Introducing 'my friend' Mr Sharma

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Do you know Mr Sharma (not his real name)? Well, let me introduce him to you. He's roughly 52-55 years of age. He works in a public sector bank which serves a really bad lunch; where the AGM finance hardly knows his stuff and all that he really does is flirt around with his lady secretary.

The bank did not pay up the promised mid-year bonus to its staff and fired three of its senior staff for siphoning of a formidable amount of money.

Sharma lives in Dombivili and has booked for a new apartment (a 2-BHK) in Khargar, Navi Mumbai. He'll then stop travelling on the Central-Thane line and move onto the harbour suburban train line. The frequency of trains on that line's not as good but it wouldn't matter much since he'll be traveling during non-peak hours.

He chose not to take a loan from the current bank he works in and instead chose to take it from a rival bank as a former colleague (who's now shifted to the rival bank) managed to get him a really neat deal.

His daughter's now 23 and will finish her engineering this semester. He's already on the lookout for good alliances and prefers a CA or a Lawyer for an alliance but strictly from his caste.

The train's usually not too crowded when he takes it around 7 am and at 4 pm back from his Fort office in Mumbai.

Sharma recently had a fight with a neighbor because the latter let his pet dog 'poop' near the entrance of the building. He thinks, pets are a waste of people's hard earned money and "the Hutch dog" (as he calls it!) is nothing but an "ugly beast".

And then I also almost know that a private bank's ready to offer him a job when he retires in two months.

I could definitely know more; and could have told you more about him; only if I didn't have to get down at 'Currey road station'. And therefore friends, this is all I can tell you about Mr. Sharma.

Well, Mr Sharma was my co-passenger as I boarded the train from Mulund station in Mumbai all the way to Currey road station; where I alight each day (to get to work). And all through the travel (45 mins. In total) he kept me company with his conversation on the phone.

It was unnoticeable in the beginning to slightly irritating towards the end. But I barely managed to read the daily newspaper of the day that I'd carried along. I missed out on my forty winks and also on my tranquility today.

But, not Mr. Sharma he went on and on telling 'me' things about his life; befriending me; making me a part of my life; telling me his life's worries, explaining me his challenges and how he was working around it.

How would I thank you dear Mr. Sharma for making me a part of your world. I'm indebted; but no thank you I'd rather take another seat next time!