Waiting

(Day 16 of 112)

There is this one part of the food court at Inorbit mall, Bombay, which has a variety of men standing around pretending to be busy thinking. In fact so many of them seem to be thinking and looking in the same direction that passersby stop and look around for what seems to be the focus of such intense concentration. I was one of those passersby.

Turning the corner when walking towards the escalators, my friends and I quite literally walked into a relatively big bunch of men who didn’t seem to know each other and each of whom was trying to look invisible. It took one look towards the right for understanding to dawn.

All these men were standing there waiting for their wives/mothers/sisters/friends/girlfriends to emerge from the, they-have-to-go-together-in-a-group-from-where-they-don’t-emerge-for-extended-periods-of-time place, also known as the Ladies Room.

And while they waited, all these men seemed to have the same set of expressions ranging from boredom to an invisible rolling of eyes. And while walking past them, I was sure I felt this strong male bonding amongst those waiting. Something about suffering and misery I guess.