Hugs for free :) (WR)

"Mumma I am hungry!" Neha shouted and came running into the kitchen. "Neha, how many times have I told you to keep your school bag in your room and not throw it on the floor" admonished her mother. "Oh Mumma I will do it later. Now give me something to eat" Neha pleaded. "OK but before that you should give me a tight hug" her mother said. Neha immediately hugged her mother as tight as possible with her little chubby hands. "Thank you sweet heart. I will prepare something for you" her mother said and got busy in preparing sandwiches.

 "Mumma why do you always want me to hug you?" Neha questioned. "Because it makes me happy" her mother said. "Does hugging make everybody happy?". "I guess so" her mother said. Neha thought for a while and suddenly exclaimed "Oh Mumma I have got a wonderful idea. Why don't we open a shop and distribute free hugs to everybody. Like that, everybody will become happy" . Her mother looked at Neha's innocent face and laughed. She hugged her tight, wishing to preserve her childhood innocence forever.

Gratitude

Today I am deflecting from my chosen category of writing stories and thought of writing about the things that I am really grateful for in my life. So here goes:

1. I am grateful for having such loving and supportive parents.
2. I am grateful for my husband. He is my support system and a pillar of strength.
3. I am grateful for my job.
4. I am grateful for my in laws, especially my father in law for taking interest in whatever I pursue and encouraging me to never give up.
5. I am grateful for all the comforts that I have in my life, which I so often take for granted.
6. I am grateful that I have a minimalist attitude and can differentiate between my wants and needs.
7. I am grateful for my friends who have been there with me through thick and thin.
8. Finally I am grateful that God has been very kind to me and showered his blessings when I was least expecting it, there by strengthening my belief in him

Fiasco-(WR)

The rice was charred and the vegetables were overcooked. The kitchen was a mess and Nisha sat in a corner with a dejected look. Rohan, her husband entered the kitchen and looked around. As soon as Nisha saw him, she broke down.  Rohan went and sat near her. “Oh Rohan, I am so sorry. I am such an idiot. I shouldn't have offered to cook today. Your parents would be here any minute and I don’t have anything to serve them” Nisha said through sobs.

“Please don’t cry Nisha, mistakes happen” Rohan said lovingly. “Mistake? This is a bloody fiasco Rohan. What do we do now?” she asked. Just then Rohan’s parents arrived and her mother in law entered the kitchen. “What is this Nisha? What happened?” she asked, concerned. “Mom I am so sorry. I have messed up everything. I am an amateur cook but as you were coming to our house for the first time, I had thought I would prepare lunch with my own hands but everything went horribly wrong” Nisha said. Her mother in law chuckled and beckoned Nisha to come near her.

“It’s OK love. At least you thought about making our visit special. That is enough for us. We know that our daughter in law loves us. What else do we need? Now who’s up for some pizzas and my home made pudding?” she asked with a smile. Nisha felt a sense of relief and gratitude pass through her and she hugged her mother in law.

Empower-(WR)

Little Kiran woke up to the sound of her parents shouting. She rubbed her eyes and walked towards their bedroom. She peeked through the door and saw her mother curled up in a corner and her father was holding a cane. Just as he raised his cane to hit her, his eyes fell on Kiran. 

Suddenly his demeanor changed. He dropped the cane and smiled at Kiran. He came near her and picked her up. "Why aren't you asleep sweety? Its already late and you have school tomorrow don't you?" he said and kissed her on her cheek. Kiran did not reply and looked at her mother. By now she had got up and was smiling too.But Kiran could see the bruises on her body and the tears in her eyes, which she was trying to hide. "Come on baby let me tell you a story. May be then you will get some sleep." her mother said and took her to her bedroom.

She tucked Kiran in and recited a story from her favorite book, about a Princess who fought the enemies and saved her kingdom. "Good night sweety, sleep tight" her mother said and kissed her on her forehead. "Mumma, why does daddy beat you?" Kiran asked. Her mother was speechless and just looked at her daughter's earnest eyes . "Why can't you be brave like the princess and hit daddy back?" she asked again. With that question, something stirred inside her. Is this what I am teaching my daughter? To be submissive and endure the pain? she thought guiltily. What if the same thing happens with my daughter? Would I want her to be like me and tolerate the injustice?

She wiped her tears and looked at her daughter. She held her hand and said "Mumma will be brave like the Princess, darling. I promise you that." she said with a new found courage.

The next day Kiran's father was arrested on the charges of domestic violence. 

(This post is dedicated to all the woman, who took a stand and fought back against their perpetrators. I salute them and hope that every woman in this country find their lost voice and stand up to what is right)

Depression-(WR)

D

She felt herself living inside a black hole. Nothing made sense anymore. She suffered with inexplicable sadness everyday. Some days she just felt like crawling back to bed and shut out everything. She had stopped calling her friends and family because, nobody understood her. 

They just dismissed it saying it will pass. Some even said that she was making all that up to garner attention. Her parents remarked that she had everything she ever wanted, she should feel lucky instead of feeling sad. Their comments made her start feeling guilty. 

Her performance had started getting affected at work. She lost her self confidence. One day her boss called her and told her that if her performance continued like this, he was afraid they would have to let her go. This was the last straw for her. She went home, took a container full of pills and slept, never to wake up again. 

(Depression is fast increasing among people today. Everyone should be made aware that depression is not something they made up in their head. It is an illness and with the proper treatment it can be cured. Some people are afraid to go to a psychiatrist because they are embarrassed.This is due to the lack of awareness among people regarding mental illness. Going to a psychiatrist does not mean you are crazy. It means you are brave enough to seek help)

Chaos-(WR)

C

Joe followed her towards the hotel room. She entered the room and closed the door behind her. OK this is it. I am going to confront her today Joe thought.

He stopped in front of her room and took a deep breath. He knocked at the door and waited. She opened the door to be greeted by her husband. "Hi Molly. Is this a bad time?" he asked with a cold voice. A sense of shock and dis belief passed through her.She quickly grabbed his hand and pulled him in and closed the door.

"How did you find out I was staying here?" she asked in disbelief. "I followed you. For how many days did you think you could keep this from me Molly? By the way where is he?" "Where is who?" "Your lover with whom you are having an affair"

"I am not having any affair you idiot" Molly cried.
"Oh yeah then why did you  book a hotel room and why did you lie to me that you were going to London on a work emergency where as you are still here?"

"Because I was tired of the chaos at the house. It was like I was the sole go to person for everything, be it for the kids or for you. I was very stressed and I craved for a me time, which seemed next to impossible staying at home. So every month I make an excuse and come here to relax and do whatever I want" Molly said with tears brimming in her eyes.

Joe was shocked. "I hope you would be back home by evening" Joe said in a dejected voice, turned around and left.

Molly packed her things and returned home with guilt written all over her face. She was surprised to see nobody was around, not even the kids. She went upstairs to her bedroom and opened the door. What she saw made her stop in her tracks.

The whole room was lit up with candles. There was  soft music playing in the background. There was a comfortable looking arm chair at the corner with a stack of her favorite books on her side table. "I hope you liked it" Joe whispered in her ear. She turned around and looked at him, confused. "You don't have to go to a hotel to get the me time. I can arrange it for you at home every month. The kids are at their grandmothers and I will be out with my buddies. You can do whatever you like and nobody will be there to disturb you." Joe said and smiled lovingly at her.

"Oh Joe!" Molly exclaimed and hugged him.

Belong-(WR)

B

They were best friends. They shared everything with each other and understood each other like no one else. She thought it was love and he thought it was just friendship. Her world was shattered when he told her he loved someone else.   

He told that she was everything he wanted and he was going to propose marriage to her. The night before his wedding she called him to her apartment in the pretext of throwing a party for him. She poured some wine and made him drink. 

Suddenly he started feeling nauseous and sleepy. Before he surrendered to sleep, he saw her smiling manically and heard her say “You belong only with me”.

The next day the police found two bodies in the apartment, the man was wearing a tuxedo and the woman a wedding gown.