A Writing Quill

Keeping themselves away from the job, children and household responsibilities was not easy for any of them. And after planning for many months, in fact years, it seemed to be possible for these four friends, now, to steal a day from their humdrum and jostling existence. They: Ananya, Chitra, Pranamika and Ujjaini decided a Saturday for their getaway.   The planning was made on a weekend so that it would be a holiday and their spouses would be available to look after the family- ‘the typical woman life, which says- manage the life before one enjoys’. The day would be spent in sight-seeing and the night at a homestay between the hills and lofty pine trees. The scenic beauty of this location was too mesmerising in this nearby hill station from their place of domicile. And it was evident from the amazing photographs available of this homestay in the internet. The sojourn for their day trip began at 9A.M. on a Saturday. It was their day off from the household chores, so preparing br...

                                     Some people retire from our lives with a remarkable smear. They themselves can’t even judge the degree of influence they had actually left behind them. And we just remember them as the sweet memory of yesteryears. One such person was the ‘ mausi ’. She was appointed by us few years ago by my mother to take care of the two terribly naughty children of my brother. My sister-in-law was left with no energy at the end of the day after thriving the long day with her kids and so hiring a babysitter seemed to be the best option. She was a short, fair lady always in the traditional attire, hired with quite a handsome salary by my mother. Her smiling face conceived a friendly nature, only inviting the thoughts inside our mind of being thrown out mischievously, by our two little monsters soon. This had been the same story being repeated with all the maids before h...

  My mother was a lady of grace though she was apprehensive about smallest of the mischiefs of us- her three daughters. We the girls grew up considering her to be the epitome of womanhood. We thought a woman is supposed to be like her. She, was a homemaker though well educated with time. She taught us both English as well as math. Beena, her name which is the melodious musical instrument of goddess Saraswati, was chosen for her by her parents when she went to school. Beena was timid and scared of her husband, society and sisters. So, most of the time she would set thresholds for us. We three sisters though, the obedient ones, would unhappily comply with her decisions. But the eldest one would many a times go against the rules and also faced the consequences. The one next to her, was the ideal one for Beena. She had trained her as she desired. Me, the, youngest one was a bright student. I never made myself available to be bullied by anyone in school. I would fight with anybody irres...

The third floor was occupied by an old couple. I must say they were the charm of Block C; too much in love with each other even though both were septuagenarians. Love was defined so evidently in their old and fragile eyes which would compel any living existent to search for their soulmates. They never had any children and last to last year had celebrated their golden jubilee of being with each other tied by the nuptial knot. I once asked the old man’s consort, ‘Mam, how is it to love the same person every morning for more than 50 long years?’ The old woman giggled like a teenager would, when encountered with her first love, ‘each day I find him better than the previous day and I start loving him more. When he was in Navy, I would yearn to meet him for six long months and the rest of the year when he would be home, he treated me like a princess. So, after his retirement, I assumed I would be a princess for the rest of the six months too. But he thought the other way and made me the quee...

My maid Asha often tells me about the old lady staying in the first floor. Asha would designate her as a very arrogant and conceited lady, ‘She does not like speaking to anyone. I had worked there for six long months but left it because of her haughty nature.’ I thought, but whenever I see her watering the beautiful plants of her balcony, I have noticed the smile on her face. It would brighten up so visibly. And it’s evident because of the immense love she holds for these voiceless living existents. I had questioned Asha about this too. ‘Umm… I have heard from the other maids and the watchman about the tragic life she has been living. Her husband and eldest son died in an accident. The younger son stays in this city itself, but does not talk to her neither visits her. She worked at a very reputed organization and after retirement she bought this flat.  The maid who preceded me, had told me once that this lady once kept on crying for hours. She never talks to anyone. But, Didi, I ha...

                                                                      The opulent Snigdha Residency was situated right at the center of the city with a very limited number of apartments in it.   There were only three buildings inside it each with just four apartments. The buildings were constructed in a V shape structure with a huge park and a walking area alongside a pool. All the modern amenities could be found so easily inside it making the survival easy for any of its resident. In fact, a departmental store had also been recently inaugurated, just near the entrance, specifically for the inhabitants of Snigdha Residency. I was staying in Block A and right in front of me, at a considerable distance was Block C while Block B was at the juncture, thus, creating the shape V. My floor was third. I had inhibiti...

I had come home during my holidays. After joining a Pharma company in Bangalore few years back, it was difficult for me to visit my hometown often but I always made it a point to at least come here once a year and sometimes depending on situations and the opportunities, it would be twice too. I loved coming back here to meet my families, friends and feel the sense of belongingness. Now, this year it was the only holiday I could manage and so I had the privilege to stretch it to some extent. I was happy. I have a few dear school friends too. We would meet often late in the evening for the get togethers. I was sharing them my experiences of the Bangalore over few drinks. Alcohol would not make me tipsy even after many drinks, so I had the adequacy to take quite a plenty of this disallowed and palliative liquid. But this evening was a little different; today after the intake of many drinks, I was feeling slightly tipsy but was able to drive my car and was in my senses. I thought of ta...