A beautiful song’s tunes dancing around a woman in her 70s, her soul dancing with rhythm while externally she peacefully seated on the bench with a content smile on her face. A radio-shaped pocket Bluetooth speaker rested by her side, oozing comforting, slow tempo that resets her ears into pleasant state, easing her shoulders to relax and breathe the early morning’s fresh breath of air gently into her lungs.

On one hand, there is a melodic rhythm surrounding her  and on the other hand, there are noise of whispers and murmurs sharp as pin bursting her peace of bubbles one by one, coming from behind her. No matter, how soft and beautiful the rhythm it maybe, somehow it gets affected by sharp noise piercing the peace present in one’s mind/heart.

Her brows that was arch in peaceful lines felt tension, squinting, to subsidy the noise, she starts humming a little louder. Her brows again revert back to peaceful line and she hums an Odia song, as she sing further and further, her eyes that were bit cold now glistening with warmth and a tiny glimmer of fiery inspiration sparkles in her eyes. 

“ Title :  ତୋ ଆଖି ମୋ ଅଇନା ( Your eyes are my mirror ) ; Odia language , credited to singers; Satyajeet Pradhan, Amrita Nayak

“ ସୁନେଲି ସୁନେଲି ଖରା, ତୋ ମୁହଁ ସାରା

(The golden rays of light, so it’s all over your face)

କେବେ ଦିଶୁ ଗୋଲାପୀ ତୁ, କେବେ ଦିଶୁ ଗୋରା

( Sometimes you look pink, sometimes you look blonde)

ତୋ ଓଠରୁ ଝରି ପଡ଼େ ହସ ଚୁନାଚୁନା

( From your lips, smiles are falling away)

ତୋ ଆଖି ମୋ ଅଇନା , ତୋ ଆଖି ମୋ ଅଇନା

( Your eyes are my mirror, your eyes are my mirror)

ତୋ ଆଖି ମୋ ଅଇନା

(Your eyes are my mirror )

ମୋତେ ତ ଉଡ଼େଇ ନିଏ ପବନ ଝୁଲଣା

( The wind swing blows me away)

ଫୁଲ ପିନ୍ଧେଇ ଦିଏ ମୋ ଦେହେ ଗହଣା

(The flowers make me wear ornaments on my body )

ତୁମେ ମୋ ପାଖେ ଥିଲେ, କିଛି ମୁଁ ଚାହେଁନା

(If you were with me, I don’t want anything )

ତୋ ଆଖି ମୋ ଅଇନା , ତୋ ଆଖି ମୋ ଅଇନା

(Your eyes are my mirror; your eyes are my mirror )

ତୋ ଆଖି ମୋ ଅଇନା

(Your eyes are my mirror )

ଯେତେ ମୁଁ ଜାଣିଛି ତୋତେ, ସେତିକି ଟାଣୁଛୁ ମୋତେ

( As much as I know you, I’m attracted to you)

ହାତରେ ଧରିଛୁ ସତେ ରେଶମୀ ଡୋରି

( We are holding a silk thread )

ଦୋଷ ନୁହେଁ ଏକା ମୋର, ତୁମେ ବି ତ ଯାଦୁଗର

(It’s not my fault only, you’re also the magician )

ତୁମେ ତ କରିଛ ମୋତେ ମୋ ପାଖୁ ଚୋରି

( You stole me from myself)

ସବୁକିଛି ଉଠେ ଯେ ତୁମେ ଦେଲେ ଛୁଇଁ

( Everything arises that you touch)

ପତର ସବୁଜ ହୁଏ, ଭାରି ଯାଏ ନଈ

( The leaves become green and the rivers fill up)

ବନେ ବନେ ନାଚି ଯାଏ , ମୋ ମନ ମଇନା

( The whole forest dances, my heart is like Mynah )

ତୋ ଆଖି ମୋ ଅଇନା , ତୋ ଆଖି ମୋ ଅଇନା

(Your eyes are my mirror; your eyes are my mirror )

ତୋ ଆଖି ମୋ ଅଇନା

(Your eyes are my mirror ) “

But the unescapable noise of murmurs pierced her ears,  silencing her mouth shut as she heard two ladies  sitting behind her whispering in a pity tone,  a hint of fake sympathy dripping trough her tone, “That woman in front of us comes here every day alone, roams alone in this park without any company by her side.

It is sad, isn’t it? Her husband might be absent or her daughter-in-law and son might neglect her and avoid her company.

Who knows, what might be the reason that forces her to come alone? I feel sad for her. At this age, being lonely is the worst thing to go through.”

Another woman agrees with her opinion, genuine concern hidden undertone  contrary to the other woman’s mocking tone,” I don’t what language it was but the song sounded melodic to me. Somehow, I feel it must be hard to be alone. I can’t even think of being alone.

Shall we accompany her?”

The same woman next to her responded quickly,  with a sharp denial and disinterest spitting from her tone, surprising the other woman for a second,  “NO. I think that will make her awkward. And, I think we shouldn’t force ourselves to be friends with her. Let’s walk for a while and then we can drink fresh coconut water. Let’s go”, the other woman, submissively agrees with hesitance, she follows her friend  after directing one last concerned gaze at the old lady.

That old lady sitting by the bench unwantedly  heard all their conversations clearly and that clearly annoyed her, she clicked her tongue.

She sighs, wanting to complain but can’t help but wonder with curiosity “ ମୁଁ ବୁଝିପାରୁ ନାହିଁ କାହିଁକି ଲୋକମାନେ ବେଳେବେଳେ ଏପରି ବ୍ୟବହାର କରନ୍ତି |

( I can’t understand why people behave like this sometimes.)

ମୁଁ କାହିଁକି ଉଭୟ ଏକାକୀ ଏବଂ ଖୁସି ହୋଇପାରିବି ନାହିଁ?

( Why I can’t be both alone and happy? )

ଛାଡ, ଏହା ପ୍ରତ୍ୟେକ ଥର ଘଟେ |”

( Leave it, this happens every time. )

Suddenly the old lady’s cell phone rings, she immediately receives the call upon seeing the caller’s name and utters with an affectionate tone, “ Praval, what happened dear? Do you want something, tell me? I will buy it for you on the way home. Tell me.”

After hearing the caller’s response, the old lady’s eyes widen and her hands shake terribly. The old lady hums and speaks in a concerned tone, “Don’t worry, praval, your grandma is coming this instant. Wait for me.

Don’t cry, my child. Call our neighbor, I am coming in a few minutes.” She rushes to the chemist’s store and asks for medicine for high fever.

The medicine bag in one hand and the other hand raised to stop an auto-rickshaw ( vehicle) for her. Within 5 minutes, she arrives at the apartment and knocks the door repeatedly, her every knock felt like a time ticking bomb.The door opens and her grandson’s eyes  swimming and flooding with tears, his hands shaking while he weeps. His shaking pupils slow down when his gaze fell upon his grandma, and immediately hugs her legs  as if life depends on her. Continues weeping softly, “ମା ଅସୁସ୍ଥ ଦେଖାଯାଉଛନ୍ତି |” ( Mom doesn’t look well).

Grandma, I was playing with my toys and mom was doing laundry and suddenly she was shaking and the next moment, she fell and was mumbling, “ I feel drowsy and everything is spinning “.

I was scared that’s why I called Dad first but his phone was busy so I called you. Grandma, make her well again. I am scared. I am-“ His rambling stops when Grandma tightly embraces her  and carries him in her arms, caresses his hair and back back and forth, to calm his loud beating heart.

 He stutters, his voice muffled as he hid his face on her shoulders, panic gripping his body tight, his heart clutched in the hold of fear, ” Gra-ndma, mom,..why mo-om was suddenly unconscious a few minutes ago, she only had slight fever, then why..wh-h-why she was sleeping on the floor  for a minute..do-do-do something, grandma. You can do anything, I believe. Dad always tells you used to beat sickness out of his body whenever he used to fall sick. Please make her well as wel..well.. Grandma-” 

She shushes him by one sentence,  her brows set straight, her softened eyes morphs into serious express, lips set in straight line, she assures him, “Your Grandma will take care of your mom. Don’t worry, Grandma is here.” His cries finally quiet down, his weeping decreases to gentle sniffles, she sets him down on sofa beside his mother

Grandma notices her daughter-in-law holding her head, her brows squinted in pain, stress lines forming on her forehead as she  aggressively rubs her fingers in circles on her forehead as if it will vanish she consistently rubs, while lumping awkwardly on the sofa. 

The mother-in-law grabs a chair, sits in front of her and asks her grandson to bring the thermometer kept in the medicine box in one of the drawers. Mother-in-law gently removes her daughter-in-law’s hands from her forehead as she hisses in pain, and envelops her hands in own rough hands that is warm and comfortingly soothing, gently squeezing her hand. 

Strength slowly penetrates in her distressed body, she takes a long deep breath and embraces her, surprising the mother-in-law, her surprise rests and a chuckle escapes releasing the tension just a little,  wanting to release her stress, ” ଆରେ, ମୁଁ ଭାବୁଥିଲି ଯେ ମୁଁ ହିଁ ଷ୍ଟିଲ୍ ଗ୍ରିପ୍ ଧରିଛି କିନ୍ତୁ ମୋ ବୋହୂର ମଧ୍ୟ ମୋ ପରି ସମାନ ଗ୍ରିପ୍ ଅଛି, ଦୃଢ଼ ଏବଂ ଉଷ୍ମ ଧରି ରଖିଛି। ଆରାମ କର, ତୁମେ ବୋହୂ ହୋଇଥିବାରୁ ତୁମେ ବୋହୂ, ଅର୍ଥାତ୍ ତୁମେ ମୋ ଝିଅ। ଆଉ ମୁଁ ଏଠାରେ ଅଛି, ତୁମ ମାଆ, ମୁଁନିଶ୍ଚିତ ଭାବରେ ବାହାର କରିଦେବି.. ତୁମକୁ ନୁହେଁ … ତୁମର ରୋଗକୁ ତୁମ ଶରୀରରୁ ବାହାର କରିଦେବି, ଯେପରି ମୁଁ ମୋର ଦୁର୍ବଳ ପୁଅ ସହିତ କରିଥିଲି,ଠିକ୍ ସେହିପରି। “

(Heyy.. heyyyy, i thought i was the one with steel grip but my daughter-in law also has same grip as me, sturdy and warm hold. Relax, you are daughter according to law since you are my daughter-in-law, which means you are my daughter. And I am here, your mother, I will make sure to kick ..not you dear.. your sickness out of your body just like how i did with my not-so-strong son, exactly like that.)

She checks her temperature via thermometer and realizes that her instinct is right, her daughter-in-law’s fever has increased to high temperature fever.

Grandma order her in a soft motherly tone, with a light scolding tone “ Badarika,  you are becoming like my not-so-open son. You are my emotionally strong daughter, who knows to communicate her pain clearly to me without any hesitation.  Now listen, badarika, you will not move a finger for two days. Your husband and your father-in-law will be your caretakers and I will take care of Praval, my adorable grandson and also  the kitchen. Do you understand?”

Badarika objects with a slight denial tone, “Mom, your son and dad will be overwhelmed by this. I will surely rest from time to time but I can’t sit still when you are working at this age. I-“

Praval interludes, “Mom, grandma is much stronger and younger than you think. She is a super lady, my grandma.”

Grandma smiled upon his comment, ” See, he knows me so well. Now, don’t think only of us but also think about recovering your health. Okay, now sit still.” She turned towards his grandson and asked him to bring some biscuits.

Grandma hands some biscuits to Badarika and advises her to eat before taking this medicine. Badarika returns to her bedroom and takes nap of hour or so after ingesting medicine.

Grandma finished the leftover laundry tasks with a little help from her grandson. Then, she prepares lunch meal for all of them and takes a nap of 30 minutes.

On the other side, at the same park, one girl in her school uniform was bypassing the same park in a hurry, her footsteps calm but her legs speeding like lightspeed, her eyes widened as her gaze sets on distant building, she starts running on the sidewalk.

She arrives in front of the school gate, asping heavily, and the gate is almost  going to close. She requests in a pleading tone, as if today it closes, it will be closed forever, “ गार्ड काका, मला हे एकदा जाऊ द्या ( Marathi language) (Guard uncle, let me go this one time.) Please. I usually don‘t be late to school. Let this slide once. It won’t happen next time.”

Guard denies her request at first but after her constant request, he allows her inside. She feels her legs ready to kickstart, running straight into her classroom. As soon her head hit the desk, the assembly bell rang loudly at the next second and she sat down and joined the assembly queue line of her class at last after taking a break of 1 minute.

After assembly, when they returned to class, she sat by her seat alone because she preferred to sit alone. A hand taps on her desk, she looks up and finds her friend looking at her with a questioning gaze and she speaks out, with motherly-like scolding tone, “ Mirai, how are you late? You are usually the person to come 5 minutes early before the school bell rings. બોલો (Gujarati language) ( Speak).Hmm?. Let me guess, you forgot to set your alarm, right?”

Mirai chuckles, mocking surprise as if she discovered the secret of the universe, her eyes gleaming with playfulness, ” Inika, are you psychic? How did you guess about my reason in such detail? “

Inika comments, “ Don’t need to be sarcastic, it’s one of the obvious reasons, I know.” Inika’s eyes suddenly glint and she informs, while inwardly praying, “Mirai, today the project group and group members will be decided in 5th period. I hope that both of us are sent in the same group otherwise it will be difficult for us.”

Mirai agrees, “ Yes. But if we are on different teams, we have to do our project well because marks will be given individually according to their contribution to the project. We can’t lose marks. I know, I will be more irritated and annoyed by the same question that people ask me every single day. Ughh.”

Inika whispers, “ It’s okay. Hope so, it doesn’t happen like that. Okay, I need to go to my seat; the teacher might be coming in any second. આરામ કરો (Gujarati language ) (Relax).”

Later during the lunch break time, Mirai and Inika sat together and ate their lunch peacefully in the corridor. Out of nowhere, one of their classmates insistently drags Inika for help regarding their group project while Mirai just stares at her friend disappearing away from her.

Mirai understands her situation, “ Inika got herself a bunch of friendly group members unlike me.

My group members are good as well but they don’t intend to co-operate much and always make me feel frustrated by asking-“ Her thought is interrupted by one of her group project members, who came to enquire about the project’s timing, place and other things, “ Mirai, Our group project member’s houses are quite distant from each other, so, we can’t come to our house but you can come to my house.

The rest of the members are coming to my house because our houses are at a close distance. What do you say?”

Mirai politely objects, “ I am not sure whether my parents would let me go to your house. Your house is indeed quite far away from mine, so, I can’t come. But we can do it in school itself.

We always have recess and library periods which we can utilize for project discussion and completion. How is my idea, Nikita?”

Nikita smiles and convinces Mirai of her idea, “ Mirai, The idea is okay but it is not suitable for us. You can do that as you are alone all the time but we can’t sacrifice our squad’s fun time. And you know, the recess time is quite short, so it is pointless to try.”

Nikita suggests in a confident tone, “ I have an idea. Why don’t we separate our tasks individually? In this way, we can do our work in home comfort.”

Mirai exclaims with a convinced tone, “ That is the best idea. Like this, there will be no problem and our project will be completed within time. I will give updates about my task completion through WhatsApp to our project group members.” Nikita pretends to act pleased, “ Good. Okay, see you in class.”

In the library period, Mirai sat next to her best friend but Inika was surrounded by her group project members who sat by her opposite side and started a discussion about their project. Although Inika wanted to spend some time with her friends. She couldn’t avoid her project and her group because they were her teammates after all.

Mirai reassured her best friend that she had no problem and that Inika could continue her discussion with her teammates whereas her group members sat together diagonally to her.

Mirai’s group members were comfortable without her and she is relieved by that, “ Thank God, I don’t have to contribute to their conversations. I need some space. Good for me.” Saying this, she focuses on the storybook she picked from there.

Her peace is destroyed at the moment when one of her group members asks her, “ Mirai, Why do you tend to be so silent? I don’t understand why you are always alone like this. You also talk less with your friend Inika. Tell us, what’s the reason? Why-“

Inika defends her, “ Akanksha, Mirai talks a lot with me. And we don’t stick to each other like gum for 24 hours but that doesn’t mean we are not best friends. We are individuals who like alone time for ourselves. But Mirai prefers more alone time than me and I respect that.

Did that answer your question, Akanksha? “

Akanksha pouts, “ I was just trying to make her feel good and wanted to know her better. Because we are a team.”

Inika mumbled in an undertone, “ As if.” Mirai answers with a hint of hidden irritation in her tone, “ Akanksha, I really don’t know the reason. I am always like this even with my family.”

Mirai on the way to her home, wonders while gaze lost somewhere, staring indifferently at her apartment with a deep sad sigh, ” I don’t know why people ask me why I am alone most of the time. Sometimes, they look at me with pity and offer to sit by my side, which is the most irritating thing. I like to be alone, is that a crime?

Being alone is bliss for me but I too enjoy company although only a few people I feel good with. God knows when they will leave me alone and stop asking ridiculous questions repeatedly like a..like a broken tape recorder.”