You know what’s stranger than fiction?
Life’s stories.
Those that we encounter in our lives. The unscripted ones. How we meet some people and they become our best friends or how we can never relate to some. How strangers become close and some friends become strangers.
I love seeing such stories come to life. Be it a chance encounter or something else. To me, that’s the most interesting part of life. I believe that everything happens for a reason and there is a meaning in even those little things that seem meaningless at the start.
This happened a couple of years ago. I was on the way back home and waiting to cross a busy road. There was heavy traffic and standing on one side of the road, I wanted to get that little breather so that I could safely cross. At that moment, a woman almost my age stopped near me and started saying things that were on my mind.
“No one has the patience to give way to pedestrians.”
“Crossing roads is so scary.”
“Why can’t they get a traffic signal set up if they cannot build a walk-over bridge?”
I looked at her and smiled. She smiled back at me. At an opportune time, we crossed the road and I realized that she followed me to get to the other side safely. She thanked me and I told her that I was equally scared but her fear gave me the strength to move on and deal with it.
We walked the next five minutes together and over that conversation, I got to know that she worked at the same organization as VT’s. Her Hindi was impeccable so I was curious to know which part of India she came from.
“UP, near Varanasi.”
“Really? I am also from UP. Azamgarh.“
“My uncle lives in Azamgarh.”
“Interesting.”
“He teaches in a degree college.”
“What? Papa is also a reader in That PG college. “
“Yes, that’s the name of the college.”
“Wow.”
Both of us could not handle the many coincidences. We figured out that her uncle and Papa were friends. I had met her mother as a teenager but I did not know her. What was most surprising that we revealed all this during that five-minute walk to the bus stop and both of us did not even exchange names. We just smiled and moved on to our respective routes.
I later told Papa about her and he was equally amused. Though I never met her again, the sequence of events from that day has stayed with me. Such coincidences have no reason. Azamgarh is over 2000 kilometers from Bangalore and what are the chances that I meet someone again with exactly matching co-ordinates.
What would you say of such stories? Aren’t they stranger than fiction?
I am with Team #CrimsonRush and today is Day 1 of the #BarAThon.
happiness and food 
That’s such a lovely slice of life you shared. Hope you both bump into each other again:)
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Hope so. Thank you, Mayuri 🙂
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Indeed, such incidents make us wonder about the great scriptwriter in whose hands we are mere puppets. Hope you have many more such interesting situations in life 🙂
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Totally. Imagine the kind of stories that have been woven with the many many humans on the Earth. He is sure super creative 🙂
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What a lovely coincidence! Life is, at times stranger than fiction! 🙂
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Yes, Aditi. So much strange. Thank you!
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That was quite a coincidence. Sometimes the world seems like such a small place – like how we found the Kurukshetra connection. And that is such a tiny place with a small population. I once met another lady who lived on the floor above mine here in Pune and turned out to be my cousin’s classmate (also from K’shetra). But coincidences are such fun.
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Wow! You got some cool ones. Yes, they are. I have more stories to tell 🙂 Someday. Thank you, Tulika.
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Coincidence….greatness of life is hidden in these small precious nostalgic momentous moments…they indeed spice up the journey called life …
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Totally agree, Deepankar. Thank you for your support.
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Lovely piece of the day, much required.
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Thank you!
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Its like fate is bringing the world together… there is no other explanation. For two absolute strangers with so much in common to be in that exact same spot at that exact same time and actually think to talk with each other.
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Imagine. Hard to believe. Thanks, Roshan!
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Road crossed successfully without any divine intervention and no ghost spotting but finding a stranger whom you knew in so many ways and yet you still don’t know her makes you trust goodness of life. You can call them miracles or co-incidences. Thank you Parul for steering my compass to your post. How so ever interesting those spooky stories were but I had reached the pinnacle with- bas ab aatma parmatma ka chakkar bahut ho gaya. Ha now I can sleep peacefully 😀
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Ha ha! Chalo so jao. hugs 🙂
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What an interesting thing to know! Small world it is indeed! And all of this information in mere 5 minutes! Brilliant!
Loved your take 🙂
Cheers
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Thank you, Geetika!
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Your story reminded me of one that happened to us! We bumped into a degree college of my husband’s in a local train in Florida, after almost 8 years! Tirupati to a local train in Florida! See !
Nice take on the prompt Parul. Enjoyed reading it. And good luck for the next ones.
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Wow! That’s a good one. Look at the chances of finding someone like that. Thanks for sharing.
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Ah. Such tales do happen. I remember going for a marriage function on the bride’s side, and finding that the groom knew one of my school friends. 😀 It makes one think, it’s a small world after all.
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Ah! Yes, small world.
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So many coincidences! And that too for such a short duration. Makes me wonder whether life is like the book of a really crazy author. And this author manages to put plot twists and heart-warming moments just to spice things up a little!
All the best for the #BarAThon!
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Totally! Good luck to you too Mithila.
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wow! what a happy coincidence! Indeed life’s way stranger than fiction! what are the odds really?
Shubhangi @ The Little Princess
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Thanks Titli. Yes – odds rule.
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What a sweet post, Parul. How I love life’s little coincidences 🙂
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I too love them, Hema. Thank you, Hema.
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Such a lovely post Parul. I agree that sometimes coincidence ends up making memories for life. Hope you see her sometime soon again on that road.
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Thank you! Yes, at least hope she gets to see this. I don’t know how but maybe.
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Often hear these coincidences in movies..glad you got to be part of one such sweet coincidence..
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Thanks Roopa!
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Wow, that must have been so exciting. Here one of my roommates in the hostel happens to be from my gramps place…and our grandparents were friends too and so did our parents know one another. It was a sweet discovery following which we met back at our gramps place too during the weekend. 🙂
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Very cool. Good to meet someone close in hostel. Feels at home.
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What a lovely coincidence! And guess what, I have experienced the same. I had met KG’s friend once in Jaipur and then we met again in Mumbai. While we were exchanging notes, we came to know that we both were staying in Kandivli East, Lokhandwala Complex, Anita Nagar… only the building numbers were different! And then on, we became inseparable! 🙂
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look at that – reasons at their best 🙂
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One of my friend was highly impressed by the boyfriend of her roommate’s sister. Her roommate used to share stories how her sister’s boyfriend pampers her and so on. My friend always wished to have life partner like that guy and guess what couple of years down the line she met that guy who brokeup with his past gf for family reasons. Soon they became friends and now are happily married.
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wow! that’s pretty cool 😉
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Coincidences galore 🙂
sometimes, things that happen in life are stranger than fiction
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Yep! True that.
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I agree. I have also had some experiences where a life story has sounded stranger than a fictional book. We connect with people who share our coincidences. I think it’s a way the Universe tells/shows us that one person. I never forget such instances and always ponder about such acquaintances.
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These stories are stranger than fiction 🙂
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It’s a small world after all!
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It true is 🙂 Thank you Sucheta.
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