Peace is a funny business. It eludes you when you are desperately looking for it. And then makes it a point to sneak up to you when you are least bothered about it. It happened with me last week. There I was, chugging along homewards in the evening, in a bus, with fellow commuters. I had finished reading the day’s newspaper during my morning commute. I had put in an honest day’s work and accomplished all the things on my to-do list for that day. And now homeward-bound, was reading the novel that I had bought from the library that I have joined after a gap of nearly 4 months.

My fellow commuters were a silent lot as well. Some were listening to music, some were reading and some were busy looking out the window. The weather was as pleasant as it can get in Mumbai – maybe a bit too cold for my comfort. There was no commuter standing about in the aisle thrusting his or her backpack in my face and no one was fighting with the conductor.

That was when I felt at peace, totally at peace – with myself and with this world. It was so absolute that I kept the book down to savor the moment and to maybe hold on to it for a teeny weeny bit longer. The teeny weeny bit soon passed and I returned to the novel with a smile.