21st century love--Pratyush Parashar Das

**********DISCLAIMER: This story celebrates the universal feeling of love, and does not mean to demean any person, group or community************.

“It’s been quite a long day today. Thankfully, now I can get back home. He must be so worried right now. Let me let him know I’m on my way.” “Hello, yes, hey, there’s nothing to worry about at all. I’m on my way. Oh no, cabs are too expensive. I’ll take a bus, yes baba everything will be alright. I’ll be there before you know it. Bye, love you.”

I smiled to myself, as I thought of how much my husband worried for me in my absence. I considered it a blessing to have found such a caring and loving man like him when I did. I smiled, nodded my head and set about collecting my belongings from my office desk. Ten minutes later, I had punched out and was heading to the bus stop.

The heat and humidity were suffocating, and sweat clung stubbornly, and almost lovingly to my body as I shifted from foot to foot, waiting for the bus to arrive. However, I could not get into the first three buses owing to the fact that they were packed to the brim with people, with some treacherously hanging off the door rails. Mercifully, about twenty minutes later, I found a relatively emptier bus, where at least there was at least someplace to stand.

The bus was mostly filled with men, a fact which made me feel slightly uncomfortable, because all of them were looking at me lecherously, and giving me multiple lookovers; some of them were even standing in such a manner that their bodies brushed against mine when the bus swayed somewhat.

About half an hour later, however, this ordeal came to an end, for I got down at my stop and walked the five minutes to my home as fast as I could. When he opened the door, he just threw his arms around me, and I smiled and put my head against his. “I love you”, he said, hugging me tightly. “I love you too”, I smiled.

My name is Abhijeet Singh, and I am proud to be who I am.