Evening air. Dusty sky.
Ma and I stepped out, just for something quick.
We stopped at a roti stall.
₹15 each, Ma said ₹12.
They smiled, but didn’t budge.
While they debated,
a girl near the counter kept glancing at me.
Not staring, just… noticing.
Her laugh, her tone, something about her
felt like a scene I didn’t want to skip.
They said it’d take 10 minutes.
I hoped we’d wait.
A few rotis, a few minutes… maybe something more.
But Ma just said,
“Leave it, we’ll find better ones.”
And just like that,
the girl, the glance, the moment
left behind
for ₹3 that never changed hands.