Two sides to a Story - Part 2

Continued from here

Meenu awakened to the sound of rain that early saturday morning. She rushed out to the balcony to watch the rain as it brought memories from back home. Her family had made some beautiful memories of such cozy rainy days. She thought it was a perfect start to the day, finally Ravi and she would get a chance to spend some good time together. The two weeks since she came had gone by with she being jet lagged and he being busy at work catching up with things. She got lost in her thoughts of how good the day would be as her imagination sketched a beautiful picture of the day.

Ravi awakened to the ring of his cellular phone that mid saturday morning. It was his friend Atul reminding him of their saturday morning routine to head to the gym. Ravi looked outside the window and thought what a dull rainy day. He would have just loved to have slept till evening, but he was looking forward to going to the gym with his buddy. It was not so much about the exercising as it was getting to have a good talk with Atul about politics and the market trend.

Meenu was setting the table for breakfast when she saw Ravi come downstairs dressed in his workout attire. Her heart sank, she had imagined a warm breakfast together with a hearty conversation forgetting his weekly gym routine. Ravi was already late when he saw the table laid out, he was kicking himself for not having reminded Meenu about his gym routine. He hurriedly explained to her and left promising to himself that he will make it up to her for this.

Meenu sat reading a book, as she heard Ravi enter the house. She hurried to greet him downstairs as she thought of how she was going to start all over to make it a beautiful day. Ravi had been thinking during his drive back home about how he would make Meenu really happy. He could not wait to tell Meenu how he had decided to introduce her to all his friends. And he could not wait to see his friends' expressions on seeing his lovely wife and taste the delicious food she cooked for all of them that evening. All their wonderful comments would make her really happy. That way he would have made up to her for that morning as well.

Meenu for the next few hours washed, chopped, sauteed, ground, fried, stirred and garnished her emotions. Ravi had been busy calling and inviting all his friends for dinner. Ravi thought Meenu looked flawless in her saree, her face made up and lit with a smile. Meenu looked at Ravi's proud face swallowing and smiling more. Meenu was drowned in praises and Ravi thanked everybody for it. He felt elated and as he saw her smile he had no doubts that he had made his wife really happy. Meenu felt tired and as she saw Ravi's happy face she knew that her smile had deceived him and she would never tell him about how she had really felt that day.

To be continued....

Two sides to a Story - Part 1

Meenu stirred the sambar in the pot, seeing the red of the sambar powder and the yellow of the lentils unite in harmony. She wished she could say the same about her wedding with Ravi. She had met him a year ago at a friend's wedding where both of them were dressed their best, it had been instant attraction. There was a lot of happiness around, there were friends who teased, relatives who stared, parents who encouraged and they were engaged in a week's time. They were married within six months during his next visit to India.

She had packed her bags dreamily for a new life that awaited her in a new land. She felt like she was flying like a parachute lifted to the skies by her dreams as the plane had taken off. The next few days went in a blur with her intoxicated by the fatigue of the travel mixed with the excitement of a new place. It was that day exactly two weeks after she landed when she first got a taste of reality.

Ravi sped across the highway in his new car, he had bought it two months ago. He had fallen in love with it instantly at the showroom just like the way he had fallen for his lovely wife. His life could not have got better he thought looking at a flock of birds flying back home. He smiled at the thought of the day when he had first seen her, he still felt the same way after a year now.

When he had flown to get married he was a little worried if he would indeed be happy with Meenu. He knew he liked her but they had spent a mere ten days during his last visit amongst a galore of people. There had been everyday phone calls but they were filled with giggles, teasing, laughter and excitement leaving him in a delirious state. The days around the wedding flew with a festive flare as he eagerly awaited the day of their return. As the plane landed he felt normalcy return back to his life. Things had been good since the day she entered his life and his house. But it was that day exactly two weeks after they landed that he felt he was the happiest man alive.

To be continued....

An encounter at the Park

A was playing with a boy of 51/2 at the park today. They seemed to get along well though they were 2 years apart. As I watched them play, I was chatting with the boy's mom and expressing that the kids seem to be playing really well. A girl of 6 overhears our conversation and says I think he is in love. I just laughed out loud and the little boy's mom explained to her that her son is very friendly and there is nothing like that. So the young lady of 6 explains that she knows when it is different, when you are in love it is not the same as being friends! GOSH have things turned so topsy turvy in this world that you have to hear this from a 6 year old!

Well we dismissed the girl as overly talkative and continued looking at the kids play. When it was time to leave, the little boy's mom and I exchanged contact information and told the kids to say bye to each other. The kids hug...oh how sweet we think. The boy asks A how about a kiss!?! I still did not get it. I thought it was an innocent remark like how many of her friends in school would want to do it and the teachers and moms explained about germs. His mom says no and he looked a little disappointed but he says, I think I like you A, I might marry you when I grow up!

The right start

The right start to a day for me is when I can sit with my cup of hot coffee and allow each of my senses to do a morning stretch and wake up one by one with a smile. The days I try to skip this by gulping down my coffee when I am busy in the kitchen or when I have to hurry to get ready to leave or if I am interrupted by someone, beware everyone!

If I am at leisure and A is still asleep, I sit with the curtains drawn back to take in the visual sights of my backyard. And then if it is still the early hours of the day, the semi darkness with just a hint of sunlight and the chirping of the birds and the crickets, it is an audio visual treat! An icing on the cake for me.

A is going through a transition phase where she is skipping afternoon naps on some days and sleeping for longer hours in the night. On such days I have more time to spare before B leaves to work. So I take off for a morning walk....just me and my thoughts. There are some wooded trails very close to our community with the promise of the same chirping of the birds and the crickets.

My day's start cannot get better than this!

Words...in passing

Nothing happens as planned over here,

we are once here and the next minute there.

Playing with the energy of three year olds,

To match yours I have to exert two folds.

I wake up with the hopes of achieving a lot,

But time drifts and all I can hope for is to stay afloat.

But I have not felt lighter, mentally I mean,

You are showing me places for days that I have not seen.

P.S - Okay I had planned to write much more...but not with a book on CD reading children poems right into my ears and A asking questions about the pictures in the book. I think I will retire satisfied today that I wrote all this in less than 10 minutes.

This one is for you

Well I am still struggling to write, yeah each word written here is being done with some effort. But I am overwhelmed with all the concern I am getting from people about why I am not able to write. I was especially deeply moved by an email I got today asking me about this.

So what do I do when I feel any emotion....well I write. That is all I have known to do. If I dont write I feel frustrated because its hard to find any other outlet for these emotions. So am I not able to feel emotions these days that I am not able to write? Or am I feeling too many emotions at once that they are all clashing with each other making my mind confused about which emotion to take the cue from to write? Yes I think that is what it is!

This is sure making me feel out of my elements.....almost like I am not able to breath. It has made me realize that I cannot be happy without writing. Not being able to write is frustrating me more than anything causing me not being able to write.

So forget serious writing...I have not been able to do that in ages. What I would like to promise myself is a post on this blog everyday. A simple post that at the least describes my previous day maybe? I think that would be a good start. It would give an outlet to convert some thoughts to words.

And Bee Gees if I may borrow your words at this time....

Its only words and words are all I need to make my heart sway.