Metro On the Run

3 - Him

How Much?"
"It's alright, keep it", she smiles at me.
Taken aback I stood there as she leaves, she turns around after I stare into her back and shouts, "go off now, you're gonna be late!"
I turn around and make my way to the platform
Standing here, near the window sill amidst so many people I wonder how so many pairs of eyes with so many stories keep it together and not burn inside, little by little.
I see into a tensed 24-year-old guy's
eyes and the struggles he's been going through to get that job and buy that microwave his mum always wanted
I see an old man in his 70's with a walking stick in his hands reliving those memories, cursing today's discrimination and inequality in society.
I also see another man in his 70's reading the newspaper and smoking a cigar.
I see a family of four, experiencing metro for the first time with kids amazed, swinging around the middle pole.
I see a teenager frustrated with the kids, reviewing her notes for the exam.
I see a mother with her children running late for school.
I see an employee running errands for his co-workers.
I see a lot of empty souls trying to be worthy enough to live with a dying and passionate heart to do something different.
I see their faces, a sadness enveloping their minds.
Trying to distract my mind I grab my phone and all I see are so many Muslim students suffering all over India right now and for what?
Reminding the government of their rights?
Asking our country's democracy and secularism back, to keep our faith and religion?
And these are just some of the dozens of people I see everyday and I only grow more and more curious about them.
At that moment I unconsciously miss a random blue hijab, hoping for her safety.
My heart grows weaker as I look at more pictures, all I could do right now is close my eyes and pray. "NEXT STATION, ASSEMBLY. DOOR'S WILL OPEN ON THE LEFT. PLEASE MIND THE GAP."