...strangers are pop-ins

Yesterday, as I would do on any weekend, I was roaming the crowded streets of Hyderabad with my friend in his bike and we hit a red light. From our past experience we knew that its break time for our loyal motorcycle and let it sleep. Lost in thought, I merrily started whistling a favourite sound track from Kill Bill (you know, the piece that Daryl Hannah whistles when she goes as a nurse to kill Uma Thurman). When my senses came back to the real world, I found myself looking past a girl next to me. She gave hard glare at me and started raising her scooter's throttle periodically like a racer waiting for the "go" signal. I thought "Great! Now I am a loafer!" I foolishly smiled and raised my hand as a sign of apology. She hastily looked away feeling more insecure, most probably thinking "Crap! Now he is trying to talk to me! *&$@^>?*! Do they pull them aside and teach them to do this or something?". And she was off like a horse at the signal and turned right. I don't know if she was actually headed right or if that was an impulsive decision.

That made me think about all the strangers I meet every day. It struck me then, that strangers are like pop-ins. They come in different colors and tastes and melt out quickly from your mind. And the taste of these pop-ins are not only in them, but also in your tongue! And this tongue of yours is made of millions of taste buds like, your personality, state of mind, age, sex, status, what you are doing, what you are wearing, where you are going and many other things.

- To a baby, a stranger is probably a green coloured alien with transmitters in his head (recall that puzzling look in their face before they start wailing?),
- To an unemployed, he is a potential job opportunity,
- To a guy carrying heavy cash, he is a probable pick-pocket (remember the crowded bus or the guy standing behind you in the ATM?),
- To a girl's father (or a girl herself), he is a potential loafer,
- To someone who has realised that he/she is badly dressed, he is all eyes,
- To a single-and-looking, he is a potential date,- To someone like Forest Gump, a stranger is a great pass time, (remember Tom Hanks in that bus stop?),
- To a blogger, he is a faceless audience.
At some point of time, I have been all the taste buds and all the pop-ins (sadly, the single-and-looking is an exception). As the famous phrase goes, "...life is a box of chocolates.". Well, strangers are just a little bit different, aren't they?