Invisible

She is invisible to the eye

Nay, not invisible but made to be unseen

Ridiculed, ousted, spat at

She recovers from those taunts each day

Her curse can send you to the depths of the Earth

Her blessings can place you on top of the moon

Everyday on my way back home, I see her

I see her go from car to car

Auto to auto

Bike to bike

They all just pretend that she is not there

That she does not deserve to be acknowledged

I see her, struggling to face each day

One day, as I saw her standing in the middle of the jam-packed road

She approached my auto; I took out twenty rupees from my purse

Handed it to her and gave her my warmest smile possible

She smiled back

As a way of saying thank you for the money

As a way of saying thank you for not treating her like some kind of disease

As a way of saying that no one had smiled at me in a long time

I asked her as to what her name was,

She looked down sheepishly and said her name was Roopa

I said,” Roopa, have a great day!”

She smiled back and left

As the signal turned green, she turned and waved at me

I waved back and that day, I had made a new friend