The alarm woke her up. She hated it. It’s only been five and a half hours. “I want more sleep” she mumbled to herself. She turned to face him looking for some sympathy. He was unaffected, lost in his innocent sleep. She took a moment, looking at him and reluctantly removed the blanket. Her day began.

She opened the window to feel the morning. The dew on the green and the mist in the air refreshed her mind. The sun was still not out. She looked beyond her compound. Not a soul. Not even a dog.

She remembered it was a similar morning two years back when she came to this place. The heavy ‘Lehngha’ and her feet immersed in red. Making marks on the floor as she walked in an unknown house. The sound of the dhol and firecrackers complemented the noise inside. She remembers it all.

The nervousness, the excitement, and the frenzied parties thereafter…“Here is your tea Papa” as she handed over the tea and newspaper to her father in law. Her mother in law gave a gentle nod. “Treat them like us, they’d treat you like we did”, she always remembered her mother’s advice. Not a single instance in two years, where she has shown any disrespect to them. There have been differences and she does get irritated, but she never shows it. Everything falls into place after a while. 

—

It was ‘Ekadashi’ and they had a ‘Pooja’ at home. Both mother (in law) and daughter were busy with the preparations. While one cut the vegetables, the other prepare the dough. While one made the kheer, other made the curry. They worked in sync. They complemented each other. When she came over, she knew almost nothing. Her new mom taught her everything. She bore her contempt when she used to make mistakes earlier. Now all she gets from her is envy. She has bettered her in every way.

People start coming over. The ‘girls’ of the extended family gathered around their favorite Bhabhi as she got ready for the event. They liked her. All of them. She was the first one to know the stories of their colleges, of their fights with their parents, their crushes… She was their make-up artist as well as an ‘experiment piece’ when they became one. The ‘guys’ of the family were mostly into themselves, but they liked her enough to treat her with occasional ice-cream or momos. She cleared the dishes as everyone left. 2 pieces of sweet were left un-eaten on the table. She felt an urge to gobble one of them, but she stopped herself. She was gaining weight. She called the maid and requested her to take the leftover pieces of un-eaten sweets with her. She gladly agreed. Her children would get dessert today.

It was 3:30. Everyone has had their lunch and got back on their business. She switches on the TV. She has missed her favorite show. Switching between channels, she dials a number. “Listen, bring pizza base when you come back in the eve. Sameer Bhai wants to have pizza today”. Sameer, her brother in law likes her homemade pizza. She liked him. All he did was eat junk and get scolded by his parents and all she did was to save him. Always.

She picks up a magazine and began turning pages. Two minutes later she was dozing. She’s in an exam hall, writing a paper on political science. Only five minutes are left, she still has two questions to complete. She is scribbling as fast as she can. She is running out of sheets. She knows she doesn’t have time to borrow sheet. She is struggling to write on the one page that is left. She raises a request for sheet by raising one hand while writing with another. The examiner looks with contempt as he gives her the sheet. She ignores him. She begins writing on the extra sheet and the bell rings. She doesn’t understand. How can five minutes get over so fast?

She begins to write again, but the sheet is gone. The bell is still ringing. She puts her head down in disappointment. Why the hell the bell is still ringing. She looks up. There is darkness. The exam hall is gone. She can see the clock in front of her. It said 6: 20. Shitt!

She overslept. It was a call from her mom that woke her up. She talks to her, hurriedly gets ready and rushes downstairs. She never wrote any paper in political science.

—

She prepares dinner as the men of the house eat. She and her mother in law will it eat after they are done. They liked it that way. While she prepares chapatti, mom serves it.

She steals a glance in between to see if they are liking the food. She looks at her husband. He’s not enjoying the food very much. Of course, its ‘ghia’. He had the allergy to healthy food. She makes a mental note to make something edible for him next time. At least he’d eat something.

—

“Switch off the TV Mihir, it’s already 12, I have to wake up early tomorrow”. He ignores her call. She gets up to snatch the remote. He makes her work hard. “Shut up, give me the remote”. He enjoyed irritating her. Finally, he switches off the TV and produces a chocolate out of nowhere. She is taken aback for a second. She gives him a confused look while smiling within. “For my lovely wife” he says as cheekily as possible. What for? “Just like that”.

“Okaay!” She takes a moment to let that sink. “You are not getting any sex, if that’s what this show is for”, she says with all toughness she could muster. Switches of the light and lays down.

Two minutes later she hugged him. Both of them chuckled.