The window remained closed. He used to look at it everyday when he pass by that building. The sight of that window flushed some sweet and sour memories into his mind taking him back through time.

 The building was an old two storied one with lots of doors and windows. Now it seemed much older than it were before. There was a window facing the road on the first floor of the building. His office was on the opposite side of the building just a couple of blocks away. He joined there as an accountant three years ago. Those days, the street was not much lively and crowded with rikshawalas and street merchants who shouted loudly, as it is now. Now they rule the road. Changes have changed the street very much with its invisible arms of time. The people, and each and every nook and corner of the street reflected change. When he came there first, the window was not closed and the building was occupied. A beggar who lost both legs was sitting near the gate. Now he is also gone.

 He could remember the sweet little face that appeared over the window searching the street as if she had lost something down there. He noticed that face over the window quite accidentally. He was surprised by the sight of the face over the window, for it reminded him of his daughter at home. She saw him staring at her, and when he saw her noticing, he hurried off. It came to be a daily routine for him to look for her. His heart felt miserable if she was not at the window or if he couldn’t go to office. He started hating Sundays because he couldn’t see her cute face. Days and months passed by. They exchanged smiles everyday. And she started calling him “Mama, Mama” from the window. He became her friend within a short time. The innocence of her charming smile made him think of her as his own child and loved her like that. She resembled his daughter in every movement. She used to wait for him near the window every morning and evening. He too used to look for her when he reaches near the building on his way to office and on his way back. One day during their small chat over the window, she told him that she is turning four the next Monday and invited him home. On Monday morning, he saw the window closed from a distance itself. It’s unusual. Even if she had gone in, the window used to remain open, eagerly waiting to join her. He went near the house and fount the main door and the rusted gate locked. Then he heard the beggar saying, “They all have left the house yesterday. They got transfer to some other place”. He stood there like a statue holding the gift he had bought for her.

 Two years passed by presenting springs, autumns and winters making changes. The building was not occupied there after and reminded him of her every time he passed that way. One day on his way to office, he found the gate open. He was eager to know more. But it’s already late to get to office and the thought of the manager’s dark face with eyebrows raised like a bow pulled his legs back. On his way back that evening, he saw some people cleaning the building. He went near the house. They were busy cleaning the grill of the handrails. He asked a person who came out of the building about what they are up to. He said that the old owner had sold the house and they are cleaning the house for the new owner. His reply made him stand still for sometime. Then he started walking out of the compound. He felt weak at his knees. His last hope of seeing the window open with the child has drowned. On his way out, he turned back to the building. He saw the window open once again.