Another ID On The Wall?

It was one late afternoon while I was working that I realized the date that day was June 3rd. June 3rd, damn! I missed the last date to service my bike, again. I reached for my phone called the service rep and asked for a slot the very next day at the nearest station. To my bad fortune they were overbooked. She offered to book a slot at Kalamassery service station. Perfect, I thought, trying to sink the guilt of missing the date, again. 

Woke up the next day determined to reach there first, I looked at my watch. 8 am. I brushed, changed and rushed. I reached there first, I was proud until I got to know the staff only comes in by 9. I laughed at the irony. I was late when it mattered, I was early when it didn't. They came in by then, I gave the bike and left. 

Screeeech... I was slowly getting lost in my thoughts that's when I realized the metro was just arriving. I love the metro. It's therapeutic for me. You see a lot of people coming in, lot of people leaving. You get to see the view of the city from halfway down. The sun shining bright on you through the window panes. The buildings standing tall and proud announcing we are the champions of the world. But this journey was a bit different. It was the first time I was travelling in the metro this early. Station by station I saw a lot of people boarding. Well dressed, wearing pristine clothes and make up. They came in with a look on their face ready to kill at their jobs that day. It made me really happy, kind of nostalgic too since I have been working from home for a long time. Some were talking on the phone attending meetings, some were reading. But most had one thing in common: ID's. Now, when I say this you might think, so what? we all wear ID's. That's the first thought that came to my mind as well and I left it there. 

I came back home and started with my day. It was a light day at work and I was planning to go back in the afternoon to get the bike. Naturally, I got assigned with a couple of ad hoc tasks and that screwed up my plans. I somehow wrapped it by 5 and rushed to the metro. The plan was to make just in time before they closed. I boarded the metro, and the morning’s sights were still vivid in my mind. I didn’t know why I was fixated on them—but I was. Station by station people started coming in but this time they looked tired, their pristine clothes were not so pristine. Some were looking anxious, some faces were lifeless and most were really worn. I thought it was a bias, I was looking for it, maybe I was. But one thing that again caught my eyes were the ID cards. They were still there, inanimate, like an invisible master. I started brooding over this, that's when I told myself to stop thinking. I plugged in my earphones and started playing Spotify and it plays "Another Brick in the Wall", sigh! The service staff had left before I reached, I collected my bike from the security personnel. The service was great. I rode through my university as it was very near and the old places we used to hang out as I was feeling a tinge of nostalgia in me that day. I met with my friends that night and I reached home the next morning. As I was keeping the service receipts and other papers secure in the drawer I noticed something—my own ID card, hanging silently on the wall.

P.S Spotify didn't play Another brick in the wall. It played something else. If it did, I would have written this much earlier 😇