unlucky girl

It was raining that day .Not just typical downpour with the wind blowing or the leaves rustling but this rain was the cold, unfriendly kind. The university was full of students, talking in small groups, big groups holding backpacks, umbrellas or laptops, some talking on cell phones some listening to music or studying, some locked in a romantic hug or kiss, while some just sat and watched the scene.

She was one of them .Every inch of her was soaked as she just sat there in the yard despite the rain. While other students were in a sheltered area, she couldn't be bothered to move from that bench. She stood up finally and slowly strolled to the parking lot. Some people stared at this weird girl, attractive in her own way, sloppily dressed with kajal smudging her eyes, but she continued to stare at the ground. As she passed the vehicles on the way to her car she couldn't recognize the girl in her reflection. When had she become this empty person? When had her life become so pointless? How come everything was falling apart only around her? Why does everyone else look so content? Why couldn't everyone else suffer exactly like she was?

She sat there in the driver’s seat with the key in the ignition but the engine off. The rain pouring down and blurring her vision beyond the insides of the car and she pondered over her life. According to her she was a cold, pathetic, ugly, unlucky existence with no friends. She owned a house but not a home, no one to miss her and no opportunity to excel in life.

Her parents had separated when she was 13. Her father remarried his lover and her mother had slowly lost her mind. The girl was sent to this city to study by her father only because he wanted her out his life in Delhi and she knew it. She was barely interested in her major but just went on with it anyway as she had nothing better to do. People behaved weird around her and when she was not around didn’t know she existed. She had no dreams or ambitions no interests or hobbies. Besides herself she hated only her 9th grade teacher for calling her a pessimist. 'The most unlucky girl in the world' was how she defined herself.

Twenty minutes passed and the sound of the bell ringing in the university building snapped her out of her day-dream of self-pity. She turned on the engine and the radio pulled down the window and drove off. The streets were packed with people, walking, shopping ,children playing in the streets, chai-wallas, vegetable and fruit vendors on the foot path, newspaper salesmen rag-pickers and beggars .A typical Wednesday evening. She was renting an apartment Fifteen minutes away from her university but in this evening rush hour it took at least Forty-Five to get there. While driving she continued to think about her mindless and useless life and wondered what she did so wrong to deserve it.

Just 3 kilometers from her house the signal turned red and she just missed the cut. Frustrated she settled in as this was going to be a long one. A big old rickety- crikety bus pulled up next to her car. A beggar girl, could not have been more than seven or eight years old was standing in front of her car. The child was completely wet, her hair left lose had burnt and turned slightly yellow because of the scorching heat and her skin was peeling. Her dress was 2 sizes too small and she wore no shoes on her feet. And as a popular Hindi song began to play on the radio the child sang along and walked over to the bus which was covered with dusty moist muck and with her little angelic sun-burnt fingers began to etch the alphabet onto the bus. She wrote A B C missed out the D and continued with E. Her small scarred innocent face had lit up with a smile on completing till Z after which she began with 1 2 3.The girl in the car watched.The signal turned green, the child ran off and there she sat changed for life.