I had gone to the mall to shop with my parents. I wore a black flared skirt with a matching cool yellow-and-black top and black heels. Around my neck hung a new glittering silver chain, with a beautiful heart-shaped pendant. Pretty, as I looked, I drew long stares from other girls at the mall. I was unconcerned, following my mother here and there, my heels clanking loudly.

And it was then, that I saw her. We were in the ‘food’ section. She was old, frail, small, and alone. She stood there, in a corner, watching others shopping. Nobody gave her even a second glance. But unlike others, she caught my interest. I crossed her to go to get peanut butter from the shelf. She looked at me from top to bottom, and believed that I was one of those fashionable teenage girls from the city, who liked to show off. I felt you-know-what. I went and got my bottle of peanut butter and went back, to her. As I passed her, she lowered her eyes. I saw her from up close. Her eye lenses were a dim, pale blue. As light reflected from her eyes, they looked bright grey. I don’t know what attracted me to her. Maybe it was her vulnerability. The fact that she was frail and alone. In an instant, a smile spread across my face. She saw my face beaming widely at her, and, in a heartbeat, she grinned back. Her smile sent a wave through me, and I smiled wider. She then clasped both her hands in my right hand, beaming all the time. She then loosened her hold. And I turned and left. As I went away from her, sadness washed through me. Tears filled in my eyes. But I was afraid to cry as my mother had not seen the exchange between me and the lady, and I didn’t know what to tell her. Exactly what my mother would say if her daughter broke down in a mall while shopping without any valid reason was something that I did not know. So I fought back the flood of tears which threatened to break down. And acted normal, as if nothing had happened.

Later on I wondered about her. Who was she, and why was she standing in the middle of a crowded mall, all alone? It was plain that she was waiting for someone, and why had that someone left her alone? And why were they not with her? She was sooo frail. And what did the lady see when she saw all the arrogant faces drift in front of her? Why had see seemed so afraid? But I have an answer to this. She was afraid because she was alone. And at last, I wondered whether she had wondered about me. Who was I, a stranger in a mall, to smile at her, another stranger? But I know this........that there are no strangers. We are all comrades who are destined to meet. Sometimes people are arrogant and don’t meet those whom they had to. They don’t become better human beings. But some do, and they realize the value of that small but beautiful moment of being loved, even for a little while.