Reaching Out

                                                   Reaching out

Every bit of sound coming from the other side of her room pricked Richa’s ears.with bated breath she waited for somebody to open the door and appear to her view but it never happened.Her window opened in the common courtyard which was attached to the other end of her house where her tenant stayed.

 He  was a boy in his twenties of lean body medium height and of unsure gait.He had almost begged  for the accommodation since his place of work was quite nearby and no other rental vacancy being available.Richa’s mother like an inveterate land lord scrutinized him from head to toe and seemed not interested but Richa  took pity on him .The boy was almost half in and half out of the main gate almost buoyed there not daring to enter fully inside.His dangling ID card swayed a little and that ubiquitous  official tie  made him look all the more pathetic.it was getting dark and Richa could not see his face properly but his anxious gaze went through her curious scrutiny.She asked him in.He sat on the sofa gingerly fidgeting all the time as if afraid to look at ease.He tugged at his I-card and mumbled something feebly.He was trying to assure them regarding the rent etc.The deal was done and he seemed to be relaxed.He sunk a little deeper into the seat and was in no hurry to leave.Out of politeness Richa asked him for tea which he accepted  as if waiting on cue.He slurped the tea and almost hungrily took the snacks with free abandon.And very respectfully he left.He seemed to be new to the place .A middle class mama’s boy who had left his native place to work in a metropolitan city.His gawky and unsure gait entailed the many hardships which he might  go through while making a place for himself.Richa left and forgot all about him.

On her next visit to her mother she found him sitting with her mother on her bed.She felt happy for him seeing him settled.She wished him and smiled at him.He reciprocated but did not seem much enthused.He was munching on some snacks and continued with it while reading some old news paper  which Richa might have left during her last visit.Richa tried to enter into a conversation with him but he hardly responded.He seemed to be engrossed in that old newspaper and with finishing  off the remaining tidbid pieces of snacks while her mother giving company to him munching the same fare and rapt in her labyrinthine tale of her past life which would reach its culmination only when the person in front would turn into a zombie not knowing whether to yell or run away.But right now the fellow in front of her seemed to be unaffected nonchalant with not a bit of response or reaction on his face.Richa got up quietly and went to the kitchen to make a cup of tea for herself.Keeping an eye whether the fellow had left-he did when he had polished off almost the entire plate and her mothers voice trailing  after him..