Fiction : “The Call”

She stared at the report, shocked that it was still in her hands, that it hadn’t yet dropped to the floor after she first read it. That she was still standing, her feet slightly apart, looking down at that sheet of paper.

There it was, clearly stating the obvious. The print bold, even highlighted with a yellow background.

It can’t be true, she told herself again. Not after all the care I took.

Instinctively, her hand went to her belly. Could she feel it in there. Yes, she thought. It’s in there…..a part of me …

But how did it happen? When did it happen? Try as she might, she was unable to pin-point that instance …..did she subconsciously know? Maybe…..

Was her subconscious mind responsible, after all? Is it that easy, to shove the blame on something else entirely? Why didn’t she heed the warning signs? Wasn’t she responsible herself? No no….she screamed inwardly. I don’t know ….

And what about HIM? Hadn’t he warned her before? Hadn’t he asked her to be careful?

She had laughed off his concerns …..a mutinous look in her eyes. He was worried then. She had simply shrugged her shoulders and told him that it was her problem. She would take care of it. He didn’t seem convinced. She just giggled and asked him to enjoy the present and stop worrying about the future.

How naive she had been.

Had she really taken care, taken precaution?

Can this be termed as her failure?

So many questions….and she had no answers.

But she had to let him know. He had a right, hadn’t he? It would kill her ….but she had to do it.

Her hand trembled as she reached for the phone. What would he say? Would he even talk to her? Hadn’t he made it clear that he had no soft feelings for it. Hadn’t he made it sound like something ugly, something unwanted ?

But it had to be done. NOW.

She dialled his number….he picked up on the fourth ring.

“Hello”.

She almost hung up right then. She couldn’t get the words out of her mouth.

“Hello?!!” he was insistent.

“Its me…”, she managed to whisper.

“Hey…..What happened? ”

“I got the report this morning…”.

“And…?”!!!

She could hear the tension in his voice, almost see him stiffening with the phone to his ear.

“It’s true”, she sobbed.

“What’s true?”, he was starting to get worried now .

“It’s true”, she wailed,” I’m 15 points over maximum fat limit . The report says , I’m obese!!”

————————————————————————————

Disclaimer :

The above short story is entirely fictional and any resemblance to a person living (not dead) is purely unavoidable.

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Some new books on my shelf

I went on a book spree recently and grabbed me some really cool ones :-

by Arnab Ray, the King of wit!!

by Sidin Vadukut, the KING of humour

by Agatha Christie, the Queen of Crime!

Who doesn't like a Bond once in a while 😀

 I’m reading the Dork book now, after rave reviews on the net as well as from a friend from US whom I’d gifted it at his farewell. If a non-Indian could enjoy it so much, it must be really really funny.

And I’m glad to say, Sidin doesn’t disappoint. The book is hilarious, right from page one! And if you were a regular reader of his blog, you’d at once identify the instances that give him away :). Yup, friends, Sidin is Robert. Hah!! Its so much fun when you come across a section which you recollect from yore and know whats coming up!! Its almost like a guessing game to see if we can make out what comes next 😀 . Much fun indeed!!

I’m simultaneously catching up on Ruskin Bond’s Funny Side Up. He is one author, who is so fluid in his writing, you cant help but relax with his books. And he also writes some really cute short stories. Well, not all are stories per se, but they are short and a good read nevertheless. Best to chill out with over a cup of tea 😀 .

The morning of the day when I bought those books, the lady security guard at work dropped my scooty key chain and it broke into two. I loved that key chain, it was a cute ballerina slipper, complete with a bow. Umm..in a way, its time had come, I guess. It was a trifle old too….I mean, I’d started using it just for a year now, but I remember , it was gifted to me sometime in 1992-93. 

It was old alright!! 😐

(I thought of buying a key chain after the books purchase.)

Anyhow, I was in this bookstore called Manneys and going through the books, when I came across the shelf full of Agatha Christies. Now, I’ve read ALL of her books and yet, this one seemed different. The title didn’t seem familiar and even the text at the back didn’t strike a chord. I thought of buying it, coz if I couldn’t remember it, it was as good as a new read 🙂 .

Just while leaving the shop, the owner called out to me and handed me this small box. Turned out to be a free gift with the Agatha Christie. Oh Great! My favourite author bestows me with a gift. I love her even more now  😀 .

And what was the gift??

A sturdy wooden keychain proclaiming boldly that Agatha Christie is the Queen of Crime!!!

Of Course!!! Who else could it be?!

😀

 Anyway, Landmark is just right across this store and I frequent it regularly. But this time , while browsing lazily through the shelves, I realized what a difference in atmosphere the two places had. Landmark was huge, had a large collection, was air-conditioned, had plenty of staff and was basically , impersonal.

Whereas, Manneys was tiny, cluttered with books, with most lying in piles on the floor, there was no air-conditioning, just a few fans trying their best to dissipate the heat, limited staff and an aged owner who took it as his personal responsibility to locate the Arnab Ray book when I couldn’t locate it myself. It had such an old-world charm about it, that I plan to drop in here more often. It’s cute to see the old man holler at one of his assistants to print the bill because he has no idea how the computer works 😀 . I was glad to see that though landmark receives more footfalls per day, places like Manneys have their own loyal following.

Count me one of them from now on 🙂

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Mixed feelings this last weekend

So I spent the weekend home with the kids, as I’d originally planned. Didn’t step out of the house for even a minute on Saturday and Sunday. But it was still a trying and excruciating weekend of sorts.

Just when RS was coming out of the fever, poor SS gets infected and BAM! The next thing I know, my poor baby is down with a 102 degree temperature, zero appetite, sore throat and a bad cold to boot. We had our hands full tending to two irritable, whiny, runny-nosed kids (did I mention that RS now has a cold too?) who wouldn’t eat, puke when forced to, wouldn’t sleep, wouldn’t open their mouths for medicines and lastly, refuse to let go of their mamma. RS, was in no way as benevolent as SS and refused to allow him to clamber on my lap. Rather rude of the girl , but she can get possessive when ill. So poor SS got shoved off hard whenever he came any close to me and there was no way I could handle both.

Bad situation for a mom, I tell you!!

I love both kids equally and at times like these ,its difficult to choose whom I want to tend to and whom I can hand over to the others. If anyone else tried to pry them off me, both started screaming and bawling loudly, which aggravated the soreness in their throat further!

Luckily, SS was quite content on GMIL’s  lap and that’s where he stayed for most of yesterday. I took over in the night, as usual, and boy, was it some night!!  RS went off to sleep after I administered her medicine in her milk. SS , though weak with fever, refused to sleep. He was quite delirious and whiny. I spent some time sponging him, yet the fever refused to subside. It was only around 2AM last night that he suddenly got up and started running around the room. There was a wierd rumbling in his tummy and I was sure he was going to throw up. But he didn’t. He just ran about and then suddenly sat in one corner and did his big job. There must have been something wrong with his stomach, because as soon as it was empty, he became cold and clammy, sweating profusely. At least the fever had subsided. He had some water and went off to sleep. Only to get a temperature at 5 in the morning. Another dose of medicine in milk and he was able to sleep some more, though he was quite uneasy and kept whimpering in his sleep.

I crashed out somewhere around 6 this morning, and woke up around 8. MIL had come in around 7:30 and took SS away (who had woken up and was trying to clamber over me to get off the bed!!) Thankfully, he was out of his fever mode and was back to running around the house 🙂 .

By the time I dressed for office, both the kids looked good. The sore throat and mild coughing is still there. But I guess, the worst of it is over (Alhamdulillah). The MIL and the BF said they would take a half day and get back home. But I don’t think its required. My babies have overcome their illness, my heroes 😀

Though my eyes are burning right now, I can’t help but feel, there’s a reason why women have a stronger stamina than men. There’s a reason why we can sustain ourselves with limited food and sleep, whereas our male counterparts would crash out much earlier. There’s a reason the babies are born to us women and not men. I’m not complaining against the BF 🙂  (just in case anyone of you gets that notion) . He did take over tending to RS while I was busy with SS, but I can’t help but feel that he’d be eye-ball deep in water if I were to leave both the kids with him 😀 .

Anyhow, am much better than I’d anticipated, except for a mild cramp in the leg, courtesy , RS, who threatened to clamber over me and fall off the bed in her sleep. My rescue attempt didn’t bode too well on my leg which took a nasty cramp knee down.

Quite an eventful night, wouldn’t you say 🙂 !

The lives of us moms can be called anything, but easy.

But in hindsight, it’s all worth it….every moment of it 🙂

Other than all this, had a good time last evening when BFC came over with her mom to hand over the invitation card for her wedding.

Am almost feeling choked at the thought of BFC moving away after marriage. We’ve been together since 1997, when we both joined college together. We’ve been more or less inseparable since then. We’ve had other friends coming and going, but we two have been together since! Oh well, she was looking absolutely radiant and I guess that is more important right now. The excitement of weddings just gets to you, doesn’t it?? I’m almost, if not equally eager to board that train to Delhi (where the wedding will take place) as soon as possible. So looking forward to it 🙂  (InshaAllah, the kids should be on their best behavior and health!! I don’t know whether I’ll be able to handle their ill-health all by myself 😦 )

Thats all the update for this weekend. And oh, I had Chinese for dinner yesterday. The BIL had brought it home. He’s so totally forgiven for any grudge I might have against him :D. God bless you BIL. For being the only one in this house who supports my craving for junk food. Oops. I meant, food-which-is-not-usually-made-at-home-but-is-sinfully-lip-smacking-when-eaten-out-simply-because-of-the-excessive-oil-and-spices-used.DELICIOUS!!!

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Fledgeling Report

Remember my pigeons?

The babies have now developed feathers, which are still a little sparse and edged with the yellow down. They look really cute now, specially when they try to show annoyance and bristle up. They almost look like a cuddly balls of fur 🙂 .

Mamma pigeon, meanwhile, is not very happy with the intrusion. She doesn’t even let me drop those rice grains in the pot anymore!! Earlier, she used to hop out of the pot while I refilled her feed. But nowadays, she just sits there and flaps like crazy, so that all the grains go flying out of my hand 😦 .Weird behavior, seriously!

Mamma Pigeon showing off her brood

There is a lot of difference between the mamma and her babies. While the mamma is all sleek and shiny, the babies are still very dull . They haven’t shed their down yet and look a funny combination of Grey and yellow. Like wise old men 🙂

Not a baby anymore, neither an adult!!

One more thing, their feet are not yet pink, like their mother, neither are their eyes rimmed with red yet. Wondering when that will happen! I found the momma pigeon feeding her babies their first non-veg meal. It was so cute, the momma pigeon shoving her beak right into their throat. I was quite worried about the insides of the babies’ throat, I mean, with a sharp beak like that going in and out, it seemed so scary. I did try to click that snap, but evey time I peeped out with the camera, the momma would become conscious and hop over to another pot!! Hope I’m lucky to get that image soon (before the kids start eating themselves!!)

A Family portrait

There is only drawback to the pigeon business. You can see that the pot is now brimming over with their poop! And just within the window side, is the comp table. So as I type this, my nostrils are assaulted by a not so pleasant smell. But being the magnanimous person that I am, I’d rather suffer the stench than let you people go back without having something new to read.

(Ahhh…aren’t I just t he right Sainthood material)

Just kidding 😀

Of course !!!

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Update on RS’s health

Thanks a lot for your wishes and prayers, people.

RS is much better now. The fever is finally down and she is back to being the active baby whom I love and adore :). As usual, she was back to bullying SS, scampering down the bed, running to and fro and generally pleasing everyone with her antics. And all these are reports from just this morning. Her fever subsided only around 4 am today. It was a tough night, believe me. It’s not a pretty sight, a sniffling, coughing baby with a high temperature, all red in the face and the dullest eyes ever!!

Am glad she’s better now. If only her throat gets better too. Poor thing is unable to have anything, except milk. Am keeping her on liquid diet for today. Hope the soreness comes down a bit. Any solid food and she’s throwing it up. She feels as though there is something stuck in her throat and tries to put her hand in and in turn gags and throws up. Must be awful for the poor darling.

So disturbed was a neighbour’s kid (Sania, 12 years ) at RS’s illness that she was crying in her house and calmed down only when her mother brought her down to see that RS was being given medicines and would be fine. I was deeply touched to see that my kids are loved so deeply by other children. Even the front-door neighbour’s kid (SK, 11 years) , who’s a permanent friend of the twins now, dropped in a couple of times to play with RS and distract her from shoving her hand inside her throat. I’m grateful to Allah that I have such kind and considerate neighbours…people who, when the twins get cranky, take them out and relieve us for some time. Who come home and play with my kids everyday, who have helped me change the twin’s nappies and dress them 🙂 . Once RS goes to SK’s house, she refuses to come back home!! Thats how closely the twins have bonded with the neighbour’s kids.

SS, contrary to his regular persona , is behaving quite well these days. Hs isn’t throwing tantrums or demanding attention like he usually does. Maybe even he knows that his sister needs us more than him. My babies’ mind doesn’t cease to amaze me at times!! He’s been quite generous with his kisses too (which otherwise, he never bestows on anyone!!).

Anyway, things are more or less back to routine. Am not so guilt ridden in office today. Looking forward to having a nice and quiet weekend with the kids 🙂 .

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My baby is ill…..

…… and I’m in office because I have a client call to attend and my team member is on leave.

RS was feverish since yesterday. Crocin drops didn’t work last night. She was still burning with fever this morning. I took her to the doc who , after a thorough check-up declared that my baby had a severe throat infection (no wonder those cough syrups weren’t working all these days!!). I felt like a bad bad mother for not realizing this before. But then, she used to cough only early mornings of late night , while sleeping!

I administered her the prescribed medicines after which she had her milk. The temperature, thankfully came down a bit after some time. I know she’ll be sleeping through most of the day today, and that is my one excuse for reporting to work!

Luckily, the MIL will be home by 5:30 , that is 5 hours from now, after which , the BF will be home too.

In all the rushing around with RS, I gave zero time to poor SS,who, for once was quite obliging and didn’t whimper for me all the time. Thanks Baby. For not harassing your already worried mother 🙂 . Life sucks big time! I know. And I just pray that you dont contract this infection of RS.

Priorities, you say….well if I wasn’t assured of the GMIL being at home with BIL and the maid there to assist her, I wouldn’t  have even thought of budging out of the house.

But it doesn’t help assuage the roar of guilt that I can hear in my ears. Only option is to wrap up work asap and rush home.

So no more posts for today ….but do drop in a kind thought for my babies 🙂

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A Prayer…….

BFC mailed me this set of prayers, one for women and one for men (the one for men is deceptively short!!)

Do read it and let me know what you all think of them (even if you’ve read them before):-

————-

WOMAN’S POEM
 
 Before I lay me down to sleep,
 I pray for a man, who’s not a creep,
 One who’s handsome, smart and strong.
 One who loves to listen long,
 One who thinks before he speaks,
 One who’ll call, not wait for weeks.
 I pray he’s gainfully employed,
 When I spend his cash, won’t be annoyed.
 Pulls out my chair and opens my door,
 Massages my back and begs to do more.
 Oh! Send me a man who’ll make love to my mind,
 Knows what to answer to “how big is my behind?”
 I pray that this man will love me to no end,
 And always be my very best friend.
 
                  

MAN’S POEM
 
 I pray for a deaf-mute nymphomaniac
 with huge boobs who owns a liquor store and a golf course.
 This doesn’t rhyme and I don’t care.

———–

 😐

——————————————

Edited to add :-

I received another SMS from BFC on the same lines :-

Moods of a woman

An angel of truth & a dream of fiction…..

She’s afraid of a wasp, will scream at a mouse,

but will tackle a stranger alone in the house.

Sour as vinegar, sweet as a rose,

she’ll kiss you one minute then turn up her nose.

She’ll win you in rage, enchant you in silk,

She’ll be stronger than brandy, milder than milk.

At times she’ll be vengeful, merry and sad,

she’ll hate you like poison and love you like mad.

 

Moods Of A Man

Hungry

Horny

Sleepy.

😐

 

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Where have the Monkeys gone?

Oh right.

They’re cooped up in this house.

"What are you doing SS??" "Nothing, just hanging around"

And here’s the other one, the master, the professional, one who is so fast at jimmying down the bed that repetitive clicks only resulted in a flash of blur. This is the clearest image I could capture :-

The master monkey

Sorry for the dull images. Something to do with a faulty camera, bad lighting, happy mood and much disturbance from the BF (now seriously, you didn’t really expect me to confess that I suck at clicking!! No seriously. I DONT. And don’t go by my earlier post on it. It must have been the flu influence!)

The twins have learnt to get down from the bed by themselves. As you can see, I have a box bed which is a little higher than the regular beds. It wasn’t easy for the kids to climb down from it. They didn’t even attempt it.

But for the last two weeks, the tornado called RS took it up as a challenge to climb up and get down from the different furniture at home . It was surprising to see a 15 month-old diligently running to the sofa, clambering on it, getting down, running to the settee, clambering on, getting down, running to the centre-table, clambering on , getting down and then repeating all the furniture once again till she mastered the act.

The first time she tried getting off my bed nearly gave me a heart attack. There she was, holding on to the sheets, calling out pitifully, her feet still a foot away from the floor, yet not able to haul herself up back again. I rescued her in time. Just to see her repeating the stunt once again. She carried on with it till she became a pro at it. Being the loyal follower that SS is, he immediately followed his sister’s act with his own, irrespective of the fact that RS had practised earlier, and he hadn’t.

He took a nasty fall, a horrid lump on the head and lots of cuddling from a petrified momma. Not that it helped any. He was back at it with a bang.

Sigh. You really can’t teach kids what they don’t want to learn.

And you can’t make them un-learn what they’ve put effort into learning.

Such is life, I guess.

And I know, I just know,they are going to hate studies (when we come to it).

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Fruits & Flowers

We had a fruit and flower decoration in our office two weeks back. Its kind of late, I know, but I finally found time to download the pics from my mobile (couldn’t take a camera to office. Isn’t allowed 😦 ). The official photographer didn’t do justice to some of the entries.

On the other hand, I’ve *ahem* managed to take some scintillating shots of the entry made by my friends, SK and SC. They did a fruit AND flower decoration on their table where others had simply resorted to either fruit OR flower.

Anyhow, check out the fruits of the efforts.Ooops, I meant, the deco, of course 🙂

So regal

This is a peacock made out of watermelon. Here’s a top view of the same :-

Fruits & Flowers

The flower arrangement on the left is a toy tractor mounted with the green flower sponge.  SK decorated it with Gerberas and Carnations . The flower vase on the right is a collection of carnations and lillies (which smelt divine!!)

I love those lillies

A tractor full of flowers

And the proud creators of the display :-

SK and SC, smiling for the judges 🙂

Unfortunately, my friends didn’t win the award, though their efforts were lauded by one and all.

The prize winning entry for the flower category went to another friend, AL :-

A Bouquet for the judges

and the one in the fruit category went to a group that had a Zoo as their theme where the different animals were made out of fruits/vegetables (actually, mostly vegetables) :-

Karela Crocodile

Capsicum 'Frogs' (but really, don't they look more like Crabs??)

 Another fruit display that I loved, was this one :-

Absolutely delectable 🙂

And my role, well, I was the audience, that most important party of any event, the cheer-leader(sans the skimpy outfits) who yells out sounds of encouragement to their friends who are seriously convinced they are going to score the lowest if I continue cheering them 😀

I thought of waiting for the official snaps to come in, but when they did I realized mine were far better.

 Anyhow,thats all for now. Next post will come in post lunch.

Till then, Ciao 🙂

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We could teach them a thing or two

If only they had the good sense to hire a few policemen from Mumbai or Bangalore or any other city in India, heck, they could have even called the Ram Sene guys (not only would they have relieved this country of their presence, albeit shortly, they would also have done a much better job of clearing. Believe me, they EXCEL at it!!) and placed them at strategic location, this wouldn’t have taken place.

We don’t have those many trees in India now. Thats why couples prefer beaches. Or sidey motels in remote areas.

But nowhere are they safe.

The moral eyes of our country make sure that people are hunted and captured before they even touch their partner. The Brits could learn a thing or two from us.

Alas, they didnt.

And then we urge our youngsters to plant more trees……..

…..what for??

Edited to Add : I found this news funny in a crude way. Here they were, chopping up trees like nobody’s business, whereas all they had to do was have a few cops patrolling the area. Couldn’t help thinking that our Indians cops would have cleared that forest in minutes. Of all the couples engaging in whatever acts they were engaging in. Sharp eyes our cops have. Very , very sharp 😀

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