A Bitter Cup of Coffee

Slowly it turned dark, and with the gush of breeze, dark clouds started hovering. The petrichor and it started raining heavily. At the right time, I had stepped at the coffee café. It was not about escaping from getting drenched, but a perfect time and weather to sip a warm and heavenly coffee while staring the rain through the glass pane. The brim was about to touch my lips, and suddenly I noticed a girl standing quietly near the counter.

A waiter with a bright smile offered the coffee menu and in a quick glance, the girl pointed at one of the coffees from the menu. She looked around the café, but did not find a place to sit. All seats were occupied. With a dishearten face, she looked over a corner seat near the window pane where I was sitting. Her inquisitive expression had already made it clear, but still, I waited for her to utter something. She kept standing beside the table and finally I nodded to allow her to take place. Although I want to sit alone, her worried and puzzled face didn’t allow me to do so.

Suddenly her phone ranged, she disconnected the call, and started typing the message. I noticed, she did this twice and thrice. I thought people have become whimsical nowadays. They have stopped talking to each other. They live an isolated life with their phone and an earphone. They can plug it in anywhere anytime. They keep watching videos and keep listening to music, but are not willing to open mouth. Earlier with the fear of battery getting drained, they used to put the mobile down for a while. But now the power bank has given them immense power to keep them eccentric.
Whether at home, in the cab, at restaurants, on outings, while walking or waiting at the stop, people do not bother to look away from the blue screen. They are busy in texting someone who is online, but there is the least possibility to meet that person in person. That is where I realize the stupidity of these social media applications.
If I say only youths are busy with their mobile, it would be incorrect. The young generation is busy posting selfies, self-obsessed messages, and videos conveying "Do not ask or interfere in their life". On the other side, oldies are busy posting relationship couplets, religious messages, and health tips.

Preoccupied with these thoughts, I realized that the rain had stopped and the waiter was standing next to the girl with the bill. She paid the amount with a thank you note.

I could not stop myself and asked, she could have told the waiter instead of writing a note.

She left another note for me:
"Maybe the God was knowing how people will interact in the coming days, so I was born voiceless :-)"


I gulped the coffee. It was bitter and I was speechless.