Queue up Please!

“Stand in the line [read queue]”, my class teacher snapped.

 She had heard this as a child in school, and the days had been so since. It was line and line and lines everywhere. Lines to the park entry, lines for shopping at the supermarket, lines in electric offices, line for submitting tax, line for admission in school, line for the toilet, line for college admission forms, now-a-days on-‘line’ application, lines in the bus stand, lines to the auto stand, lines for eye-check-up and last not the least lines to the funeral pyre!

 

It has been a hell of day. I had to stand in the queue on the road for submitting the bill in the office which was on the 1^st floor of a tall building.

 

Had been to Presidency to submit brother’s application form. Just remembered the day when I had been here two years back for my admission. C had started shouting “it’s gone, it fell”, I suddenly saw an admit card bobbing up and down on the street. I was then wading through waist deep water with both my torn slippers slung over my shoulders through the streets of “College Street”. Now I was here again, preparing someone else for a similar test, hoping not in a similar situation!

 

Neither of the documents to be submitted was attested; so we had to run to Derozio hall to find some professor to attest them. Moreover their was some problem with the application form. The guy at the dispute settlement counter solved it and advised us to head for the Statistics department, where luckily forms were being attested by someone. Unassumingly we headed their, hoping to find some old professor helping the ‘Cows’ in need. ;)

Now begins… We entered and found a guy of our age fidgeting with some forms. I asked him, “Excuse me, can you please tell me where we can possibly get these attested?”. Without looking up he answered, “Give me the forms.”. He went through them and asked me for the originals. Then he asked me for a pen, checked everything out and started signing!

I was stunned, the guy seemed to be a Kid, and he was attesting! That meant he was a professor, and that too in Presidency, one of the heritage institutions! I was clean bowled, so was C. The guy had a deep voice and blue eyes and just of our age. C suffered bouts of “Oh God’s” from then. But I was thankful, “Thank God”, we did not have to stand in a queue to meet the guy :P

 

We returned to the long long form submission queue. Both of us were silent, possibly figuring out ways to return back to the office and talk to the guy ;) Ultimately, I suggested attesting some more documents, not because I needed them, but because they would be a fine pretext! We did that, and we talked even, this time gathering courage and taking deep breaths to stabilize ourselves before entering the office. :P

 

Even my headache vanished for the time being, nevertheless we were satisfied, what a cute guy, he couldn’t even make eye-contact, probably nervous in front of two girls; standing in a queue :P

 

It was a long day, with my head throbbing painfully.

 

 

I was in the auto stuck in “queue” in a traffic jam. A cab stopped by us. Their were three people inside, an aged man, an aged woman [probably the man’s wife] and a middle aged man [probably her son]. The old woman was slumped on the backseat with both of them on either sides. As the cab moved forward I saw the middle-aged man put something in her mouth, it was then I realized she was suffering from asthma, she seemed breathless.

 

Suddenly as the cab moved, an auto came up. A little baby looked up, his face contorted, became pink and he started crying.

 

Was he crying for the old woman who was on the verge of losing her life whereas he had just stepped in the world and was just next in the queue?

Please do read and comment on my efforts if you find this post popping up anywhere near you :P