From yards away, I saw her. Seated in a yoga pose on the brown bench, her back to the early morning sun, my quiet musing was interrupted.

Like a dog that sniffs at the air, I sniffed at the aura surrounding her and within a stone throw, I saw the unwitting frown line that dug into the sides of her lips; they were at odds with the smoothness of her forehead.

She raised a flask, took a sip and dropped it, all the time her right fingers tapped on her phone with speed that belied her pose. I watched her with more interest as I drew closer, my brisk steps slowed down a notch.  I saw a tear as it escaped and raced down her pinkened cheek.

It could have been easier to avert my eyes and pretend I neither saw her nor witnessed her private pain. I didn’t want to embarrass her, yet, I couldn’t resist slowing down and deliberately saying hello to catch her eyes.

Her expressive dark brown eyes shared its story in that brief moment of raising them to look at me.

I smiled. I was smiling not just at the physical person that I saw, but at the soul within.  I didn’t know what her burdens were and what the secret in her melancholic eyes was, but I hoped that in offering her that smile and nod, I offered her a prayer that made her know that yes, everything is going to be alright.