A She With A Pen

  "I always carry an umbrella whenever I don't need one" I whisper to myself. Well, at that time of the evening, everyone else could be chilling in their pyjamas biting the overly oiled banana fritters, gossiping over tea, some calling their parents and some other their sweethearts. College hostels host a special kind of evening,which no one can ever imagine sitting at their homes. It is a place of total chaos, abuzzed with indistinct chatter. Even before the last bell would ring, some people would rush to the back gate of the college. Well, there were two kinds of such people! one being the daily scholars, sprinting to catch the bus and, the other being the people you could see freshly out of the shower,whereas you arrive the last and sleep with the same dress. The day was quite different. It was a Friday afternoon. The rush would be even higher than the other days because, the hostellers who stayed not very far away from their homes would visit during the weekends. I wa...

I still remember how randomly I clicked on a YouTube video about Etiquette training. As a kid, I was a fan of exquisite ceramics, bowls, cups and fancy plates. Maybe that's because why, I was instantly drawn into the way things were done. Doing everything and anything to turn dreams into reality made each of my cells tiring and drained, but fast forward, everything seems to be a dream come true. The way I dress, I groom myself and my dress are exactly the same I dreamt four years ago. Except one. After the client meetings, I would energetically sprint to the top floor to behold the breathtaking view. Standing alone, looking at the skyscrapers remind me of the same sixteen-year-old, standing vulnerable about life. Back then, seventh storeyed buildings used to make my legs shake. Conquering fear of heights made difference now. I felt my phone vibrating and leave behind those levitating memories and climb down to go back home. Apartments with nice wide balconies is my day and night pi...

It was nearly about 9:40PM on November 8th and the screen turned on with a notification banner saying "Look! Who's here". I open the chat and saw a familiar ten-digit number and a photograph. The message was to one of my stories I put up today at 8. I gather what to say from my cauldron of words and phrases. Of course, I was excited but tried to remain calm as if, I wasn't too excited to talk after a year or two. I said, "who well look who's here". How stupid of me to say this after I left throwing tantrums and lame excuses two years before. The conversation went for about 20 minutes, and I was conscious enough of the time passing by and didn't wanted to stay up till late night. I should say one thing, we never left each other on a note of grudge. So, it was quite easy to get back the same level of comfort. When things were happening the same way, they used to, I said to one of my friends that I'm unfazed about what we are right now. Well, she sa...