Path

As I walked towards the setting sun,

Darkness covered my path,

Slowly it cast a shadow,

My destination still afar...

Eyes wide open, couldn't see a thing,

Heart pounding, imagination running wild,

The unknown in the darkness haunted me,

The pouring rains wouldn't subside...

I slowly tread along this damp, dark path,

The weight on my back got heavier,

Yet I hoped for the ray of light,

To pierce the darkness, burn away my fear...

Waiting for the sun's warmth,

To soothe my cold, torn body,

Waiting for her loving, soft touch,

To bring me back to life...

Come life, bring me another challenge,

I'm ready...

Talk

Summer had arrived, green grasses, trees alive and a warm but pleasant breeze ran through the park. Squirrels and birds flocked and played with no care in the world. “I wish I had that life, full of freedom, free of worries”, I thought as I looked around for a nice comfy spot to sit. I finally picked a spot close to a little path running through the park. At first nobody noticed me, but as soon as I put up my cardboard signs, I saw some smiles as well as surprised faces. My signs were about 2 feet tall and 2 feet wide, with black text on a white background. They read,

“Will listen to you talk… for free”

The first two hours didn’t prompt any reaction bigger than a smile or a confused look. All I had with me were my signs, my iPod, and a smile on my face. Some people greeted me, and I wished them a nice afternoon too. Some just shook their head in hopelessness and walked by. Another hour passed, and finally a little girl walked up to me. Unable to hold her curiosity back, she asked me what I was doing. Smilingly I replied, “I am here if anyone needs someone to talk to.” “Talk about what?” she asked with a confused look on her face. “Anything and everything…” I replied, “…whatever the person wishes to talk about.” She smiled and ran off to play with her friends. This was the only conversation I had the whole day, but I was glad someone showed interest in talking to a stranger.

With the little girl’s conversation in my mind, I chose the same spot in the park the next day. The day began with another long wait for a couple of hours, listening to my music, looking at birds, squirrels and people. One might think I had nothing better to do in life, but I knew my purpose. An elderly gentleman was sitting not too far from where I was. A few stares later, he closed the book he was reading, and walked over to me. “Good afternoon!” he greeted me, and I greeted him back, asking him how he was. He did not reply with the usually expected responses like “Fine, thank you” or “Good”. Instead, he replied, “Confused and amused”. I was happy to receive a different response from him; I had silently triggered a thought in his mind. He willingly sat next to me, took a long look at me, and asked, “Tell me son, is this what you do for a living?” Laughingly I replied, “No sir, I just felt like connecting with someone”.

“So you just decided to come to the park and look for someone to talk to?”

“If it interests you, I’m up for a casual chat.”

The confused gentleman looked around, thought for a few seconds, and turned to me, “What do you want to talk about?”

“It’s not what I want to talk about. It’s what you want to talk about.”

“Why would I want to talk to you about anything? I don’t even know you.”

“Well sir, your curiosity brought you to me and we had a 5 minute conversation. You had some questions to ask me, and I answered them. That’s what I call a random conversation with a stranger, and that is exactly why I am here every day.” I just couldn’t hold back my smile when I saw the big question mark on his face. And then he burst out laughing, “That makes no sense to me, but I like it. I could never imagine doing something so silly, but it made me laugh; thank you for making my day.”

“I am glad I could add to your happiness sir. Have a wonderful day.” We shook hands and he went back to his bench, reading his book, still smiling.

Two days gone, and I touched two people’s lives… With a happy heart, I was lucky to find the same spot on the third day. The same elderly gentleman was sitting in the same spot as yesterday, perhaps to see me again. He waved and smiled at me, and I returned the gesture. Towards afternoon, a group of 4 young girls walked up to me. Giggling, they asked, “Will you listen to anything we say?” I could see through their prank filled eyes, but played on. After 45 minutes, I knew most of their classmates in college, and all about their relationships. Oh, I also came to know about some good discounts at the mall. I listened to everything they said, but found it difficult to transfer everything to memory; too much information in very little time. The girls left with their fill of afternoon amusement, and I went back to listening to my music.

The same day, a middle aged woman came and sat next to me. She didn’t look too happy. She turned to me, looked at my cardboard signs, and exclaimed, “Are you serious?” “Well, I could keep it casual if you prefer.” I replied. With a half-hearted smile, she turned and sat comfortably, facing me. Realizing her curiosity and willingness to talk, I started the conversation, “What was it? Annoying boss, bad day at work, or both?” “I don’t know even know where to start”, and she let out all her frustration about workplace politics, mean coworkers, and a not-so-appreciating boss. After listening to her for 15 minutes, I asked her when she last took a break from work. She couldn’t remember. “Here’s a plan. Why don’t you spend a nice hour at the spa and relax? It’s Friday anyway. And then, if you have the time, drive down to the mall. A friend told me about some pretty good promotions that you might find interesting.” Her face lit up, realizing she actually had a couple of hours of free time that evening to pamper herself. Smiling, she shook my hand and thanked me.

As days passed, I got a chance to talk to more interesting people. We spoke about a plethora of topics including wedding plans, vacations, break-ups, financial issues, and many casual 5 minute chats. I was surprised to see some folks coming back for seconds and thirds. The elderly gentleman came back and spoke about his life, his children and grand children. A music student played his song to know my opinion. He was self-conscious to play it in front of his friends and teacher. I told him that if he didn’t play it in front of the people who mattered, he’ll never realize his true potential.

My two week vacation finally came to an end, but left me refreshed and ready to take on the world. I realized that somehow, I had developed a comforting aura around me which gave people a sense of safety. Over time, people weren’t too hesitant to talk to a random guy in the park, and I found my conversation skills improving as well. These were constructive two weeks. My perspective of looking at people was changing too. A lot had been happening in my life. Not that I don’t like change, but it just wasn’t the change I was expecting. However, after talking to all these people, my cynicism changed to a new ray of hope. People have worse problems than we can imagine. We all deal with happiness and sadness of varying amplitude at some point in our lives.

Another thing struck me. I had made new friends out of strangers. If I ever felt lonely, all I had to do is pick a good day and go sit on my favorite park bench.