Imagine walking down a street after a lunch with friends, still indulged in animated conversation with them. Suddenly you run into a another long forgotten friend coming down from the other side. Its both delightful and pleasantly surprising.

I have had such encounters many times now, meeting known faces in least expected circumstances. Being born, brought up and now living in the same city, even a large one like Bengaluru with ~84L population, still gives enough opportunities for chance encounters.

The friend I met that day on the street, we got talking and realized we stay quite close. That restarted the next phase of our friendship, one separated from the previous one by close to ten years.

Such chance encounters spark such great joy in me.

It need not be something which turns into a long lasting relationship, but running into a known face in a bus, at a temple city or at a relative’s social event adds a charm and provides highlights in your otherwise routine life. If those encounters are positive, it can make an otherwise not so memorable activity also interesting.

So even with the limited outings I go now, sometimes just thinking of a possible serendipitous encounter makes me smile and open my eyes more. 🙂