On Roads

It is amusing how certain roads always bring back certain memories every time I pass them.

The green, soothing road that led to my school. Or the filthy, crowded, narrow lane that led to a claustrophobic doctor's chamber in Rajabazar. The busy market astride such lanes, that sold items of no specific order. The road that had a huge water tank I was scared of, as a child. Or the road where I got lost for the first time. The road along which, we shared a bottle of cold drink on a summer evening. Or the road on my way home, that had an old woman who reminded me of my late grandmom. The road where a transwoman returned me a change of ten rupees, noticing I didn't have much money in my wallet. Finding kindness amidst the scarcity of it is overwhelming. 

Of the roads I walked with a friend, I walked with a date, I walked alone. 

The roads that were kind to me and the roads that were too fast for me. Their footpaths, buildings, shops, cafes and ATMs. Their bends, lights, shadows, chaos, silence, people and stories. 

To the roads that would always bring a string of memories each time I cross them.