I stepped out of my house this morning (8 a.m.) into the clouds. No, it was just dense fog. Though it did feel like Narnia with the amazing white layer of fog and chilly winter winds. With a limp, I walked towards the bus-stop. Strangely, there was no sign of any human form around me! I blamed it on the weather and moved ahead.
A couple of minutes later when I reached the main gate, I saw the 2 guards who sat there daily. They weren't engaged in their usual conversations, which was very unlike their normal behaviour. "Okay, maybe they're cold," I thought to myself. (What if they weren't cold ...)
I was now on the main road. All I could see was the ground beneath my feet. I walked with intelligent guesses. Avoiding the dug-up pavement at the right places. With a poor sense of balance, I usually used my head more than my feet to walk properly. I looked around to see no school-buses which were usual around that time of the day. "Maybe they've shut down schools due to the cold," I told myself. "Lucky kids!"
10 seconds later, it dawned upon me that I really hadn't seen anyone on the busy Bhangel-Expressway Connecting Road in the past 7 minutes! I could feel cold sweat on my forehead. I turned to see two forms walking behind me.. some 200 metres away. They coule be, as Shakespeare once said, "strange apparitions". Strange apparitions, because they were the only strange people apart from me who could be seen on a dead road at 8 am!
As they came closer, I started walking faster. "Uh-oh, bad day. Am I being chased? Are these messengers of Satan? NOIDA IS unsafe! Damn it!" Almost forgetting how to limp, I jogged for another 100 metres and then decided to cross the road. Somewhere between all of this the strange apparitions had taken a left turn and walked towards their destination!
There were 2 buses waiting on the bus-stop but none of them were planning to move. The cold winds kept reminding me of how I had made the biggest mistake of my life by not carrying a jacket over the 2 sweaters that I was wearing. My fingers froze. The more I tried to clasp them, the colder they became.
Suddenly, out of the white clouds, a horse appeared. I thought I must be imagining. A horse? Are you kidding me? As he came closer, I saw a man atop the horse! It was filmy. Either this man must be carrying a sword to slay us all or he was somebody's Sapno ka Rajkumar.
Before I could reach any conclusion, I heard the conductor scream, "City Centre Noida.. 12-22". I boarded the bus and it moved, tearing the blinding fog aside.
No idea who the Mystery-Man-On-The-Horse was. Now, either I got lucky and escaped being slain or I just missed out on my Rajkumar!
A couple of minutes later when I reached the main gate, I saw the 2 guards who sat there daily. They weren't engaged in their usual conversations, which was very unlike their normal behaviour. "Okay, maybe they're cold," I thought to myself. (What if they weren't cold ...)
I was now on the main road. All I could see was the ground beneath my feet. I walked with intelligent guesses. Avoiding the dug-up pavement at the right places. With a poor sense of balance, I usually used my head more than my feet to walk properly. I looked around to see no school-buses which were usual around that time of the day. "Maybe they've shut down schools due to the cold," I told myself. "Lucky kids!"
10 seconds later, it dawned upon me that I really hadn't seen anyone on the busy Bhangel-Expressway Connecting Road in the past 7 minutes! I could feel cold sweat on my forehead. I turned to see two forms walking behind me.. some 200 metres away. They coule be, as Shakespeare once said, "strange apparitions". Strange apparitions, because they were the only strange people apart from me who could be seen on a dead road at 8 am!
As they came closer, I started walking faster. "Uh-oh, bad day. Am I being chased? Are these messengers of Satan? NOIDA IS unsafe! Damn it!" Almost forgetting how to limp, I jogged for another 100 metres and then decided to cross the road. Somewhere between all of this the strange apparitions had taken a left turn and walked towards their destination!
There were 2 buses waiting on the bus-stop but none of them were planning to move. The cold winds kept reminding me of how I had made the biggest mistake of my life by not carrying a jacket over the 2 sweaters that I was wearing. My fingers froze. The more I tried to clasp them, the colder they became.
Suddenly, out of the white clouds, a horse appeared. I thought I must be imagining. A horse? Are you kidding me? As he came closer, I saw a man atop the horse! It was filmy. Either this man must be carrying a sword to slay us all or he was somebody's Sapno ka Rajkumar.
Before I could reach any conclusion, I heard the conductor scream, "City Centre Noida.. 12-22". I boarded the bus and it moved, tearing the blinding fog aside.
No idea who the Mystery-Man-On-The-Horse was. Now, either I got lucky and escaped being slain or I just missed out on my Rajkumar!
Hehe you keep it short and simple and fun to read always! =)
ReplyDeleteTinkoo Sumo!
ReplyDeletethand lag gayi padh k :-)
ReplyDelete:B thandi hai
ReplyDeletethis was fun. Well described. Step out once more early tomorrow and check if the horse-man is back. Be safe! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Antarik! In case you don't hear from me again, assume that he was the man with the sword. :P
ReplyDelete