The Gift

Ameesha was jolted to reality when the bus schreeched to a halt at her bus stop - the rubber ground on the asphalt. She quickly got off and started walking towards the unlight street where her home was the second one on the right ! Her walk was not a walk, but more of a run. A shiver went up her spine !

On reaching the porch, she fished for her keys and came out with everything from fruit candy, to crayons, to tissues, to a small car :) She entered the house with her heart pounding, waiting to hear a disgruntled hello, and ready to defend herself for being late from work - but instead there was silence and she heard the pressure cooker go off!

This certainly was a miracle ! Her husband Neel had taken the effort to put on the rice, and dinner was really on the way - she could hardly believe her good fortune :)

Neel wasn't a bad person at all, fulfilled all his responsibilities as a husband and a father, but hated taking on domestic chores in her absence and lent a hand once in a way. He wanted a perfect wife when at home, and a career woman to the core when she stepped out of the house. Well, she could have all the 'avatars' possible, if he only appreciated what she did - specially for him and the family.

She walked into the bedroom and Sarthak her cute little bubbly 3 year old son came dashing at her, and wanted to climb on her, and have her play with him rightaway. Neel on the other hand muttered a gruntled welcome - and Ameesha quickly said "I had to tally the accounts today being the last day of the month- I have been wanting to catch the 5:00 o'clock bus, but I just couldn't leave work in a mess". Neel just nodded and left the room. He didn't really care - for him, she had failed in her role today. Period. He didn't believe in arguing.

Now, how could she explain to him that she was dying to come home early too, play with her son, eat good food and relax for some time. At work she still had left early compared to the other guys in her accounts department where she worked, and the guys who hung on till 10 PM complete with their smoking rounds and gossip and the pizza that the boss had ordered for the team. She just felt so spread thin - where was she driving herself to? Nobody seemed happy with her.

She felt lonely inspite of being surrounded by friends, relatives, siblings, a husband, and a son. Everyone expected something out of her - there was not a single soul around her who did something as simple as a smile for her just because of her being her.There were always unsaid strings attached, loaded with silent expectations to every favor done.
Her neighbour Neeta who promised to help her stich the curtains for the house wasn't doing it for free - she was eyeing being voted for an office bearer's position in the housing association. Her in-laws called her up every other day, again to find out about what she planned to give her sister-in-law for her wedding happening shortly, what she could do to help with her brother-in-law's studies or how she could help her mother-in-laws sister's son get a job in her own department at her office. Her parents wanted to know when she would be able to go to the village to dispose off the ancestral farm land - but,where was the time to do anything at all? And, where were all these people when she was struggling between her job, her son, and they, as a family were going through a financial crisis in the beginning years of their marriage?

Now,even her two good college buddies Aman and Rakesh were now not the best of friends- just because Aman had started a small company recently and did not want to talk about it to anyone for his own reasons and wanted to settle down before he proclaimed it to the world, including Rakesh.
Rakesh on the other hand, had learnt of this venture through Aman's own mother who believed in being a broad cast station when it came to any bit of sensational news she could lay her hands on. As a result Rakesh was angry with Ameesha too . Now who could she explain that either way she wasn't at a fault ? Was it her fault that Aman trusted her with this information ? Wouldn't she betray him if she leaked it to Rakesh ? Well, she had it tough either way !
Aman and Rakesh were entirely different kinds of people - one was very outgoing, and wanted everything life had to offer - the other was content with life and belived in a slower pace. Well, she liked to both of them for what they were, and was happy to have them around her - she wanted to just share a piece of her happy world with them with no strings attached, no commitments, and no expectatations. But was she lucky enough ? didn't seem like at this moment!
She simply, sincerely wished they would all be together again, and have a good time hanging out at coffee shops and share a joke and laugh till their sides hurt - where was the time for such silly squabbles - life was too precious. But, who could drive sense into these ego-centric buddies of her's who were wasting precious time together ?

She brushed all her thoughts aside and quickly set about getting dinner to the table and when she looked out of the window, saw that it had begun to drizzle. After a full two hour's battle with chores and Sarthak's tantrums, feeding him and putting him to bed, she was ready to call it a day.

She made herself comfortable on the sofa in the drawing room, cuddled herself up in a cozy blanket and right then, something on the mahogany side table caught her eye! It was a picture of a little girl with a painting in the back ground - the smile she had was one of the brightest ever - there were stars in the little eyes and she could almost feel her excited breath - the happiness was palpable ! This was the very painting she had made and sent to the little girl she had adopted at the orphange, on her birthday last month - who's expenses she paid for month after month.

The little one had taken the time to pose with her painting, her little gift, to show her appreciation ! That's when Ameesha felt a warmth in her heart.She had afterall made a difference somewhere, in someone's life - it was not all a waste....she smiled a contented smile !!

She dozed off to sleep thinking ...it's such a short life to be wasted on useless things like egos, quarrels, and gossip ! There is so much to do and so little time..

The rain outside had now turned to a downpour....




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Jan 06 is Cuddle up day - So, get up now, go ahead and give everyone in your family a big tight hug and cuddle up with your little ones or your favourite teddy bear :) !!!