Lost in a crowd......

Has anyone really pondered about the thought that one could be all alone in the crowd....forget about the typical love songs where the lyricist portray the lovers to be lost in a crowd........and neither I am speaking about one getting lost in the crowd.....Have we ever realized how many strangers look familiar to us....the impact they have on us.
Such thing happened to me once. I have a very nagging habit to look at the things in a very detailed manner. I had a privilege to be a part of the Maximum city [Mumbai] where crowd is an another thing in life. But never had gazed on the internal aspects of it. Could be of the busy life or the life which was tied to timings like 09:32 CST,10:02 BR or 17:51 AD. It also could have been for the number such as 511, 506,21 etc....or could have been there was no time to stop and think. The real eye opener came in City Center of the Liverpool city in the United Kingdom, where I work as part time sales assistant in a sports shop. As in Mumbai we are bonded to the wierd timings and the numbers, here in United kingdom, time is given highest priority for which I had nearly paid a heavy price once [for being late for 4 mins]. Here, there is no excuse given and taken for being late as on time performance is a part of the daily life and these people are masters in it.
I clearly remember that sunny evening when I was hurrying to catch up with my shift. The reason being was I had to walk 1.5 miles and crossing the roads is an art and matter of patience as you have to wait for the signal to cross. I was standing at a cross over along with a bunch of people engaged in their own world. It was 15:15 and there I was cursing my self to be stranded at a junction. It was already 5 minutes and I was standing still like a potato. I asked the traffic warden and even he could not help as that was a peak time and the traffic was diverted onto that road for unknown reasons, the city maintenance people had. It was getting my nerves and for some fellow pedestrians too. I thought of jaywalking at which we Indians are very good at. But it is a crime and I can be issued a ticket for that also for my fate being blessed the traffic warden had a very suspicious look. I was frustrated. This prompted me to take the crowdy street which I avoid to walk.
And there. A hustle and bustle of bunch of school kids got my attention. They were the happiest lot in that crowd.Coming back home from school. Away from all the worries of the future and smiling to everyone possible around.There very presense and there attitude made me ease a bit. There were also two gentlemen, standing at a corner of the street,one playing a guitar and an accordian, who almost played a wonderful english classic piece and yet no one paid attention to them, including me. Everyone had their own committments to attend. It was a busy day at the shop too. After this at 21:30 when I finally signed out to go home, and to hit the roads, and there was an eyeopener. The streets had a deserted look. I was walking through the very street which was bustling with activities few hours ago. This prompted me to think whether I could see those kids again tomorrow and those two gentlemen who played a great music tomorrow. This left me in an uncertainity. I had time to pause a bit and return a smile to those kids who gave me an assurance of some sort which has become a scarcity. I could have stopped for a minute to listen and appriciate those gentlemen's beautiful effort. This would have given them a better feeling even though I could not help them with money. Was I that busy? What did I do by going to the shop 20 minutes before the shift? Nothing....absolutly nothing.
This very incident had a very great impact on me. I lost something.
These are the few lines which hit my soul so hard that I could not even battle with my consciousness. For the first time......
We live as a strangers in the crowd...
Midst of the crowds...streets play hide and seek....
Memories and happiness lures...but is there any one to find them.....
People in search for the wings to fly...have they ever imagined that the sky is filled....
We search for a place called shelter...have we ever noticed about the place in someone's heart....
Every time.....Sometimes....We need to.....Get lost in a crowd and find ourselves....

With a heavy heart.....