I keep waiting. . . .

Its 6.44 a.m. and I stand here in the bus stop waiting for the office bus to arrive. I stand here in the same manner as I did a few years back waiting for BMTC bus in the bus stop. Back then i used to always see many office buses going right in front of our stop with good velocity and i dreamt that there would be days when i would also travel in one of those office bus comfortably seated, which was contrasting the BMTC bus travel in all the ways..
When the dream came true, little did I know then that things would change so much in 2 years; Sky is perhaps the only thing that has acted as a witness.. Watching the transformation of casuals to formals, loud and bubbly girl into a quiet professional...
I wouldn't blame the professionalism for the change though. It is destiny, or may be you could call it life. Yes Life, mysterious in the true sense, for one does not understand why you meet hundreds of people everyday, work with so many, and still remain lonely...
I am now in one of the corner seats in the bus, looking out of the window watching people trying to catch up with "life".. It's an hour's journey in the morning and two hours in the evening due to traffic, and the only company that I generally have is the chatter of the RJ. I seldom notice the person sitting next to me, for its going to be yet another stranger or may be you could say another acquaintance. It is annoying at times when the radio is switched off, not because I am cut off from the melody but because I would now be thrust with thoughts of the solitary journey ahead for 32kms.
I can't help thinking about the short bus journeys to college... well it's a paradox to call a 15-20 kms journey "short", but that is how it always seemed. A typical college day always begins in the bus with all the familiar faces; you look forward for all your friends to get in from the various stops, the reasonless giggles, the loud laughter that was enough to disturb the senior citizens and other fellow travellers in the bus, yet never not bothered to remain silent...well as I said it was a different life then... Recollecting the sight of trying to escape from few lecturers when they called us to attend seminars!! Hoping & praying for some strike in the nearby area so that the internals get postponed; Eating the sliced mango, bhel puri, outside the campus... .The pleasant memories of college are in itself good enough to save me from the misery of the bus journey...
I notice that it is time for me to get down and flash my smile of acknowledgement to all the known strangers that I see as I approach my cubicle. A few of my colleagues greet me with their morning wishes and as always, we exchange our pleasantries. Discussions jump to the weekend plans and I wonder what I'd do over the weekend... It would be just another day staring at the mobile, wishing it would ring and bring back some wonderful moments that are now missing in life or may be the safer option would be to come to office or attend classes, for it's my new founded asylum these days..
A few years back, weekends or weekdays didn't matter to me, I was always busy. I always stood doubting the authenticity of the wall clock that seemed to be in running too fast to perceive its movement. Now, it seems as though my clock is suffering from some kind of paralytic attack. There is a time in life, where one needs to go ahead, leaving behind your friends and carrying along only memories. You do make new friends, but then you never get the old close ones... You do meet people who'd be so good to you that you could tell them anything and everything, but you do not find a person to whom you needn't say things... friends who just know you.
Occasional calls from such friends, have been the only thing that I seem to look forward to... However, I cant help but notice the uneasy pause that lingers around the conversation.. A pause not because of the relationship, but because it is too short duration to say everything, and of course you cannot completely rule out the paucity of words!
As I sip coffee from the coffee mug, watching the drops of rain, trickling down the tinted glass panes, hiding the scenic beauty outside, I tell myself, may be there will be a day when things will change, when life will offer a rewind, a recap of all the events and I just have to wait. Unpredictable are the ways of life, for I know there would be many who'd be able to empathize with me, ironically, even the dear ones that I miss this moment, waiting perhaps...!! And I continue waiting..........