Its A Small World.

I was at my gynecologist clinic for a routine checkup, waiting to be called in by the doctors assistant.
Browsing through the cute baby pictures on a magazine and looking at all the expectant mothers sitting around me.
Some women were with their spouses, some with their moms and a few were sitting alone. All of them waiting for their turn to see the doctor.
Pregnancy is such a fragile yet wonderful phase in a woman's life.
I too was at this stage many years ago and had experienced the joys and pains of this phase in my life.

The door opened with the sound of ding and all eyes in that room rolled towards the door. Another pregnant lady walked in. She was about full term. It seemed as if her baby was all set to come out into this world any moment. Following her were a man, I guessed it was her husband & an elderly woman may be her mom or mom in law. They were speaking my language, my mother tongue.
Language brings people closer instantly, especially when you are living in a place far far away from your motherland. My mind was already happy and at ease as the elderly lady sat into a chair right besides me.
We gave each other a smile. The kind of smile that says:" hi there stanger".

The doctors assistant called the new patients name. It looked like her appointment was before me.
Looking at her state I felt she could go into labor any time soon.
The couple went inside but the mom stayed in the waiting room.

A few minutes passed and I asked her in my mother tongue: Is that your daughter?
The lady's face lit up, her eyes smiled on hearing me speak her language in a foreign land.
"Yes" she said with pride. The pride of becoming a grand mom at any instant now!
Soon we started chatting like we knew each other for ages.
 I asked her what town she comes from? To my utter surprise she lived all her life in the same town where I had spent 9 years of my life. It was the town where I lived with my grandmother from the age of 3 to 12. It was the town where I attended kindergarten, made my first set of friends. I had so many wonderful memories of that town and the people I knew there. I lived with my grandmother away from my parents so I could have good education. My parents worked in a remote village where there were no good schools.

 I told the lady the name of my school, the street we lived on and my grandma's family name.
The lady recognised my grandmas name & told me her own family name.
I said "wait, this name is familiar to me". I had a classmate from kindergarten till 6th grade who was also my dear friend.
I uttered my friends name and the lady clasped my hands into hers. "WOW" she said, "that's my husbands niece, his brothers daughter! My joy and surprise knew no bounds....
I hear of my friend after a gap of 28 solid years.

By this time the lady's daughter was done with her consultation with the doc and it was my turn to go in.
We had only a few moments time to exchange our phone numbers; and while I was trying to give a missed call to her daughters cellphone the lady told them the summary of our entire conversation!

I called them later that evening and got my friends phone number.
I called my friend right away.
She was now a doctor,  living here in the USA with her husband and kids.
We spoke at length for hours. Refreshing our childhood memories, talking about our other friends.Where each one is living now? Who is married to whom ? How many kids they have? What each one is doing in their life? We re-lived the moments of our past that we had shared together and revealed the stories of the moments that we has missed with each other.
I still am amazed to this day,  that a simple conversation with a total stranger lead 2 childhood friends from India meet each other in the USA after a gap of 28 years .
It sure is a small world !!