365 DAYS 365 TALES

A Different Point of View

My eyes ached as I squinted and stared at the clock shocked at seeing that it was seven. Dear Lord, I was working till seven on a Friday evening....Wasn't there a law against these things? I wondered inconsequentially as I finished sending an email.

I pushed the papers deep in my drawer as I ignored some rattling sound from the drawer, just wishing I never saw the papers again in my life.

Frustrated, I stepped out and squinted again at the sudden darkness. Shaking my head and muttering unkind words, I waited in the bus stop for ten full angry minutes, watching all the people busily walking on the road. I was more than sure that the bus was purposely delaying just to make me more angry when realization dawned. Today was Friday. Bus strike. That was the reason I had come by my own bike today in the morning and I had conveniently forgotten all about it.

And obviously, I had to put the bike key in my office drawer.

More than angry at the unfair world I stomped back to the office, as I pulled open my drawer fishing out my bike key which was lying innocently exactly where I had left it. Angry at the key, for making watch the papers which I swore I would never see again in my life, I shut it angrily, as I walked out of the office for the second time.

The traffic today specially fueled my already not-so-much-in-control-temper. All the pedestrians seemed to think it necessary to come and fall right before my vehicle and everyone I met on the road was going home angrily.

Needless to say by the time I got home, after a lot of cussing and getting yelled at, I was sure that the end of the world was very near.

I finally opened the house door and crashed on the sofa when naturally the phone had to ring. Picking up the last ounce of energy I had, I picked up the phone.

Before I could say 'Hello!' my sister from Delhi started. 'Where were you? I have been calling you....' My sister it seems had been impatiently trying to wait for me so that she could explain what had happened back at home. (In case you are wondering, nothing abnormal happened. Just normal routine teenager fights and a couple of broken arms.)

I tried explaining to my sister that it was the wrong time. But then our conversations had rarely been two sided. My sister talked and I listened. By the time she finished talking, I woke up with the phone cradled between my hand and neck realizing that I had no recollection of what my sister had said, which was completely ok. What was more important was that I was hungry. I trudged around the kitchen and looked angrily at the completely empty kitchen and realized that I had hardly done any cooking and there was no food at house. And I was definitely not in a mood to go out.

Looking at the kitchen probably wishing that food would appear from somewhere I remembered some bread I had seen in the fridge.

That was when the door bell rang. I almost cringed wishing I could hide under my bed and pretend I was not there.

Slowly I opened my door when I saw the next door kid – Prakash, with a big game of scrabble in his hands looking at me pathetically, 'Meena! Come along! Mummy said you can have dinner with us! Come please!' He looked like he had been waiting for me to come home.

I am slightly ashamed but I admit it was the offer of the food which got me agreeing to the game. We went to his house and after a couple of chapatthis and felt that the end of the world was not so near.

The game started right on and obviously the four of us were thrilled (His two elder siblings also joined us). Looking at me a little guiltily, Prakash studied the letters and the best he could make was "XJKU"

"It says 8 on the letter J. Can I get 8 marks for this word?" Prakash asked his eyes shining with anticipation.

It suddenly seemed so funny. We began giggling.

Children....I could be around them and suddenly the mad things in life made sense. All the things that we as adults undergo, they seem inconsequential. Hearing them talk and listening to their view in life, their ideas, it was not only fun, it taught me the basic facts of life in ways I never thought possible. I could keep looking at the world from their point of view, the world seemed not only a beautiful place, it seemed perfect.

I smiled as the game continued...