Strangers

Like every morning today too, on my way to Volkhochschule I saw (met?) Mr. Topiwala - that´s what I have christened him fondly :). Mr.T is a 60 - 65 year old man of Asian origin. If you see a cute, tiny, very brisk man with a grey hat (hence the name) and with his hands in his pockets in Stuttgart - undoubtedly it´s him. Although Mr.T and I have seen each other everyday for the past 7 months, we never smile or greet each other (don´t ask me why?), but we do give each other the "I - know- you" look.

Like any other afternoon today too, I saw Manisha (again, I don´t know her real name). I call her so as she resembles Manisha Koirala. Manisha and I exchange what I would call half-smiles (because it is not from cheek to cheek) everyday. She´s in her late twenties, is most probably an European and she lives in one of the apartments on the street perpendicular to my street.

Mr.T and Manisha are just two out of a dozen strangers who I see on my daily commute. I have names for everyone. Many a times, I run into them in a shopping center or a supermarket. Seeing them elsewhere, than on the usual buses and trains, makes me happy. The reason might be that I´ve never considered them as strangers. There are cases when I have even made up stories. Though it boosts my creativity, I can´t help but wonder about their real names, their backgrounds, their families, their professions...