Cycle of Time

4.A strange fellow

Uben woke up the next day refreshed. He had a good night's sleep, and noticed that he had fallen asleep with Maya's writing in his hand.

Reading it had taken him back to his own childhood, to a time that was so different to now. For the human race, the world in which it lived had transformed so quickly that it seemed as if, he was always trying to catch his breath. Trying to keep up. His interest in human behaviour was his respite. It allowed him a chance to put some space between himself and the rest of humanity; to look at the daily grind from the grandstand and be a spectator that was a relief. Looking out from his apartment window, he looked keenly at the people walking down below.

There were patterns even from this distance. There was a rhythm and a speed at which everyone walked. The ones who entered this stream of people from the subway exits, soon seemed to take on this rhythm automatically. They seemed to become who they were with. Then there were random people, who distracted by their thoughts or devices would make sudden unexpected moves. The flow of people would quickly swallow them up, bring them back to the realisation that they were part of this one human stream, and they would readjust to the majority very quickly. There would be a localised swirl that lasted a bit longer sometimes, when a coordinated group of people tried to be different like a flash dance on the street that happened rarely. But this too would die down in a while, as soon as the group had their purpose and their money. Uben saw this every morning and night. It was how things were.

Rarely, very rarely there were those people who seemed to be out of rhythm, and the flow seemed unable to contain them. Sometimes it was someone late for a train, or someone trying to desperately catch someone in front of them. It wasrare to see someone walk at his own pace, slower than the rest, in his own rhythm. The man Uben noticed wasn't sick or unable to walk faster. He appeared to have chosen to walk at this slow pace, unlike the others he seemed to be on a journey with no particular destination. These things interested Uben. His gaze continued to follow the movements of this stranger. He sat down on the same bench that Maya has sat on, the other day. He seemed like an observer himself, acutely aware of his surroundings and what was going on around him. But it seemed like a distant and relaxed awareness, unlike Uben's focus on the stranger. After a while he dipped into his bag and took out a book! He didn't even try to hide it.

Almost because he continued to read so nonchalantly, people did not seem to notice, or care. He was enjoying his book amidst this collective unawareness. As these thoughts passed through Uben's mind the stranger suddenly looked back and upwards straight into Uben's eyes. For a moment, both remained transfixed in each other's gaze. After the initial transfix was broken, Uben found that he was gesturing him to come and meet him, still in this half trance. Uben moved down to meet him.

"Hello, I just saw you looking at me out of the window and thought it would be interesting to talk to you"

"Sorry about that I wasn't trying to pry on you. But you seemed so different from the rest I couldn't help but notice,"Uben said sheepishly.

"Well I've got the whole day to be interesting" he said and shuffled over on the bench allowing Uben space to sit.

"Well I'm Uben"

"I am Anjaya"

So as Uben explained his observations from his room and why his attention was drawn to Anjaya, Anjaya himself laughed. "Well I will have to agree that your observations could be right. I must confess I have never been one to do things as others do".

"I am a monk of sorts you know" he added on second thought.

Uben was interested now.

"What sort of monk".