A strange story

It was drizzling, the cold wind was blowing towards my face and I loved it, I loved the fact that the cool wind had a calming effect, it brought peace to me, it made me happy, it made me think.  I could see families, friends, and lovers walking the streets of Fairfax- Old town. I was alone, me and my music, with an ice cream in one hand, and Sierra Mist in the other. “Everyone stares at the strange girl sitting in front of a fountain and eating ice-cream in a drizzle, smiling at times, at times looking like she is about to cry, and only another strange person would be captivated by her act and come talk to her” said a man, his hair was grey, he looked wise, he had a smile on his face, surprisingly he didn’t scare me, neither did he made me feel uncomfortable. “When I was young, I had plans for myself, some plans happened, some did not” he said, “by the way my name is Michael, what is your name?” “My name is Manavi” I said, “huh?” said Michael, “oh, my name is a bit difficult, Manavi, it’s a Nepali name” “So you are from Nepal?” “I have been there, once, me and my wife, we fell in love with your country’s raw beauty, it is a very beautiful country, and seems like Nepali women are very pretty too” , I blushed and said thank you. “I served my country for 18 years, I was in the US army, I wanted to travel the world, I did, I wanted to get married, I did, I wanted to have kids, I did” “We had a son, and we hoped he too would serve his country like his father but god had some other plan, our son was diagnosed with leukemia when he was 5, we lost him when he was 18, me and my wife are still trying to get over his death” , he continued with a smile on his face “but we are happy, still moving on in life” , “so what’s your story” he said, I laughed “my story?” I said, “well I have lived for 65 years, and I have seen people, many people, and only when people have a lot on their mind, they sit in front of a fountain eating ice-cream in a drizzle” I smiled and said “nothing, I am just thinking” , “ I am seriously lonely, I can’t believe I am all ready to pour my heart out to a stranger, a stranger I have met only for a few minutes",  I said to myself.

“I want to write, but I am not a very good writer, I want to travel the world but right now I don’t have the money, I want to make my parents proud, but I don’t know how, I am not sure if I will ever do that” I said, he listened intently, I continued “I see him in my dreams every night, he sweeps me off my feet, he treats me like a princess, he says he loves me and he will love me despite my weirdness, my stupidities, my foolishness  and my imperfections, but I don’t know who he is, I haven’t even seen his face, all I know is he is my dream man”  I laughed, “continue, you never know a stranger might have answers to your questions, he might help you find a solution to your problem, he might be able to help you find yourself’ he said. “I am not perfect, I am not par excellence, I am not awesome, but most of the times I tell myself I am the best, the prettiest, I tell almost everyone in my life they don’t match up to me, they think I am proud and boastful, what they don’t know is, there is this little girl inside of me who longs to be happy, who longs to be held, who is scared, who is insecure, who has no body but that little girl who cries for her always”.  “You are still young, you have so much to do, why do you feel that way?” said Michael  “I have been independent since I was eighteen years old, I got my first job offer then, it was at a radio station. Every day I used to go for my training, write scripts, practice, and when the  training was over everyone got the opportunity to go  live on air but me, they said: I needed more practice, but I knew I was better than most of them, I was ready, I guess it just wasn’t meant to be. I waited and I waited for my turn, it never came, at times I wished my dad owned that radio station, oh well wishes are only wishes, I started to grow impatient and  one fine day I just couldn’t take it, I told my trainer ‘I am good, you know that, but why are you not letting me go live on the radio, she said nothing,  she had a smirk on her face, it aggravated me further, so I said “one year from now I will work for Nepal’s number one radio station” and I walked out. Even before the year ended, with god’s grace,  I ended working  for  Nepal’s number one radio station. I loved my job, I was happy; radio had always been my first love. After three years I was offered to work for television: I had to choose my first love or my new crush, I chose my new crush and decided to work for Kantipur Television.”  “At that time I was dating my high school sweetheart,  he was in the British army in London and I was in Nepal, long distance relationships never work out, one or other falls out of love, in this case it was me,. I fell out of love and fell in love with another man, a man I thought was the love of my life. I am not the kind of girl who takes and takes everything, but when it came to him, I overlooked everything, no matter what I had to go through I was ready to forgive him and now he is getting married. At times I wonder, will I ever find a man who loves me for me, who will respect me and who will make me trust him, it’s been 2 years and yet I am as lonely as I can be.” 

“Life is full of surprises, you can never tell when and where it will take a turn and change your life for good” he said, “how old are you?” he asked, I answered “I am 24”, “My son would be the same age, I don’t know  why but I feel he would have  fallen in love with you instantly” he said, I laughed, he continued to speak “I am not saying this to make you feel better, I have spent almost two 2 hours talking to you and I have come to a conclusion, listen: you are beautiful, you have a good heart, you are bright and smart, if any guy cannot see that, he doesn’t deserve you,  you deserve to sit around people who love you, not sit all by yourself, you will get what you want, trust me, and 10 years from now when you start travelling the world, earn more than you have imagined, write a best seller, remember this old man who told you, you will shine with the stars” , “Thank you, I said”, “it was a pleasure talking to you Manavi, good bye” he said.

As I watched him walk away, I wondered how can a stranger tell me I will shine with stars, I will be happy in my life, I wondered if he was not a stranger, I wondered if he was sent by god to help me, to talk to me, to just listen to what I have to say. Life is full of surprises, I agree , people come and go, some people no matter if you have known them your entire life, they never understand but sometimes a mere stranger can look deep into your soul. I guess that’s the beauty of life, that’s the magic I always seek for.