Night Life

By Nidhi Patnaik

On a cold winter night, under the vast, star-studded sky, the mountains of a tiny village cradled a unique house. This house only had a singular large hall that served as one room for people seeking respite from the chaos of their city lives. Its windows, large and unadorned, framed the snow-capped Himalayas, turning each glance outward into a breathtaking painting of nature.

The house's bareness was complemented by a small garden that whispered untold stories under the moon's gaze. The stairs led to the terrace above along with washrooms and changing rooms for convenience.

The mattresses with blankets were laid on the floor as the moon bathed the room in a soft glow, casting five silhouettes against the walls. They were sitting in a circle clad in darkness with the outlines of their faces lit up by the gentle kiss of the moonlight.

Rohan, usually the most composed of the bunch, his life neatly arranged like the numbers in his accounting books, was the first to break the silence.

“You know, I love what I do. My CA practice... it’s everything I worked for. But,” he sighed, “it’s also my cage. There’s this guitar back home, collecting dust. I used to dream of music, of concerts. Now, all I have are balance sheets.”

The room was quiet, absorbing his words, until Priya laughed, a sound that seemed too loud in the soft moonlight. “You think that’s bad? I’m a makeup artist. And damn good at it. But inside me, there’s this girl who wanted to be a wrestler. Can you imagine? Me, in a boxing ring. But I never dared tell anyone. It was easier to follow a path already laid out by my mom who is also a makeup artist.”

Her confession, absurd as it seemed, opened the floodgates. Neel, the one who towered over them all, with a physique that made him popular among girls, shared his truth. “People see me and think ‘strong’. But inside, I’m just...scared. Scared of ending up alone with my parents having no time for me. This,” he gestured to himself, “is just a façade to hide behind.”

Aman and Kavya, the cousins who had followed the gleaming path into the IT sector, exchanged a glance before Aman spoke for both of them. “We’re in this race, you know? In this IT world, finance... But every day feels like we’re running on a treadmill, panting, trying to keep up with...what? I don’t even know if I want to be in this race or if there’s a way to just...slow down.”

Kavya nodded in agreement. “Exactly. It’s like we’re programmed to chase this version of success that doesn’t even feel like ours. But stepping off? That feels like failing.”

Their confessions, each a piece of their hidden selves, filled the room, creating a mosaic of dreams and vulnerabilities hidden behind societal expectations and personal fears. Yet, in sharing them, the five cousins found a sense of liberation, a shared understanding that perhaps they were not alone in their quests for authenticity.

Rohan’s voice broke the reflective silence that followed. “What if we’re looking at it all wrong? Maybe it’s not about the big things, but finding little moments.”

Priya’s smile in the moonlight was soft. “Yeah, maybe it’s about stealing moments from the race, making space for the dreams we thought we had to leave behind.”

As the conversation flowed into the night, laughter and heartfelt dreams weaving together, the five of them found something profound in the shared darkness. They were not just family bound by blood, but companions on the journey of rediscovering themselves. 

And as the night gave way to dawn, they knew this night under the moon’s watchful eye would be a turning point, a shared secret that would forever bind them closer, reminding them that their true strength lay in their vulnerabilities, shared dreams, and the unbreakable bonds of friendship.

By Nidhi Patnaik