A Tale Of Just Another Day...

It was just another day…

The ringing alarm bell raised a ruffle for Parul in the wee hours of the morning. The morning never stopped to beckon her from waking up. It was a stagnant life. It was business as usual.  And there was no perfect moment to pause and cherish fond memories, achievements, and joy. Life was moving fast. She didn't have time to look around once in a while. She didn't stop because she was tired, but because she was done. She never felt she was missing anything.

It was just another day when the news of the sudden outbreak of a novel virus came in, a virus that was not heard before and with no known cure for it. With it came the big news of complete lockdown, which was novel as well.

And suddenly, there was a blast of noise in the kitchen. There stood Parul, dumbstruck with the news. It was indefinite, long haul, and Parul couldn't feel anything but helpless. The silence in the house beckoned her. Stepping out of the house, day in and day out was a routine and cooped in the house was unthinkable.

And the days rolled by, just like that one by one. The school was off, the office had come home. The children were not going to school, with no impending homework or assignments looming large anytime soon. The morning alarm was no more ringing and the breezy mornings were calm and silent. The time was running at its own pace. Many new things were happening around her.

But that particular night Parul knew she was missing something.

Today it was the first time; her little girl was separately sleeping, carrying her toys in her world and her room. It was a touch of melancholy for Parul. The room was suddenly silent. The silence was almost killing her. The whole day she ran behind them, asking them to remain silent, but this silence was not something uncalled for. It was the first time since she was born, that the night had been so silent. She resolved not to peep into the other room to check what she is doing. The calmness of the night always brought in new ideas and thoughts to ponder. But today seemed very different. She was not able to think. She tossed and rolled on the bed innumerable times. The yelling, scolding, running behind them, she couldn't stop thinking about it. The thoughts overwhelmed her. She wanted to do all of that now. But there was nobody around to listen. The range of emotions moved in different hues and variants. Alas! She couldn't do much about it.

 

Her little girl had long gone to sleep, but Parul couldn't. She slowly tiptoed onto the room, to have a look at the happily sleeping girl, with a half lying book at the side. It was already 2.00 am. And Parul waited for the morning to rise. But the night had brought in a wave of thoughts in her. Is this empty nest syndrome? Is this in the offing in the years to come? She couldn't think beyond that. And the morning breeze woke her up from the swarm of thoughts. The sudden showering rains cooled the atmosphere outside and the thoughts inside Parul withered along with it. And the day went by just like any other day.

 

The night again brought the same sea of thoughts. And this time Parul decided to face the inner crisis. But how? The silence was too much to handle and that too with each passing day, it was going to be more difficult. She told her little child, I am going to miss you. And then, the little girl brought her favorite toy Elsa and most loved monkey to her dear mom. With a wink, she said, "you can keep these with you, hug and kiss whenever you remember me". And then Parul paused, to think of the words "As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself and the other for helping others" by acclaimed American Poet Maya Angelou. And this time the little one was offering her helping hand to her dear mother. And then Parul realized her little one has grown up. "Tears started rolling down her eyes"