Another long story, cut short

It was a cloudy morning of August. Traffic was moving slowly from Parihar Chowk bus stop in Aundh towards Pune Infotech Park. The puddles on the road were providing no help to the traffic flow either. Some notorious drivers were splashing dirty black water, with little concern for those waiting for 6-seaters, the commonly used public transport.

Raghu always chose Parihar Chowk bus stop for the hunt. He had just started working, and his apartment, which he shared with 2 other friends, was walking distance from the point. While his room-mates preferred the reliable 6-seaters or autos to go to office, he always waited for a lift. That was a point where cars usually slowed down to take a left or a right, and Raghu knew that the chances of a driver giving in to his thumb-charms were enhanced when the car was at its slowest speed. He had his strategy in place. His timing while asking for the lift was perfect. He got a lift everyday.

Vishal was also waiting at Parihar Chowk. He was a small-town boy, and new in the city of Pune. Like almost every other person waiting there, he too was destined for one of the swanky software company offices at the Infotech Park. He was late today, and had missed the 9:30 6-seater. He hoped that another one would come by soon.

It had started to drizzle. Raghu was not worried as he missed the 9:30 6-seater. He knew he would find a lift. He was so sure that he had started being selective recently. The lift wasn't that important - the right car was. He preferred classy people driving big air-conditioned cars for his ride to the office. He always made a perfect conversation, and the drivers were so impressed with the young boy that some of them even asked for his resume and offered him a job. Ofcourse Raghu never sent his resume. He wanted a lift, not a job.

Vishal contemplated taking an auto, but autos were too expensive, and he did not want to spend 100 bucks for a ride to office. He hated to haggle with the auto-waalas. He was certainly not the kinds who would ask for a lift, though secretly he wished that someone would stop by, and give him a ride to his office. An auto-waala stopped near him, asked if he was interested, and Vishal politely denied. The auto-waala drove off, spitting pan and swearing in Hindi.

Raghu was singing a song in the light drizzle, when lightning struck. He had waited for some time now, and it was about to rain heavily. Was he running out of luck today? He tried to dispel the thoughts. He decided that he will charm the hell out of the driver today, and insist that he be dropped right in front of his office gate. He had done it before, and he knew he will do it today. As he was rejoicing thinking about his past achievements, it started pouring. He began his frantic attempts and started asking everyone for a lift, but it seemed it wasn't his day today. It was raining heavily now. With no auto or shelter around, it took only a few minutes before he was completely drenched. Office was out of question now.

Raghu reluctantly started his walk back home. He felt dejected. He knew there was no point in crying in the rain, as nobody would notice his tears anyways. He smiled at the irony. He would go home today, and analyse what went wrong today. His self-confidence had taken a hit, and for a moment he toyed with the idea of taking a 6-seater like regular people.

Vishal was still at the bus stop when it started to drizzle. There was no 6-seater in sight, and Vishal knew that it would take a miracle now for him to reach office on time.

It had just started pouring and Vishal was scurrying for cover when a shiny metallic Honda City stopped next to him. Raghu opened the door for Vishal, and asked him to hop on. It was raining heavily now, but both of them were cruising down the road without a worry.

Pleasantries were exchanged, and they were chatting about weather, work, and roads. Vishal could not stop thanking Raghu, whom he preferred calling Sir, inspite of Raghu's insistence that he be called Raghu. It was only when they were about to reach that Raghu asked him - 'Boy! why did you not ask for a lift.'? Vishal had no answer. He started stuttering - 'Err...I was about to....I was actually waiting for...err...'.

'Never mind' - interrupted Raghu. 'You know it was about to rain heavily. I wish somebody had stopped for me like this 5 years back'.