On Mothers and Chores

src: wikiclipart

It's close to midnight. My mom slumps down on the bed, visibly exhausted. I'm lying down next to her, massaging my eyes after having spent my whole day before the laptop. I'm still wide awake, sleep eluding me yet again. My mom is moments away from a deep slumber, but a few words escape her before she dozes off. Something about the lockdown making little difference to stay-at-home moms.

Corona Chronicles - The Face of Humanity

src: Dreamstime

The colleges are shut down. Families are locked in. Streets are swept free of traffic. Hugs are more threatening than soothing. Social media has more tasks than Bigg Boss. Patience is being tested in households rather than traffic jams. Sanitizers have become more valuable than oil.

Y for YOLO #AtoZChallenge

src: ya-webdesign.com

Today is just another day. 

You may have your daily meals, do your daily chores, and while away the rest of time in store. 

Today in the now, you alone stand for all that has happened to you before. 

You are what became of all your days of the past, all your tears and laughs of what was. 

But you are also what stands for the unknown ahead, the could-be's and maybes' of the morrow. 

You are today the prologue to possibilities, 

The hopes of a happier haven.

Today may be just another day. 

But tomorrow is empty and waiting.
It could be anything in the making.

X for the Unknown #AtoZChallenge

src: clipart.email

Two thousand years before this dawn

The Arabs had the symbols drawn;

Al-jabr, though the name had been,

Algebra is the name we've seen. 

Equations of the mastermind

Lacked a value yet to find.

'Shay-un', though its name had been,

X is all that we have seen. 

W for Writing #AtoZChallenge

src: webstockreview

In the eighth grade classroom of a Central school, all hell had broken loose. It was a commotion so profound that calling it a fish market would be an understatement. In the midst of the futile screams of the class-monitor were flying cloth dusters, pencil pouches, and a black shoe. While some were seen hopping over the desks, others crawled underneath them for reasons unknown. Vigorous pen-fights and matches of odd-or-even were being played over multiple groups. A few were found asking around for completed notebooks, graph papers, rulers, and a missing shoe. You see, it was a free period.

V for Vexation #AtoZChallenge

Source: clipart.email

In the past three years, it has religiously arrived every night. Just around the time the clock turned nine. It didn't matter what I was doing at the time. I could be studying, watching a movie, reading a book, or even rushing back to the hostel from the city or college. But it would come without fail. The vexation.

U for Usefulness #AtoZChallenge

source: VectorStock

Standing before you are two magnificent figures. The abyss of despair and the mountain of hope. We're playing the game of fate. You and your loved one are the players. Your role has the liberty of deciding how involved you can be in the game, for the fate is that of your loved one. Each time fate decides to deal against him, the abyss moves closer to where he stands. All you need to do is to guide him towards the mountain. Simple.

P for Paunch #AtoZChallenge

source: paintingvalley

She hung there in all her glory, putting all the ones around her to shame. The fabric clung well to accentuate the shape, complementing the waistlines to perfection. The shade of royal blue gave her a mesmerizing glow, the bare neck descending sideways to slender sleeves. Her style screamed of confidence. Her looks invited admiration. She was ideal for flaunting the body. She was meant to be. But just not for me.

O for Overthinking #AtoZChallenge

source: Dreamstime

The cursor blinked in the empty spreadsheet before me. I typed down the heading and watched it blink some more. I had a half-mind about writing it down. It seemed like a great idea thirty seconds ago. But now the dubiousness crawled in. My fingers hung on top of the keyboard, waiting for the brain to give the green signal. But the brain was busy processing the gazillion thoughts that'd poured in all of a sudden. 

L for Left-Out #AtoZChallenge

source: Needpix

In the comfort of room number 111, I reclined in my single bed basking in the sweet solitude. What a pity for the ones who couldn't enjoy their own company! Having some me-time was always lovely. Even necessary, I'd say. While the ones from the other rooms gathered around in times of boredom, I found myself hardly ever encountering that term. Smiling to myself, I sat enjoying the private freedom within the room when the phone rang.

K for Knowledge #AtoZChallenge

source: VectorStock

Laughing hysterically at the stories tossed back and forth in the group, we sat in a circle on the master bed. Slumber parties were meant for long stories. The tidbits of gossip at work, little-known histories of our fellow mates, the likes and dislikes of the circle...so on and so forth. But of course, there comes a point where we run out of things to talk about. Here's where the games begin. And pretty often, there is this one game which is always among the first choices.

J for Judgements #AtoZChallenge

source: clipart.email

I don't know if the world has ever been shut down the way it is today. Today, when stepping outdoors is a risk no one is willing to take, when all of social media brims with quarantine tips and pieces of advice, and when the news is entirely about the new number of coronavirus cases or deaths. It feels like a long holiday but it also doesn't. We have time in plenty in our hands and yet can only conform to limited activities. We sheepishly enjoy the much-needed rest, but also feel bored. We feel guilty of our trivial thoughts during quarantine when the world is struggling to survive. For once, the same fate is faced all through the globe, where each of us can relate to the other. This period is going down in history.

I for Individuality #AtoZChallenge

source: vectorstock

"You want some help?"
"NO" I cried, a little harsher than was intended. She nodded and left me alone with my words.

The hardcover of my diary had begun to peel off from overuse. Passages edited and re-edited were strewn across the pages, sometimes with blue ink, sometimes with black. I clicked the pen against the edge of the page, deep in reverie.

H for Hurt #AtoZChallenge

source: pinterest

You know what the scariest thing about love is? The vulnerability of it. How you voluntarily expose yourself to another person, giving them all the strength to empower you, but also destroy you. It is scary to open up and give yourself away. You may choose not to, but there may come a time when opening up becomes a necessity to keep your sanity. Opening up at such a point gives you this blissful relief you didn't know you could be entitled to. Opening up makes you realize how much you needed the support that you're receiving now. Opening up makes you realize that however big a risk it might seem to lay bare before another, the result can turn out to be one of the most precious things you could possibly possess. The thing called love.

E for Extempore #AtoZChallenge

source: yawd

I turned my back to them and hurriedly packed my bag. If I could escape their notice and just reach till the school bus, then I wouldn't have to do it. They should get someone else to do it anyway. There were so many others after all. Now, if only they weren't gon-

D for Decisions #AtoZChallenge

source: clipartkey.com

We carry it with us from the moment our brains develop to think on their own. The burden of taking decisions. As for me, I've conveniently passed on the burden to another since a little child. Of course, one wouldn't always call it a burden. But a task it was. From the flavour of my ice-cream to the channel to watch on TV, I'd always followed my elder sister's lead. It took quite some time for me to realize that I liked tea over coffee, unlike her. It took even more time for me to choose dresses of my own liking.

C for Connections #AtoZChallenge

source: jing.fm

"And then, as silence swarmed,
I listened to all else.
A whisper, I could hear..
A whisper, soft and dear..."

I was reciting my poem out loud. Their interest in it seemed very convincing, but also very unlikely. I mean, even I wouldn't respond to it that way. Not to demean myself, but I knew my place as a novice and this piece did not deserve the praise it was being given. I was at my first open mic event. A couple of friends had come with me, but we were made to sit apart. Here, we were meant to socialize. Meet new people, make connections. And so we did. I believed that this day was the beginning of something very special. I wanted it to be.

B for Books #AtoZChallenge

source: pinterest

Head of the Literary club in school and a favourite of the English professor. Definitely eligible to be labelled a bookworm. Hell, she'd read all of the Harry Potter books and urged everyone around her to do the same too. She had this circle of reader friends who always had a bunch of books being passed around. This was, of course, before the plus two boards weighed down on the poor souls and killed their leisure time. Good old days.

A for Awkwardness #AtoZChallenge

source: pngitem

It was a normal and pleasant Thursday evening. The three of us were happily munching over a plate of french fries powdered with chaat masala. A casual conversation floated in this comfortable small circle. It was all good until one of their phones rang. The comfort level in me felt a slight dip. My fears rang true when he got up and said the dreaded words -

"I'll be right back."

The Last Pluviophiles

Source: Pinterest

She hated it. She hated how capricious it was, how it came all too sudden without even a hint of how long it was planning to stay. She hated how it ruined her plans every time. She hated how it made her clothes take longer to dry up, or how it forced her to carry a bag around just for an umbrella.
She hated the rains.