty prevailed for some time, when finally I showed some guts and said “Hi, I’m Rochak”. She responded politely and said her name. Slowly and gradually our conversation began to take momentum and we started talking about plethora of topics. She was different, was not like the other girls around. She was mature. She was polite. She was from Mumbai and most of her sentences ended with typical maharashtrian syllable “re”. I felt a bit of inferiority complex on learning that she was the college topper. But the fact that she was so down to earth eased me. We developed good acquaintance in the 20 min journey to our office.
Finally we reached our office and we de-boarded the bus together. After exchanging good-byes we went away in our respective directions. This appeared a completely normal meeting to me (although un-expected). But life had some bigger plans for both of us. This was just the beginning. The field was ready; only seeds were about to be sown.
