Instant Connection

It was a typical hot summer day when throats run dry and liquids usually needed to quench the never ending thirst are in big demand. The day was drawing to a close and all the living creatures, big and small, including the ones of my own species were making a beeline to their respective nests. I along with a few friends had decided for a get together with beer and were meeting up at my place. As per the responsibilities entrusted, I was allocated the critical work of collecting the beer. As luck would have it, although there are a few retail shops around our place, the nearest one turned out to be closed. The work responsibilities expanded to include travelling a small distance to look for the oasis at a location some distance away. The walk was a good 30-40 minutes which included a walk crossing the railway station sky walk and a footpath with local vendors (read - mini obstruction course) along the way. As in the case of a normal evening in the local railway stations in Mumbai, a sea of humanity greeted me who were oblivious of the task in hand for me.
                With the initial drops of sweat forming on my forehead, I finally reached the place when it started getting dark.As I looked around for the shop, I realised that the location looked somewhat different and I was not able to locate the place of interest. All the hard work for no avail was my first reaction and concern started to build in.
                  In desperation, I started to look around for a soul in flesh and blood to help me in these trying times and then I saw him....a person standing next to an autorickshaw which looked like a man in the know of such things. As it turned out, he was the best person to ask as he was the autorickwala. He would surely know, I said to myself.
                  So I walked up to him and asked ' Bhai, yahan par daru ki dukaan thi...ab kahan hai ?' (Sir, where is the liquor shop which was present here ?).  He looked at me for a few moments of about 10 secs.....just long enough to make one feel uncomfortable. And suddenly he broke into a laugh...a hearty kind of laugh like no other. I was taken aback with his response and started regretting myself approaching this guy. However, during the bout of laughter.....he barely managed to tell me pointing  at the liquor shop..' woh wahin par hai, jahan tumne akhiri baar chodi thi....' ( its right there where you you'd left it the last time around' ) . And as I turned around I could see that it was really there which I had missed.
                   At that very moment, as the infectious laugh also got to me, I realised that laughing could also be an involuntary action with total strangers.  I stood there laughing with him and finally shook hands on the side of the road thanking him for guiding my poor soul in times of distress. As I slipped once again into a sea of humanity, I thoughtfully admired his sense of humour and realised that  in the present age of instant noodles, instant downloads, instant messaging, an instant human connection is a rare event. I could drink to that. Cheers !