"I should stop wasting my time and finish my report," she thought as she closed the facebook window. Once again Samridhi had found herself living in the past, going through the photos and posts from the last year. But she has a fast approaching deadline and that is why she was here.
This was one of her favourite places to work from. She loved sitting in this quite corner sipping some amazing Nepali coffee. People didn't disturb her here, mostly because she rarely met anyone she knew, so she was generally able to get her work done easily enough.
But today was different; today she was finding it difficult to finish this report. Her mind was wandering and she was unable to focus. She only had three days before the submission deadline and she was nowhere near done. She knew that she no longer has enough time to edit it, for now at least. "Well good thing it is just the draft," her colleague had said to her earlier that day, "Send out the draft and take some time to refresh. After that you can really focus on the final version." She knew he was right, this was the last report of the project and this will take some revisions before it gets just right. As far as she was concerned, this is her last assignment here, her contract will end in three months and that should be enough time for her to wrap this project up. She had no intention of extending her contract, she wanted to follow through her plan - finish this and start her new life. The thought of her new life filled her, once again, with a sense of obscurity. She didn't want to think of that right now. She just wanted to get her work done but that was not going too well either.
"Today is not my day," she thought, "I'll get back to it in the morning." As she finished for the day and closed her laptop, she figured it was a good time for another cup of coffee. She usually doesn't drink more than two cups a day, but maybe she could go a bit overboard today. The taste of her last cup of coffee had already vanished from her lips and after all she was still at her favourite coffee place.
As she took the first sip, she could feel her taste buds come alive. Samridhi loved the vividness of strong coffee - the raw bitterness of it somehow made her cherish it more, somehow made her succumb to it. Much like the way people tend to go after that which hurts them, Samridhi went after those things, people, experiences, that were bitter, painful, and uncomfortable. Experiencing the bitterness of her coffee was one of the few pleasures in her life right now. Her life was so engrossed on closing this chapter and starting the next, that she had taken a break from taking breaks and enjoying the little pleasures of life that she once so cherished, one of them of course was the coffee at this place.
By the time she hopped on her scooter to get back home, it was dark, she didn't live that far away from the cafe, and she could potentially avoid traffic at this hour, this was a good time to go back home. The thought of cruising through the road, in the cool of the evening and avoiding traffic, was making her smile. She put on her jacket, her mask and her helmet. She was ready to ride on. Indeed there was not much traffic towards her home, she was happy on her scooter. Although covered by a mask and her helmet visor, Samridhi enjoyed what little bit of wind she could feel on her face. Feeling the wind on her face, on her hair, while she was on a scooter was another simple pleasure she cherished, but that was taken away from her the same way it was taken away from the hundreds of thousands of people who lived in this city.
She looked around the road, there were no street lights there - there rarely are any in this city, but the roads were getting some light from the shops on either side. This will be quite different in the new place where she will start her new life. "Nowhere in the world can be like Kathmandu," she started to say to herself feeling a bit annoyed by its polluted, lightless, broken roads, "but then again, nowhere in the world can be like Kathmandu!" it was true and she wasn't exactly happy about that. Nowhere else had she grown up, nowhere else had she made her memories, nowhere else will her life be as comforting and protected as here. "Am I really looking forward to following through my plans?" she often wondered.
Just as she was getting back from her thoughts she missed a pothole in the road and was unable to balance her scooter. She fell to the side of the road. It took her a while to get back on her feet, only after a few pedestrians held her scooter off of her. She wasn't hurt too bad, just a scratch on her left arm and leg. She wasn't speeding so fast and she didn't feel too hurt. As she was thanking the people who helped her, before getting back on her scooter, one of them told her to get the wounds checked. "Thank you, I will," she said back, but she wasn't going to, it was just a scratch, who gets a superficial skin wound checked?
After a few minutes of riding, she saw lights from a pharmacy lighting the road. It made her wonder if she should get some antiseptic for her wounds, it is perhaps the smart thing to do and Samridhi was the practical kind. Although she was sure the wounds were nothing, she was the kind to put in a bit of effort to avoid a possible infection.
She went to the parking lot of the hospital next to the pharmacy to park her scooter and walked out. The pharmacy was crowded, with only three staff trying to serve everyone. She finally managed to get the attention of one and asked for an antiseptic solution. A bit annoyed by her the staff wanted to know which brand, it seemed like he was saying, "Why are you making my work more difficult, just tell me exactly what you want and be on your way." No Samridhi didn't understand his annoyance, she explained to him that she fell from her scooter and wanted to use some antiseptic on her wounds, she is sure it is nothing, just a scratch, but it is better to take precautions, after all she doesn't want to end up with an infection..., her thoughts had a tendency of pouring out unexpectedly. "Didi, if you want to avoid infection may be it is better you pop into the emergency room for a quick check," he was being both considerate of her situation and also didn't want to waste too much of his time on her. There were so many more people he needed to get to, without another word he moved on to the next person.
Knowing she won't get his attention again anytime soon, Samridhi reluctantly went in the emergency room of the hospital; it had that peculiar medical smell that she hated. She completed the paperwork, paid the fees, and was directed to a chair. A medical staff looked at her wounds, "The wounds are not deep, don't worry," she said, "I'll clean and dress the wounds and give you a precautionary shot." She was all done within 15 minutes, sometimes the efficiency of this city surprised her, but generally it was the inefficiency that she found bewildering.
As she picked her bag and walked out she couldn't help but think how long a day this has been, she was happy she was finally on her way back home, she could use a good night's sleep. She was barely out of the door when she felt a tap on her shoulder and a voice asking, "Sammy, is that you?"
Samridhi couldn't believe it, she hadn't seen him in how long? 10 years? May be more. For a split second she couldn't believe it was him, but she knew better. They had grown up together, there was no way she could mistake him, just as there was no way he could mistake her. Her face was probably a reflection of her confusion, so without waiting anymore for her to respond, the smiling face in front of her said, "Don't you recognize me? It’s me, Kartik," and gave her a familial hug.
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