Something you might want to read.
In this haphazard life, we lost,
We lost the way that we once saw;
Why was everything clear earlier,
Who made us forget what once was raw.
We leaned on each other,
Without much battling an eye;
But have our egos grown this much,
That truth is less spoken than a lie.
Where then, did we lose our way,
Going through this haphazard life;
The way leading to riches and fame,
Moving forward without pointing a knife.
“I don’t have any stories for you today”, the Mother told the child, “You have been behaving very selfishly and inappropriate since the past week, so no stories for you from now on.” She looked at the child, who now had a puppy-like face, imploring her to read a story.
“Mom you are so mean. Why can’t you tell me a story? You tell me one every day. I can’t go to sleep without hearing a story! Mommy!”, cried the child as she pulled at her Mother’s dress when she was standing up.
“No Laila!”, her mother shouted, “You don’t know how to act in front of others or respect your elders. You need to go back to the starting of yesterday and remember what all you have been doing wrong all this time. I am sure you will realize, so tell me what it is, and I will forgive you. If you can’t realize, then I am sorry.”
Laila looked at her, punched her dress that she had been holding and shouted, “Go away. Idiot!”. Hearing that, the Mother became furious and shouted “Laila! Stop and Go to sleep. Right Now!” and she hurried outside the room.
Once outside, she couldn’t hold her tears. She could still hear Laila’s voice from inside, “Yes! Fine! I am going to sleep! Go to hell Mom!” The Mother just stood still outside the door, put her ears to the door. She could hear a faint sobbing, and after five minutes, nothing.
Laila has probably gone to sleep, she thought, why does she behave like that? What has come into her? Did I not raise her correctly? Did I spoil her too much? When will she understand that she needs to respect others? Perhaps I need to be stricter with her from now on so she can mature into a beautiful woman with a good personality. But I need to be strict with her, thinking this made her heart tight, that is the most appropriate thing to do if I need her to have a better future.
She walked back to her own room, so as to go sleep but ended up reading a story to herself, as tears rolled down her eyes.
-Siddarth
“I have a headache mom, please get me some iced tea. I need to calm my mind.”, shouted Mori, “Or coffee should be good too. Just need something cold.”
“No Mori, you need to drink something hot if you have a headache. Why don’t you take a break and lie down for a while.”, said the Mother calmly, “I will get you some hot tea and then we both can talk and drink.”
“Mom, please just bring me what I told you. I need some iced tea and I need to finish up my work. Please.”, yelled Mori.
“Do you want hot tea or not?”, said the Mother calmly.
“Fine! Bring whatever you want to. I can get something cold later. Damn it. Just bring it quick.”, Mori yelled back.
Thank God she accepted to take the hot tea. She shouldn’t drink cold stuff when she has a headache, better to have something warm. But why is her head aching? Is everything okay? Did she eat something bad? No, No. It is probably due to the constant mobile and laptop she watches. She does all her work on it as well as play games on it. That is why it is aching. All the reason clearly points to screens. A worried Mother made made the tea, tasted it, heated it again for a few seconds, added some sugar and tasting it again. I am sure she will like this.
Mori’s voice reached again, “Mom have you finished preparing the tea? Can you bring it over to my room?”
Mother sighed a little, murmuring “This girl…” under her breath and took the two cups of tea to Mori’s room.
“So how is the tea? Is the headache better now? I am sure it is much better after drinking something warm. Isn’t it?”, Mother asked.
“I am fine, Mom. Thank you for the tea. I will just take a medicine and take a nap for 15 minutes”, replied a calmed Mori.
“Sure. That’s a good idea. Here is the medicine”, Mother took a tablet out from her pocket, “I got it for you, just in case.” Mori, on seeing that, sighed a little and smiled slightly.
-Siddarth
“Don’t work so hard, you know. Spend some time with us as well”, Elena said on the phone hoping to sway her husband, “Sita and Lajjo are both wishing to meet you all the time but you only come home around 11 pm when both of them have gone to sleep. At least let them see you on some days and go out to have dinner or ice cream.”
“Really Elena? It’s 3 pm and you called me to speak about this? You remember we have talked about this so many times.”, said a frustrated husband, “I can’t deal with your nagging all the time, if you don’t have anything else to say then I will be cutting the call.”
Elena was started by the sudden increase in voice. She kept mum for a few seconds and spoke, “This is not right. You shouldn’t treat us like this. I also gave up my job to live with you and take care of the children, that doesn’t mean that you can disrespect us as if I am not doing anything. Everyone can make time for the family! I don’t understand what work you are doing that you can’t come home a little earlier.”
He was taken aback as he had never heard Elena sound so disappointed before. After a moment of silence, he replied, “Oh Elena. I understand how you feel. Okay I will try to come by 10 pm today. Alright?”
Elena got even more irritated after hearing that response and cried, “Are you kidding me? You know very well that both children go to sleep by 9, and you need to spend some quality time with them. You need to be home by 7 so that we can go out for dinner. If not, then I will just go alone with them.”
“Fine. Fine. I will take my leave shortly so that I can reach home by 7. Alright then See you soon”, he replied and put the phone on the table. He covered his face with his hands and took a moment to understand what had happened, then thought, “What is wrong with her. It’s been the same way since the past five years, but why now?”
He got up from his chair, took the coat from the rack, and walked towards the door. While he was heading for the door, a peon opened it and cried, “Sir there is an emergency. A patient is in a very critical state.”
The husband was perplexed. He looked at the peon, shrugged and said, “I am sorry. I need to go home. Please let another doctor know.”
The peon wanted to ask once more but the husband glared at his face and said, “Well then. Goodbye.”
-Siddarth
“Stop it! Why do you keep gaming? What is so great about it? You should do something productive with your time”, Alex’s father scolded him.
“But I am good at it. See I am already ranked in Diamond class, only a handful of players can reach this stage”, Alex replied, “I am only 19, so I might even be able to make a career in this.”
“Did you just say a career? Are you an idiot? Who will allow there kid to be a gamer. Will you be even able to earn anything. Stop the day dreaming and focus on your study. Next time I see you playing, I will throw the computer away. You should go to sleep now”, the father warned and shut the door.
Alex was very angry. He thought about running away, then he was just sad as he didn’t have any other place to go. He just kept on looking at the game screen for another hour, thinking, “why is this so bad. Why is gaming considered bad? People even play sports and a lot more people try and fail at sports than gaming, in that way gaming has a much higher chance for a person to succeed”, and so his thoughts continued. Before he realized, he went to sleep on the chair with his head resting on the keyboard.
Next morning his father woke him up. He was looking at Alex with disgust. As Alex lifted his head from the keyboard, accidentally pressing some of the keys. He could see a familiar screen on the monitor and after realizing what it was, he turned his head towards his father, scared of what’s coming.
His father punched the wall, only to get hurt himself. He shook his hand and began blowing on it slowly.
All this time Alex was just watching, not knowing what to do, not knowing what to think. He kept looking at his father as he slowly blowed on his knuckles.
After about five minutes his father spoke, much slowly, hoping that Alex would understand, “Please Alex. I can understand by the way you say it, that you must be good at gaming. That’s good. But families don’t earn on games. They need real job. I am already 45 and would want to retire in another 5-10 years. In the time I ask you to do something meaningful with your life so that you can stand up on your own feet. I know you are capable of doing anything if you put your mind to it. So start doing something productive.”
Alex was speechless, it was hard to reply to the weak voice of his father. He wanted to say, “I am confident! I can win and earn from gaming. I can join a professional team. I can make a name for myself”, but he couldn’t gather the courage to say that. Tears began to roll out from his eyes and he just nodded to whatever he heard.
“Thank you, his father replied. I believe in you. You can do so much more.”, his father repeated, and hugged him.
Alex told her that it will not be possible for him to come to pick her up. It was a Wednesday and he was too tired after work to drive again.
The angel was intently watching as Alex told this to Sharon, how Sharon replied with nothingness from her side and cut the call. He flew up to Sharon’s location and walked up to her.
The angel looked at the human for a minute, and then asked, “Why is it that no one wants to take that extra step nowadays? How come everything has changed so much now.”
Sharon replied, “Yes. You are right. No one wants to take that extra step. Whether it is family, friends or strangers, no one wants to walk that extra mile to help-out the other person. Why is it so? And when did the new generation become like that? The world was already getting destroyed by pollution and humans didn’t think of Mother Earth as important. But now the vicious cycle has come to a point where a human doesn’t even consider their fellowmen, their neighbors or even their family members as important.”
The angel was a little sad to hear the human’s response and replied, “Why did it come to like this? What was the reason for humans to fall in such a deep pit that they couldn’t even ask for help from other people? Does the pit block out all noises from outside or does it not let the victim’s voice reach out? Will humans become accustomed to this loneliness and just keep embracing… themselves?”
“They already are.”, said Sharon as she went her way because of the un-productive questions that the angel was asking.
-Siddarth
#ShortStory #shadow #mystery #family #home
He stared again, looking behind him for a complete ten seconds. The voice of his mother got him back to the present.
What had just happened. What was that.
He went downstairs for dinner, shrugging it off.
The light was brightly lit at the center of the table, as usual, and today it was salmon. Well having a mom that is a highly respected chef certainly has it’s perks.
His mom came and sat next to him, his sister and father were already sitting in their usual chairs. Everyone prayed, and started their meal. It was a usual meal, with the usual conversations.
But something was pricking his mind. He looked behind himself, and there it was. Again. He kept staring at it for a good sixty seconds, all the noise had dulled in the background. It was only after his dad tapped his shoulder that he was back. His dad asked him if he is alright, and he gave a slight nod.
Though he was still wondering. What just happened. What was I thinking again. From other’s expression I seemed to have gotten lost. It was the same feeling when I was coming out from my room upstairs. I suppose I am just too tired today. Then again, I don’t think I have solved so many mathematics questions in homework ever. It felt like thousands.
He didn’t speak anything after that during dinner. After finishing the meal, he got up, bowed to everyone and told them he is going to sleep now.
His parents were a bit confused. They had never seen him bow after a meal, usually he just gets up and runs off to playing a console game, or on some days when he was too tired, he goes to sleep without a word. But a bow? His parents thought that their might be something going on in his mind, maybe some new anime he is watching. They didn’t care since it was a nice thing to learn and wasn’t going to cause any harm.
He went to his room and he felt that the same feeling was coming at him again. Without wasting a second, he rushed off towards his bed and lay by his stomach, his face hard against the pillow. He heard a voice, “Hi.”
He looked around if his dad had come to his room. There was no one. Where is the voice coming from. What the hell.
The voice repeated “I am here. Down here.” He looked down on his pillow, this time it was more like a whisper. He was startled.
The room light was on, and it was casting his shadow on the bed. The shadow was moving and speaking. It repeated, “Hi.”
He jumped from his bed and ran out of his room. But the shadow had disappeared as soon as he had jumped out. The shadow followed him near his feet.
-Siddarth
#Family #Business #Studies #Work #Story
There were no words to describe, how happy he was. He had got accepted to such a prestigious college, he who hadn’t ever lived outside his home without his family was going to travel to the other side of the world and study and live.
His parents agreed to it, though they were a bit hesitant about it. It was time he left.
His father went to the college to drop him and stayed with him for a day to make sure he had everything he needed. The next day his dad left, and he promised to himself that he will work very hard since his parents were spending so much money to send him to college.
People nowadays, earn by themselves and then spend themselves. Parents hardly spend on their children anymore. Man, I am so lucky.
He went to the first class. It was awkward. It was so different than studying in his own country. He had to choose his classes by himself and make his own schedule, unlike in the colleges at his home country. It was more free, and more co-operative. Or so it seemed. But it was also a fact that many people end up trying to take different courses, and ultimately messing up their own schedule. He didn’t want to do that.
No, just follow the schedule that is advised by the department. Yes.
Initially he liked his major, and so the first semester went by. He returned home during the winter vacations, that were just for 20 days. He didn’t feel any change while coming back home, in fact he thought he was missing college more. Or maybe he was missing that life with more freedom. But in the end, it was all normal.
His father told him that he shouldn’t look for a job, in fact he doesn’t need a job after college. He should just join the family business.
#ShortStory #family #life #business #fiction #couple #hardWork
Rohit said in a serious tone, “Don’t call me now, I am in a meeting.”
Sona – “But this is important.”
Rohit was a bit angry now. He replied, “Are you serious? I am making money for the family. What can be more important than that? Stop calling. Please.”
Then he hung up on her.
The meeting went well, however there was this nagging question in the back of his mind. Did he actually had to be so hard on her? Couldn’t he have just listened to her for a moment. Nothing would have been wrong.
The mind replied, “No. I am so busy and stressed with the job. I am trying to earn here. I need more any more trouble or favors from anyone right now.”
But she is my wife. I need to respect her wishes, every single one.
The mind reiterated, “No. I am trying to earn here. I don’t want any trouble from anyone. Whether my wife or not.”
Okay. I suppose you are right. I am busy here. I need to work more.
It was 5 pm.
It was 6 pm.
At 7, he finally had some dinner by himself. I suppose I can eat dinner with my colleagues. It doesn’t matter that they work under me right? I mean we are all human beings in need of food at the time.
The mind replied, “No. You can’t do that. You are the boss here. You can’t eat with your employees. Do you even hear how ridiculous that sounds? You need to eat alone so that you can focus on the business while eating. That is how you work harder.”
But don’t you think it might be more productive if I talk to my employees in a more casual way. It might be good to know their views and what they think about current projects, obstacles and products.
The mind, as adamant as it was, shouted in the head, “NO! No talking to employees. You are the boss. Figure something out. If you start having normal conversation with employees, then you won’t be considered special and you won’t be respected.”
I suppose you are right. I am the boss here. I need the respect.
It was 9pm now. Finally it was time to go home. I will go and wish goodnight to the office while everyone is leaving.
The mind said, “I suppose that is fine.”
Whew.
After around 15 minutes, everyone had left the building. Rohit was still in his car. There was also a guy who needed to go home, probably, but the bus stop was about half a mile down the road. Rohit recognized that he worked in the IT department in his office.
I think I can drop him at the bus stop in my car.
The mind said, “No. No way.”
But look, he needs to go to the bus stop. I will just drop him there.
The mind replied, “Don’t. Please. He is your employee, if you favor him once, he might ask you again tomorrow and then another day, and then everyday. You can’t help him.”
I am sure he won’t ask everyday. He does seem to respect me that much. It might be fine for just this once.
The mind replied angrily, “I said no. You don’t know if he will ask again or not. Maybe he won’t respect you anymore if you lend a hand of support. No. You are already paying a salary to your employees, what is the need to go out and support anymore more.”
I assume you are right. I am indeed paying them a salary already.
Rohit started the ignition, switched on the headlights and rolled away in his car.
He reached house in 20 minutes, mainly due to less traffic in the road at this late hour.
I wonder, what is it that Sona wanted from me.
Rohit rang the doorbell. Sona came and opened the door. She looked a little sad, probably because of their conversation on the phone.
Rohit asked, “What happened? I am sorry for that. I was really busy.”
Sona replied, “It is okay. I just wanted to know if you wanted to have dinner with me and Dhruv today. You have been so busy in office the last few days, so I thought a family outing wouldn’t be bad. Dhruv has also been missing you.”
Rohit – “That is why you called me? I told you I was in a meeting!”
Sona – “You are always in a meeting.”
Rohit – “Yes. Because I am working all day. Your teacher job is just from 9 to 4 in the morning. It is pretty much a half-day for me. I don’t have free time like that.”
The back of Rohit’s mind throbbed. Why. Why do you have to be like that. I mean, you came home. Just hug your wife and say that you will eat together tomorrow. Why not take some love.
The mind said, “No, because I am earning. For the family.”
Yes. I wonder what is the use of that money.
While Son’a mind thought I just wanted to lighten his burden. Why does he act that way. I wish I could help him somehow. It pains me to see how hard he is trying. If only I could also do more.
——-END——-
So, every person is biased towards heir family members even if they are in the wrong.
So, how can you ever think of utopia/perfect world.
#JustaThought #Utopia #Bias #Family #world
LiveSid 