The search is on.

Joe is 45 and single. Had girl friends but none worked for him. He is complex, confused and intelligent. He is talented and is well settled. Lives in a nice posh apartment in Mumbai.

Joe is shifting to another area tomorrow not far from where he is currently staying. He is tired after making all the arrangements for tomorrow and has just lied down to sleep. He cannot sleep as usual.

He dreams of the same face, he sees them every night since his childhood.

Its 8 in the morning and his phone is ringing. It’s his mom calling.
"Hi dear how r u",  Mom I’m good"
" Is the packing done", "Ya mom"
"Mom I will be talking to you later, bye"
"Joe wait, I just wanted to tell about this call , I got yesterday".
"It was from some Mr Matthew, he is looking for a Match for his daughter".
"She is 35, her husband died 3 years back in an accident"
"Mom, enough, please, don't ruin my day, I am keeping the phone, bye take care".
"Ok son, bye take care and do not forget to call Sam, it his anniversary today".

Sam is Joe's younger brother, happily married for 8 years and lives in US. Joe's mother has every reason to get worried about Joe. Its not usual for guys of his age to be still unmarried. Besides she is more worried because of the strange behavioral pattern Joe has shown whenever, he either got into a relationship or for any marriage proposals. Joe scared his mom several times whenever he shared about his thoughts and views and especially about this face he dreams of.

Joe is driving towards the new flat and is stuck in the usually heavy traffic of Mumbai.
"Hey you, if you don't know how to drive, then don't"
"Hey you can't you hear the horn, a**h**le"

He stops the car at the road side and lights a cigarette. He gets a a glimpse of this girl at the bus stop just a few yards behind him. He is surprised and hurriedly gets out of the car. He couldn't see her as a bus just stopped in front of her and she bored it. The girl looked a teenager and was perhaps in a school dress.

He gets back in the car and drives on towards his new flat. Its 9 in the evening, and had a hard day settling down in the new flat. He lies down in the bed, after the not so good meal. It’s tough to live alone, which he had been living ,now for 20-25 years since he left his parents.

He gets on his track suit and goes for a walk in the new locality park. The bus stop was just outside the part by the Road.
He thought , he might see the girl again. After the walk, he was returning to his flat, he saw the girl in a cycle with a few other friends. He was shocked and  surprised, he could not believe his eyes. It’s her. it’s her , it’s the face.


He hurries for his flat, get the car and drives on the road towards the direction the girl was riding on. He didn’t hope to find her. But he saw her standing by the road side talking with some friends.

He waited, patiently but still shocked , he so longed to see this girl. He could not resist himself, he wanted to talk to her. The girl was back on her bicycle and had started riding , maybe towards her own home.

He followed her, the girl felt that she was being followed and started to ride faster. She got nervous and rode into her apartment complex. He followed her into the apartment and he saw her getting into the lift. He waited and notice the lift went to the 6 floor, he took the neighboring lift and rushed to 6 floor. He heard the door of 605 closing.

He is still very excited and cannot stop himself, he is bit frightened, but cannot stop himself , he has waited for this moment so long. He goes to the door and knocks. "Who is it", Joe remains silent.  Joe hears the door being opened.
"Yes, how can I help you", Joe was speechless, it was not the girl he saw in bus stop, but perhaps her elder sister or her mother or a maid" "Yes...." "Joe says , I'm looking for ...for...."Mr Madhav"."Mr Madhav doesn't live here" "Thanks". The door closes.


He is back in his room and lies down .He starts to get the same thoughts, the same emotions and sees her face again. He talks and talks and goes to a park with her, hand in hand. He looked so happy. He wakes up goes back to the same apartment complex the next morning.

He waited for few hours, he saw the girl come out along with a Man his age, could be her father.
He follows them. The girl's dad noticed him and turned back and asked "What do you want". Joe was speechless ....The girl said "Dad he was following me yesterday and came knocking at our door".  "Hey what do you want" ...Joe was scared, he started running away". The girl and his dad were confused....."Joe looked pretty descent and rich...."


Latter he musters all his courage and goes to the girls flat and knock again, the door opens and a middle aged lady answers the door. He could not believe his eyes, it was the same face, it was her. He asked her if they were new to the city. She said "No why...who are you". He said just want to know a few things. "Why ..what for...do you live in this apartment" " No ....can you please tell me .....when you got married...."  She slam the door on his face.

He left and started walking back to his flat. He didn't knew what to do or think. But he knew for sure that he missed something long long back. He felt it was injustice, why she could not have crossed him 20 years back. He slept with this thought.