Life

It really isn't more than how you look at it -

Dozens of crayons, sporting messy smudges 

From cozily snuggling into the pencil case.

Then those little pots of color

Catching those many condiments

And concoctions of yummy ingredients

Simmering on the cook top.

Random handmade finds, hanging as reminders

Of life lived.

Those reams of un-shredded junk mail

Unread rows of books waiting to be devoured,

Amid punctuation of a rusted routine.

And the magical occurance

Of piles and piles of plates and garments

Await their scrub or clean

To fall back into a loop of just that.

Little feet gliding through a disarray of building blocks

Leaving tell tale signs of toddlerhood

A freehand doodle with a Sharpie

Or those tacky ketchup smudges on a snow-white tee!

Amidst all this color, clutter and chaos

Another page flips by

In this blitz of existence.

Transparent

Agile like a critter, dense like fog,

The opacity of those masquerading thoughts.

Those carefully wrapped musings,

Hurts huddled into bundles 

Camouflaging in masks of smiles,

In 'care-not' make believes.

The many red herrings

Thrown world's way-

Unveil them.

Let those frozen tatters

Thaw into tears.

Escape, reveal and revel

It's okay - to let those vulnerabilities

Bypass the brave guises.

Even heroes have a right to whimper

And let the transparency

Welcome in, the light of truth.

Picture Courtesy - Chaitanya Kanni

Mundane

She steps back and examines the sheets, and then walks to the beds and irons out all the creases with the palms of her hands. One last look and the pesky perfectionist in her that occasionally surfaces pushing aside the wabisabi loving free spirit lets out a whistle or something that sounds like one. She never really got how to whistle, but she tries - like she keeps trying how to wrap the flat sheet over the fitted sheet to utter perfection. "A coin should bounce on it" a bit of information she absorbed from the magazine in the Doctor's waiting room echoes in her ears.

"Make the bed early in the morning. when we walk into a room and see a made bed, our day starts with the same 'made' feeling" Her grandfather used to say. Bits and pieces of his mundane observations come to her every now and then as she tries to figure out the neglected little bits of life. When she first discovers the fitted sheet, she discovers a joy similar to the cliched sliced bread. "What jugaad!" She is as amused at the invention as she is hassled at the complexity of folding it to perfection. She would recollect how her grandfather folded his towels or dusted his prized books in the book case. She does not give up. Ambitious she isn't but passion is an entirely different ball of wax. Besides, it seems to have seeped into her through her gene pool or perhaps through taking in the nitty gritty of her Grandfather's personality. A 'how to video' is the need of the hour.

She settles on the floor crisscross applesauce and spreads the fitted sheet in front, carefully overlapping their edges and tucking the sides in, like crafting origami. The king sized sheet folds into the size of a notebook, except thicker. She look at the perfect square and lets out a whistle, or something that sounds like one - adding the imperfect accent to her perfectly ordinary existence.

Picture courtesy - Diren Shah. Pench National park, Cottage in the jungle.

Reward

A boring trip to run errands - that's what it was. She dragged her feet along, tucking her smartphone carefully into her denim pocket when she caught his eye. A look lock that made her freeze in her tracks for a flash of a second. "The evening is going to get transformed after all" She thought to herself. The hopeless romantic that she is, She secretly hoped to, and found ways to fall in love. She had a winning streak. She was addicted to the dopamine rise and had to have it at every opportunity!

Just as she broke out of the trance of being held in intense eye contact, she realized he was staring at her, askance. A slight disapproval? Suspicion? She could neither guess nor give up. His saucer like eyes charmed her a little too much. It was love at first sight and she was determined to find a way into his heart!
The charmer continued to pout..but the eye contact intensified. Out of the blue, her spontaneity found it's way into her playful mind. She winked at him and flashed the brightest smile she could manage...
4, 3, 2, 1....She counted while his bright peepers shone a tad brighter and the corners of his mouth hugged the side of his face. That was a smile that could materialize rainbows on a dull sky.
"Yes!" She hissed under her breath. A day transformed as the baby boy squealed and waved at her clinging to his father's shoulder.

Inspired by true events.

Picture Courtesy - Chandra Elango. Queenstown NZ.