Rashmi's Space

Every house has a routine. Every family has a routine. The husband does a few things, the wife does a few; and the daily grind goes on, like clockwork. So long as everyone sticks to their jobs, and does them perfectly, things go right. Kids reach school on time, adults get to work on time, and all is right with the world. Of course, as simple as it sounds, it also sometimes gets monotonous with everyone just doing ‘the same old.’ And every once in a while, the thought does occur – what if, say, one day the husband did the cooking and the wife drove the kids to school? Wouldn’t it be great to just drive, with songs on, drop the kids, and on the way back, listen to one’s favourite songs? Ah, what a blissful hour that would be! What’s more, there would be hot breakfast ready, thanks to the husband who would have been busy in the kitchen while the wife was out driving and listening to songs – I mean, dropping the kids to school… And then, some days, the smooth clockwork ...

“What’s with the face?” Karan and Priya were going out to a formal dinner in about an hour. Priya was at the dressing table, twisting her hair this way and that, trying to get it to stay in place. Karan, who stood behind her fiddling with his tie, looked seriously at her reflection in the mirror. “I just found my first grey hair,” Priya said to his reflection, in dismay. “Welcome to the club!” Karan smiled at her reflection, caressing his grey-and-black, close-cropped beard. Though not much older than Priya in age, Karan had begun sporting grey hair for the past few years now. And proudly at that. Of course he had no idea of the hurt and dismay that Priya felt, having found that one stray grey! But to Priya, it was devastating. It meant that she was crossing over to the other side. At the back of her mind, she knew, that there would be a time when she would actually, proudly let her greys show. But that time wasn’t now. Not now when their children were st...

It was a weekday evening. I was outdoors with my little one. The sun was shining down brightly on us. We were both happy to be out in the open after being cooped up in the house for over a week when the little one had had his exams, and I had been fighting deadlines; not to mention the cold we had both been battling the past ten days. And so it was, that breathing in the fresh early evening air, we were both looking forward to our time out in the open! The little one had big plans of taking his bicycle for a spin. I was planning to take a good long walk on the greens around the apartment complex. He had his helmet and ipod on. I had my playlist ready on my phone. When we stepped out of the lift, we were greeted by the wonderful chirping of birds and a light breeze that was blowing just then. I took a big, deep breath. We bid each other goodbye, and my little one rode off on his bicycle in the direction opposite to the one I turned to, for my walk. All was right with the wor...