Escaped For A While

By Poornima Saini

Exam time is stressful in a student's life. After two weeks of continuous studies they are finished. It is my last exam, finally I can play now. With full zeal I was returning home. Our home is divided into three small parts which are connected by an alley. One belongs to an uncle, one to grandparents and one to us. I went to my room, changed clothes and went to grandma’s room. After completing her chores, grandma takes a nap in the daytime.

She was sleeping but I don’t know how she wakes up every time I walk into her room without making any noises. She always astonishes me by saying a few words like “you have come finally” or “when did you come” .This time she said - “you are there”. I replied - “Yes I’ve returned from school, finally my exams are over. I’m going to have fun now”. She said - “When you do not have fun, you play all day even during exams time you play more than studying”. I replied - “That’s true, but I have to study even a little bit, that in itself is a bother to my mind. But I pass every time with good grades.” I asked when grandpa would return. She said you know him, he must be sitting somewhere with his friends and having a conversation over tea. It’s his daily routine as usual and he will come in the evening. I said okay, would you like to eat something that I will make. She said we both know that you only know how to make maggi. I said yes but you never eat it, for once in your life can you try to taste it. Grandma is a remarkable woman and her memory at this age is incredible. She has told me all the mythological stories more than five times yet every time she adds something new to it. She lost her vision when I was six years old. She has OCD in cleanliness,whenever my exams are over and I help her in cleaning, trust me she is not easily satisfied with my work. I would rather study all day and night than cleaning her room cause she needs one place to be cleaned thrice.

Whenever I wear a new dress I want to go to grandma and show her how amazing I look, it hurts that she can’t even see my face or if my height has increased by an inch since last year. I just tell her that I am wearing a new dress and she always says the same thing to me, you look gorgeous. My mom calls me mad for doing this but she can’t understand a few emotions since there are no words in any language that could be helpful to make sense of my feelings.

Grandpa is a genius and he can do anything he puts his mind to. He is convivial and benevolent. He loves to cook and can never stop competing with my mom. My mom says she will cook a particular recipe and if grandpa knows the recipe of that dish, then there we go world war three has begun. Grandpa is good at everything else except for cooking but we used to lie that it tasted delicious. I believe he is aware about his loss in the game but his persistence keeps him going.

Grandma agreed to have maggie. After cooking it I told her to eat it and wanted to know about her opinion on how it tasted. Grandpa came from the market and sat right beside her. To my surprise she said something queer, it created shiver in my

body. Nothing seemed right at that moment, nothing was making sense, I was asking myself what is happening why would she say something like this. It is summer but I feel cold. She said - “I hope you get into MNC one day.” I started to weep, my heart ached,it’s difficult to breathe, I wanted to shout out loud. I said everything is in my control right now, we can talk as much as I want but it’s all going to hurt me even more cause I know grandma what it all actually is. My heart wanted to stay but my subconscious screamed she is not real, grandpa is actually not sitting here,I despise reality because you are not in it anymore, I am twenty five and I am working in MNC. Grandma died when I was in ninth standard and two years later I lost grandpa too.

It’s time to bid farewell and wake up. A beautiful memory that my mind has stored turned into a sweet dream. I opened my eyes which were filled with tears. I went to wash my face and the wall clock showed it was 4 AM. I escaped reality for a while and it was beautiful.

By Poornima Saini