Midnight Stroll

Sitting at home last night, I decided to take a walk. Leave my book. Leave my apartment. Leave my flatmate. Not that I don't like these things. My book is interesting and well written. My apartment is one of the nicer ones I've had the opportunity to live in, and is, in a pinch, my current home. My flatmate is fun, thoughtful and frightfully easy to live with. I just wanted to go outside and get some night air.

The only thing phenomenal about it was that I don't often do this. I haven't really gone for a walk by myself, wandered aimlessly into nowhere, in a good while. I was simply at a point in my time here that a nice walk late at night was appropriate. And so I was excited for my walk.

I think that I decided before I even left that I wasn't going to wander aimlessly, that I knew exactly where I was going. And so I went where I knew I'd end up anyway, in the Bandstand, the boardwalk that overlooks the sea. I love the Bandstand, especially late at night. This is kind of funny, as I've only been there late at night two or three times. But I guess sometimes you can go to a place only once and know that you love it, just as I know that there is undoubtedly something special about the Bandstand at midnight.

A big part of what makes it special is that it's quiet. Granted, there are a number of places in Bombay that are quiet at midnight. But the Bandstand is quieter, and it's quiet in its own way. The breeze is just strong enough to make it cool, the waves are just loud enough for you to know that you're on the ocean even though it's dark, the air is fresh and it's quiet in a way that reminds me that while Bombay is wild and crazy and loud, its people still go home at night to their families, eat dinner, and go to sleep. It's an important quiet for me to hear.

As I walked down the boardwalk I saw one of the other things that I love about the area. All the couples. Couples walking, sitting, whispering sweet nothings, I imagine, into one another's ears. Almost all college students and most young adults here still live with their families until they are married, so until then they come to the Bandstand and places like it to be alone together. They walk, they sit, they whisper sweet nothings, I imagine, into one another's ears.

And so I walked and I had my walk. I thought about the idea of taking a walk alone at midnight on a boardwalk overlooking the sea, and wondered if I was supposed to be thinking about the future, or about life, or about how I ended up where I am today, and I decided that it wasn't really necessary, and that I probably spend too much of my time when I'm not on walks thinking about those things. Then I laughed, and walked, and felt the sensation of my sandals making contact with the slate boardwalk, and listened to the couples whispering sweet nothings, I imagined, into one another's ears.

I sat down when I found a suitable spot, and watched the ocean and listened to the waves and noticed that I had begun to think about the future, and about life and about how I ended up where I am today, and then I saw a shooting star.

And then I sat, happy, watching the ocean and listening to the waves and replaying the image of the shooting star in my mind. I sat for about fifteen minutes before I started to get up to walk home, and then I wondered if only sitting for fifteen minutes was long enough for a solitary walk near the ocean at midnight on a Friday night. I decided it didn't matter, listened to the couples whispering sweet nothings, I imagined, into one another's ears, and walked home.