“How was your day, Beta?” my mother enquired as she handed me a cup of tea. She genuinely wanted to know, probably connect with me and all I managed to reply was “Fine! as usual!”. Before she had a chance to ask me any more questions, I picked a biscuit from the tray and walked to the balcony. It had been raining for two days now. Just when it seemed like it had simmered down, it started back up again. Terrace garden seemed to be well taken care of because of the rain. As I looked out, I saw this little girl in a raincoat walking with her mother. She and her mother were moving almost complimentarily. Her mother tried to avoid, puddles, mud as much as possible and the daughter made sure she didn’t miss a single one. Her mother was yelling at her but she didn’t care, she was in her own world happily splashing water around. I was so envious of that little girl. She did exactly what made her happy and quite literally cared very little about everything else. I wish I was like her. I wish I didn’t care what everybody else thought of what I did. But the thing is nobody ever stopped me from doing anything yet. But why do I still feel trapped. Suddenly, I heard my mom’s voice, I turned to go back inside and before I knew it I heard the sound of one of the pots smashing to the ground.
I heard the sound of the pot smashing to the ground and looked up. No one was looking down to make sure it didn’t hurt anybody. I guess people really have stopped caring about other people. I care. At least I think I do. Every day I am on time to clean these streets. I make sure that the dustbins are not overflowing, leaves are raked and trash is collected completely. Especially during rainy days like today, I come early and get rid of big branches, clean the drainage pipes to ensure that there are no blockages. I have worked for thirty years and everyday when I look back at this street that I cleaned and I am happy. I know it won’t even remain clean till the next day. I’ll have to start from scratch next day, but I don’t mind. This job has given me and my family a lot of opportunities. My daughter is now working for a big company. She recently asked me to stop working. She told me she would take care of me financially. Apparently, she is ashamed of her dad working as a government cleaner. I smiled and told her, this job stopped being about money long ago, I need this job to make me feel like I’m doing something good. As I cleaned the broken pot, I saw that it was time for my tea. I went to the tea stall at the end of the road and suddenly ran into a small boy.
I ran into an uncle. I guess he didn’t see me coming. I apologized and started running. I was late. If my regular customers leave, I won’t get paid. I need the extra money. I really want to watch the new Sallu bhai’s movie. My feet are getting cold. I should ask dad for new shoes. What if mom says no? Oh no, the signal turned red. I see three small kids begging for money. I feel sad for them. If I have extra money today I’ll give them 1 rupee each. There is a red car, I like red. When I grow up I’ll buy a car just like that. There is a small kid in the back seat. She is crying. Let me make a weird face to make her laugh. Strange, she doesn’t seem to care. Girls are weird including my sister. Great, signal turned green. I smell bhajiyas. If I sell all of my tea glasses. I’ll buy one. Oh no! I just remembered, I have not done my homework yet. I hope there is no power cut tonight. Anyway, it’s just maths -easy-peasy. Wait a minute, there is that bhaiya sitting alone looking at the sea. Let me ask him ,”Do you want a cup of garma-garm chai?”
“Do you want a cup of garama-garm chai?”. I looked at kid, he was really cute and had lovely bright eyes. I smiled at him and agreed. I paid him 10 rupees and asked him to keep the change. He ran away like a deer. I sipped this tea and I instantly felt a sense of warmth. Sometimes you get exactly what you need even without ever wanting it. I looked at the sea, it seemed to me like she was sulking about something. I wonder if it’s because rain stole her thunder today. Let me see that’s a good line, I’ll try and write a poem about it. It might just get picked up by that producer again. Let me write about sea and rain being sisters and how they don’t get along and always fight yet they both know they can’t survive without one other. No I don’t think this idea will click. It’s getting late, my sweetheart will get worried so let me catch an auto. Traffic seems to be crazy, let me try and get to the other side. What the hell? This lady is almost about hit me with her scooty.
I almost hit this guy with my scooty. Can this day get any worse? Why do bad things always happen to me? What have I done to deserve this? Why would he say something like that to me? Did I do something wrong? Did he not get what I was trying to say? Should I have just let it go? Am just I being paranoid about him and his new colleague? Is it normal for two people to spend so much time together? What if he is not the one? Are we really meant to be? How can I make sure this is it? Have I been lying to myself? Do I really love him? Would I be happy spending the rest of my life with him? Where is the right turn I have to take? Am I really late to pick up Chinki? Should I stop and apologize to the lady I just splashed dirty water on?
I just got dirty water splashed on by this irresponsible girl. These stains will never go. Anyway, I wanted to give Shantha bai something. I’ll just give her this saree. The days just before exams are so stressful. I thought things were supposed to get easier. But, I guess a teacher’s job never gets easier. All the parents want their kids to be geniuses. Well, I am not a magician. Anyway, Vinay said he would be home today. I’ll go home and make pakodas for him. When I was young I thought I would be a writer. I wonder where my manuscript for a novel I wrote in college are. I think it must be in the attic. Let me look for them this weekend. Oh wait! My parents are coming over this weekend. Let me see if I can look for them next weekend. I have to help Vinay pack. Let me just wait for things to calm down and then I’ll get working on the manuscript. It feels good to be back home. “Shantha, make some tea while I go change.” It feels good to be in dry clothes again. Vinay is watching television. Let me give him a cup of tea and talk to him.” How was your day, beta?”
