Splintered or Transforming?

 

Ahalya woke up with broken legs. She did not know how or when it happened. Huge, thick, white bandages wrapped around her legs nauseated her. She was trying to ask the nurses, but it seemed her voice was choked inside her throat, and not a single word had pushed out of her mouth. She felt tears pouring from her eyes, and she picked up the small piece of white cloth on the bedside to wipe her face, only to find it dry. Where had the tears gone? She looked for some mirror or shiny objects to validate her situation but could not find anything. She became restless. A sudden desperation flooded her mind and body and she wanted answers for everything. She lay helpless.

Ahalya woke up. She was panicky. She searched for her spectacles rigorously on the bedside table. She had kept them on it before she slept at night. She remembered clearly. She was unable to see anything now and she wanted them back at any cost. In haste, she had pushed the novel on the floor that she had been reading before she had fallen asleep. And also, a bottle of water. Someone had entered her room when the glass bottle had shattered on the ground. The person started cleaning the floor and warned her not to get down as it had small pieces of broken glass. She recognised the voice. It was her maid. The maid handed over the spectacles to Ahalya without even looking at her. Ahalya was asking her all sorts of questions, but the maid kept on talking about everything except Ahalya’s enquiries. Ahalya felt her throat was choked. She was inaudible to the lady. She wore her glasses and she realised that her vision was not back. She scurried towards the door, assuming it was in that direction and bumped her head on the wall. She fall.

Ahalya woke up in the morning. She wore her spectacles and went to the kitchen to prepare her morning tea. She completed her morning rituals and hurried to the office. It was another busy day for her with loads of client meetings. She greeted everyone she met on the way. It was a cold December morning and she waited eagerly for the Christmas holidays so that she could go back to her home in India. Suddenly her eyes fell on the huge display ads on the pavement. She smiled. It read:

“Some days we are broken, on other days we become blind to the circumstances. Give your best every day.”