Two Lives Under The Same Sky
They say parallel lines never meet. It is one of the rules in mathematics, a fact so simple that most people accept it without a second thought.
Two lines can travel side by side forever, sharing the same direction and the same destination, yet never touched. No matter how close they seem, an invisible distance always remains between them.
Mumbai, was also built on parallel lines. Railway tracks stretched across the city like veins, carrying millions of people from one pace to another. Road ran alongside each other, crowded with cars and buses. Buildings stood tall, almost touching the sky, their window glowing in darkening sky.
Everyday, countless paths without ever knowing each other's name. Some remained strangers forever. Some get connected to each other, yet always distinct. The monsoon arrived on Thursday evening. Heavy clouds covered the sky, turning the city shaded of silver and grey.
Raindrop fell from the sky, making sound of drum against the rooftop, flowed thought crowded streets, and blurred lights of cars pasing from raod. The aroma of wet earth lingered in the air as the people hurried beneath umbrellas, trying to find shelter from rain.
Aarav wasn't one of them, standing on a rooftop of unfinished Building. He watched the rain fall over the city. His sketchbook rested nearby him, lost in the moment. From where he stood. Mumbai looked different. Quieter.
He tilted his head and looked toward the direction of sky and closed his eyes, trying to feel the touch of droplet on his face.
The rain felt familiar. It always had. Aarav, the one who always finds comfort in rain and storms that gives him stability. Rain never asked questions. It never expected answers. It simply existed, falling from sky without any explanation.
A distance train horn echoed throught the city. Aarav opened his eyes. He looked at city for some moment then he picked his sketchbook resting beside him, raindrops clung into its paper. He looked at the unfinshed sketch of city.
"Maybe, I should keep it as unfinished." Aarav said, looking at its sketch. Why is he keeping that unfinshed, no one knows. At least...now. He carefully wiped out droplets, put it into his bag and walked towards the stairs.
Rain has already stopped.
As he walked down the stairs, he paused on second floor. The wall was wet by rain water he touched the wall. He wondering maybe this wall also has its own story. Somewhere beneath the same sky there are many people making their way home, students, workers,, strangers, moving forward with their life.
He didn't know it but maybe amoung those lives someone would change everything for him. The rain didn't fall anywhere same. On some streets, it was loud, hiding metal roofs and signboards, tuning into musical sound into chaos.
On others, it was soft, dissolving into glass and window, hitting on leaves of trees as they brushed against each other, as if city was learning to breath under water.
He took the bus, he always notices the several tiny details of city that everyone ignores. The tiny cracks of window of bus, the birds resting on trees, reflection of bus when it passed by the glass window of building.
Bus stopped on station and he get off the bus. He noticed the cat tied red ribbon around its neck.
"I wonder who put that on stary cat" aarav muttered to himself. He crouched down patting the cat. He wondered—should I take you home? lifted up it in both of his hand.
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Far away from him, there is someone who standing at edge of Marine Drive where land meets the sea.
Her white shoes soaked in mud. She didn't seem to mind. The wind carried droplet of rain on her face making remind her that we are here—The first rain of monsoon.
Around her, people moved quickly, closing umbrellas as if the different colours of flowers blooming in that rain. But Ira stayed still like she needed to. Ira likes to watch the before they became memories in her mind. She likes to enjoy the moment, live them.
Her camera hung on neck, not raised just waiting for perfect time.
The soft waves of sea crashed into edge, falls on land. Where she stood there, it couldn't be decide where the sea end and the sky began.
Ira exhaled softly.
Building across the road blurred into shapes, their light melted into the wet pavement. Everything looked slightly unfinished like pixels from her photographs.
The horn of train echoing across the sky. The fainted glowing head lamb of train perfectly bending into Golden light evening.
She lifted her gaze towards the train. For some reason she clicked the pictures of train. But because she always felt like something important was happening somewhere she couldn't see yet.
She adjusted her grip on camera, looked at it to see the picture she had just clicked the train crossing over rails, the droplets of rain perfectly blending into the sky, unfinished Building in background giving cinematic yet casual look.
"Perfect," Ira chuckled joyfully. Then she noticed the someone standing above that unfinished building near marine drive in that photograph. Almost hidden by rain. She lifted her gaze on that rooftop of building but no one was there.
She lowered her camera and start to look at beautiful view of post rain.
The city continued breathing around her. Somewhere inside it, without knowing her, a life she had already unknowingly kept moving forward, just like her.
Ira checked the image again. The lighting on train and the water pool reflecting on them it's nothing but magical. Maybe photograph wasn't perfect. She never ran after that, just wanted to make memories to live them again.
She crouched near the edge and put the camera in her bag and walked towards the road.
As Ira walked towards bus station in middle of road, she noticed the white stray cat, fully wet shaking water off of it.
She crouched down offered her hand. The cat came towards her as if asking—hello there human. She gave it gentle patt. Then she immeditaly took out a red ribbon and made a bow around the neck of cat. She lifted the cat.
Then she saw the bus going nearby. She quickly put the cat down and ran after bus in hurry. After reaching the bus in minutes. "Oh no! I forgot to click picture of that cat." Ira exclaimed.
As the bus pulled away from station, Ira settled into her seat and glanced outside. A boy carrying a white cat disappeared into the crowd. She didn't pay much attention to him, neither have to, plugs the earphones in ears and played the music.
Neither of them knew it yet.
But some stories begin long before two people meet.
