…Continued from my previous article Connecting roots 1

I set out from my home to meet the old school pals. I had no car of my own and that day all the drivers were pre-occupied. I opted for public transportation. It was only after 30 minutes I realized I was stranded the same place I started and still miles to go. The phone kept ringing and I was offering one excuses after another.

The city cab- here it's a popular means of shared car pool ride had a queue of at least 10 dozen people standing in front of me. As luck would have it just when I touched the finishing line the cab posted a sign board- "Shared city cab closed for the day" – I was completely amazed and where do I stand now – Nowhere!! – In knee deep water.

Now my frantic efforts started to get a cab. The moment I was about to get into one of the yellow cabs the driver said- "Dada, (popularly called in city as big brother) you are few seconds late- I already got a passenger". I shouted and said ask her to get down as I am the one who came first- but as all men does – that cab driver did the same.

He was politer to the lady and maybe he wanted a beautiful lady in her 30s' to adorn her seats than a 45-year-old guy in me. So, he courteously turned his face back towards me and said sorry- try another cab. I was furious on the lady as I felt it was complete injustice. The lady might have felt pity in the mid forty guy and shouted from the rear window where will you be going? I smilingly replied – Close to Hazra Crossing- a popular junction in Kolkata South -She said come on in as I am headed the same direction and you can get down in between. That time I was so happy for my stroke of luck but for that feeling that I have achieved something. Well now without a second thought I somehow jumped on to the cab and made myself comfortable on the front passenger side of the vehicle. But within moments I realized I was too uncomfortable as there was a fan on the left of my ear touching my head kept bothering me with its rhythmic motion. The lady was courteous called me out from the back and said –

"you seem to be feeling in some sort of discomfort and please you can come at the back-passenger seat".

Humanity is not lost yet, and I asked the cab driver to make a stop and made myself way into the rear seat. I looked at her pretty face, sharp look well if the eyes were intense that I could not figure out then as she was wearing sunglass, intelligent smile, nice long hair wearing a traditional Bengali red and black/white textured saree with a red bindi on the forehead and full on smiles. We kept quiet for few minutes, but the cab did not move much because of heavy traffic. We picked up a conversation from the moment we sat together in the cab. We started enquiring bit and pieces of each others life and we connected well in a matter of 30 minutes of our journey. Social networking connected us instantly once we get down from the cab.

I found a new friend in Munmun and our friendship begun. She introduced me to her husband through her social networking chats and learnt various facets of life. The couple are adventure driven people and their marital happiness and bonding becomes even more stronger and adventurous when they travel long distance in wild treacherous destinations.

Marital bonding always becomes thick and thin the more the miles you travel together in unknown destination and under treacherous roads, undulating paths is what I learnt from my new-found friend. She wanted me to pen down how 2 strangers met liike a pure filmy bollywood style and I dedicate these few lines for her on our anniversary celebration of friendship. This is the beauty of Kolkata even now an absolute stranger can turn the tides in few minutes – the beauty of life and relationships. Despite the struggles there is always a helping hand – our journey for 30 minutes gave us a lifelong friendship bond.

The friendship bond becomes stronger even several seas and oceans away..Distance never create divisions it redefines relationships.

More to this journey in my next article….