The last announcement for the passengers boarding the flight to Tokyo was made, and Anandita was rushing towards the gate pushing a pram with her seven-year-old son, who was trying to keep up with his mother. Finally, and luckily, they reached the gate on time and could board the flight waiting just for them.

Mumbai’s traffic snarls were one of the things she didn’t like about this city. Her fear of traffic jams was proven to be right, making her spend nearly 3 hours on the road before reaching the airport.

She knew travelling with two children would be difficult and was well warned by Nikhil, her husband who had to leave for Tokyo early this month after his vacation was over. But Anandita believed that everything seemed difficult until it was done and such challenges thrilled her.

Once settled on her seat with all the necessary things around her, needed for the long 14-hour journey with her two children, she took a deep breath, gulped some water, and rested her head. Her stomach was growling; all the traffic and running around at the airport made her famished; she couldn’t wait for the food to be served.  Just then she saw the passenger sitting next to her. A very handsome man around the same age as hers with light brown curly hair, blue eyes, a firm jawline, and a kind of glow on the face that showed his love for life was sitting there and looking at her sympathetically. They caught each other’s eyes for a while and exchanged smiles. A rare thing for Anandita; this man had something in him that encouraged her to be friendly with him.

“Would you like to have some crackers?” offered the man reading her mind. She took the packet hesitantly and thanked him.

“Hi, I’m Anadita, heading towards Tokyo.”

“I’m Adam from Australia, me too heading towards Tokyo.”

They laughed at their silliness!

The food was served and soon after that Anadita went off to sleep. She woke up to the crying of her baby, and picked her from the cradle; the baby was hungry. She carried hot water and small pouches of powder to prepare the milk. But she found it difficult to manage it by herself while taking care of the baby, Just then Adam offered the help and prepared the milk in such perfection that she couldn’t resist asking him, “How do you know....?” Adam beamed proudly, “I too have a baby boy and often help my wife”.

They admired each other and shared tips from their experiences. They were two strangers sitting next to each other with some connection, talking about everything and opening up freely. She was experiencing indescribable feelings for him, a mix of respect, flirting, and romance.

At the airport Nikhil was waiting for Anandita; she said goodbye to Adam in her mind thanking him for sparkling something inside her that was lost. She wondered if it was a meeting with Adam or her lost self!