Coffee Table-II

By Ashima Bhardwaj

Everyone stopped doing whatever it was they were in the midst of. The gentleman stopped short and smiled, the young boy and the girl came out of their worlds and the kids were all looking at one of their friends.
Strums of the guitar were so welcome. The kid played ‘everything I do, I do it for you’ by Bryan Adams and such was his connection with his guitar, his music and the people in the room, that they could not help sitting in corners anymore.
The chords of the guitar were like honey to the ears. Even the waiters behind the counter stopped for a while. The music spread like joy on everyone’s faces and soon the whole place was different.
The gentleman’s son was arriving from abroad after a long time and he had not found out until his wife had received a call from him seconds ago. He was annoyed for not having been told and his wife only wanted to surprise him. But now, he was singing along with the kids.
The young boy was here to bid goodbye to his girlfriend, who was leaving town to study in another city and could not handle saying adieu. They were both smiling from ear to ear and looked very content in being together for the moment.
The kids, who only minutes ago, were just a bunch of people who did not care for the greater good of the society, were now the people who saved the day.
The spectator, who can only assume things from a distance and draw his conclusions, learnt a lesson. Music binds people like nothing else. It gives vent to emotion. Things are not what they seem. Appearances can be deceptive. The world is a way better place than observed. This is what he wrote in his diary with a smile on this face:
‘Tell me not in mournful numbers
that life is but an empty dream;
for the soul is dead that crumbles,
and things are not what they seem.’