Some one special at AIIMS bus stop...Taare Zameen Par part-III

It was a nice sunny winter afternoon in December. I was standing at the AIIMS bus stop in Delhi. I was waiting for a bus which would take me to Noida, my work place. The winter afternoons are quite pleasant in Delhi. It is real fun to enjoy the sun. This is the only time of year in India, when people can enjoy sun. All other time, it is the sun which enjoys people. My shift was to start at 4pm and it was only 2pm now. The journey to office was not more than 40min. I am one of those who take one's own sweet time to reach work. I never got late for work, but I have never been in a hurry. I always started way before time from home, and would take my own sweet time to travel. I would happily let the crowded buses go by and wait for an empty bus. On my route usually 2-3 packed privately owned buses would be followed by one empty DTC bus (government owned). And while I would wait for my bus, I would enjoy the afternoon sun and also the people.
The AIIMS bus stop that time was my favorite hang out place. Lot of people would come and go and I would just observe them. I would eat nice warm moongfalis (peanuts) while doing this. Sometimes on Sundays Gayatri would come and join me as her house was right behind the bus stop. Since I worked in a news channel then, Sundays was working for me. I think my off that time was on Friday.
This must have been a weekday, as I was not expecting Gayatri to give me company that day. As I stood there watching buses come and go, a girl came and stood by me. She seemed fairly dressed and educated. She then asked me if bus number 544 would come here. When she asked this question, she seemed to be looking at something else. It was like she is looking across the street and asking me. At first I got confused if the question was meant for me. But as I was the only one at the proximity of her voice, I replied back,"Jee haa. yahi pe aayegi". To this she replied, "Jab aayegi to please bata dena." I was now sure that the question was addressed to me. But she was still looking across the street while talking to me. And moreover why should I tell her when the bus comes? Can't she for herself see it? She looked literate enough to read the numbers on the bus.
In India, its a common habit on our part to not look into the eyes when talking to a stranger of opposite sex. I thought probably thats the case here. Maybe this girl is a little too shy to look at me and speak. But she seemed more than being a shy person. While speaking she never stood still. She kept shifting her weight from one leg to other much too often. It was like she is dancing to some music. And she kept adjusting her chunni (a wrap around) much too often. I could figure out something was not normal here, but exactly what I did not know. Moreover why should I fear from a girl I thought. She should fear from me (specially with my bearded look).
While we waited for our buses, this girl stood a little too close to me. Normally we maintain an extra distance if standing to a stranger of opposite sex. She stood so close, that she even bumped into me once while looking at something across the street. All this was surely new to me, and I knew she is not normal. I thought she could be blind, but never dared to look into her eyes to confirm that. Usually blind people wear dark goggles and carry a stick with them. She didn't have any.
Just then a bus approached us and she asked excitedly. "544? 544?" Why is she asking, cant she see it, I thought? As I did not respond, her excitement grew and she asked again "yeh 544 to nahi hai?". And this time she held my hand. As if forcing me to respond quickly, else she might miss her bus. This was really unusual. I never even dared to hold my girlfriend's hand in public. Is she crazy or what.
Well yes she was. I realized she was one of those 'special' people who have had a stunted mental growth. While their body has grown to take an adult form, their mind is still between a child and an adult. These people are not crazy. They are like young adults.
Seeing this I replied "nahi nahi mudrika hai. aap chinta mat kijiye, main aapko bata dunga jab 544 aayegi?" I was feeling a lot relaxed now. All my doubts had gone. I was there with someone special that day. I was feeling relieved to not have jumped to any wrong conclusions about this person. I was feeling happy that destiny had given this chance to me. I was also being careful in not showing over care towards her. The fact she has chosen to travel alone means she is confident of herself. Let me not break that confidence by over care I thought. I was also happy to see, that this girl trusts people on street. She has this confidence that she will be safe. She had confidence in me. All this made me smile. I just stood there and smiled, while she stood right next to me still looking across the road.
Just then my bus came, bus to Noida. This was a DTC bus, empty with seats available. What should I do? I did what I felt like. I stood there and let the bus go. I was in no hurry to reach to work. And I thought the first thing I'll do on reaching office is tell my boss Shruti about it.

While we stood there, this girl asked me, "aapko kaha jaana hai?". I said "Noida". "Agar aapki bus aayegi to aap chale jana. Meri bus ki service to kam hai". " Koi baat nahi. aap chinta mat karo", I said.

I stood there looking at the buses. She stood there looking across the street and making that to and fro movement. Then came her bus. I saw the number from a distance. I said pointing towards the bus "woh aa gayi 544". While I said this and waved at the bus to stop, I thought I should help her get on to it. But how was the question. Should I just point her the bus, or should I hold hand and take her to the bus? Should I hold her palm or should I hold her wrist? When I was thinking all that, she kept her hand on my wrist. I smiled again.
I then took her to the rear door of the bus. She climbed onto the bus, taking one step at a time and firmly holding onto the rod. The bus was crowded, but I was sure she will manage a seat. Just as the bus moved away a thought came to my mind. I should have taken her to the front door instead. The first seat at the front door is for physically challenged people. Shit that was such a silly mistake on my part. But I knew the girl was confident enough to find her way through the crowd in the bus. I knew she would be just fine. And as for me, well I was feeling so good about myself. I was happy for her. For the first time I felt being happy for someone else.

I then got a lift in a cab to Noida. I reached Noida before the bus which I had left earlier. It was a perfect start to my day. I told Neha and Shruti about the incident at work and they were happy too.