A touch of humanity

I tell you, all this rain is not so much of a good thing.

Another day gone by with the sun setting without much of a pomp. I mean, it's okay to have rains once in a while, you know, just to loosen things up a bit, a touch of lethargy for the mass of people hurrying about everyday, not even bothering to look at the roses. But the damp sky, the wet weather, the dull faces, filled potholes and slush.....oh man! Soon, it gets on you.

Now, I have a slight cold. The most infuriating thing about it is that the sneeze is about to come, and then it doesn't. You have your face all screwed up and your eyes squinted, ready for a good, nice, long sneeze and then it doesn't happen. That is the worst sickness ever.

Anyway, that's not what I am here to talk about. I was just crossing the much populated Poonamalle High Road today, with the inevitable drizzle carpeting down on us all, when I saw this other guy trying to do the same. I didn't pay much of an attention to him. He was of the wrong sex ;)

Then, we both reached the corner of the road at the same time and I stepped forward a bit. He instinctively touched my arm, just at the wrist and checked my progress. I looked to see a two-wheeler barelling down the road. It zipped past us. I wouldn't have been hit if I had taken that step. We then crossed the road, and he walked off without a word.

I looked at him for sometime. He din't know me, I didn't even see his face. But, at that instant, I felt a wave of gratitude sweep over me. I know he didn't exactly save my life or anything but that slight gesture restored my faith in humanity. No matter how late you are, how much you want to get to where you want to go, you always must and will find time for others. We have never lost humanity. It has just changed colors. In this world where any form of physical contact is more an intrusion of privacy, we yearn for the touch of another soul. Not the physical touch. But rather the reaching out of one human to another. Long live the people.