Selfie

He signs off for the day by offering his laptop bag to be checked by security. Once security completed his chore the man thanked him. To which security said “Thanks...Good Night, Sir” with an infectious smile. “Good Night” he promptly greeted back with the same warmth. I observed them from close quarters, (as I stood behind him for my turn,) both their smiles looked genuine, there were no plasticity in them. He strode past me after collecting his laptop bag. I didn't hesitate to follow him.

He reminded me about my confidant who greets every support staff invariably, which is still on my bucket list. His walk didn't qualify as a top notch ramp walk, at the same time it didn’t fail to draw one's attention. I didn't find difficult to get his foot tap in sync with mine. Soon this luxury would go away, if I didn’t walk beside him. More people were bound to bust into our personal space, as the final stretch is bit narrower towards the exit.

It looked like he was completely detached from his surroundings and didn't bother to scan around, whereas I eagerly browsed the area occasionally. I was surprised to see him acknowledging bystanders who were busy trying to issue pamphlets, which took me back to an incident which happened that same morning. I was trying to get into my office through down another road which runs parallel to this one, but at the time I didn't bother to heed an elderly woman’s plea for a job. I guess if he had been in my shoes he would have helped her.

With that lingering thought, I lost track of him, crossed the junction and got into the most comfortable shared automobile available from the stacked queue, (neither first in, first out, nor last in first out). I had to wait for a few minutes, (as comforts comes with its own price tag,) so to have share an automobile shared with other fellow passengers to push off. In the meantime, I started scanning the surroundings to kill time. There, I spotted him again in my radar. He too was waiting in another shared auto to get a ride back to his home.

I could see a healthy mix of male and female boarding (in the shared auto,) which should put both gender to some sort of ease, otherwise it’s difficult for one when the other outnumbers. I am quasi-satisfied, as the shared auto which I boarded started moving whereas his share auto had yet to start. I tried looking for some interesting character inside my shared auto but couldn't get one during initial scanning. So I started peeping out, that was when his auto crossed us. Oh my gosh, he was outnumbered massively there by girls, but still looking calm and composed.

I would have gotten a strain in my neck if I had kept looking in one direction, I hope he doesn't get into that situation. I thought of checking with him once he got out. I switched my view to get a glimpse of the four wheeler to check their way of negotiating unruly drivers, and that's when I happened to spot a couple seated in front of me.

Thankfully, they didn't do anything romantic, other than the girl asking him to put his hand over her shoulder, then she spread his palm to have her face rested sideways to get a quick nap. I was forced to change my view this time so that I didn’t intrude their privacy. In few minutes, we reached our alighting point after disembarking, I quicken my steps to catch his pace, (as he got down a bit ahead of us,) so that I can get into a conversation with him.

“Dude, if you don't mind me asking, were you comfortable during your ride from office? ”

"Why you wanted to know?"

"Hi, I am kind of an amateur author trying to sketch office going dude in shared auto"

"Oh ok...Even i shares my experience by instagraming .. Would you mind to take a selfie now so that I can instagram my first day in shared auto"

“I don't if you would answer after taking selfie”

“Yes, I will”

We took a selfie by standing away from pedestrian without creating nuisance. Then, I looked back at him hoping for an answer. To which he asked me to check the just shot selfie. I quickly navigated to album folder and tapped the just shot selfie when it popped up I could see there was an image of just my face. Turns out, we both looked exactly the same. Or is this post all about me alone but I hate taking selfies.

–- Edited by Lou