Attachments

Chapter 34

The deafeningly loud rings of a bell and repeated chants of religious hymns filled our bedroom at five in the morning, conveniently breaking through our deep slumber. I buried my face beneath the pillow I slept on and covered my ears, in an attempt to fall asleep but the loudness somehow managed to penetrate through the layers of protection. Absolutely annoyed, I sat up straight and yawned loudly, looking around at the bedroom; Nash prayed on her prayer-mat, Vaish was wide awake and Chanch's face was buried on her pillow, but she struggled to fall asleep. Moments later, Chanch sprung up and threw her pillow away, with an annoyed expression smeared on her face. "What the hell!", Chanch whined, and almost cried, running her fingers through her loose hair. "I'm done with this lady. I cannot believe she finds joy in disturbing someone's sleep", Vaish muttered, monotonously, and I simply buried my face on my palms, without moving an inch. My head was splitting into two, and the ear-splittingly loud rings made things ten folds worse than it already was; it was hard to hold back the desperate urge to snatch the bell from the lady's hand and throw it away, or something. "I swear she's doing this to get on our nerves. Even my mom prays in the morning, but the whole world doesn't find out that she's praying; she's never this loud!", I said, angrily, and turned on my iPhone to find 16 missed calls from my mom, which made me jump and shook me out of the sleep I was caught up in. I hopped out of the bed and shuffled towards the balcony, while I called her up. My heart began banging against my chest and I turned panicky; she called me up at 2.00 a.m. right in the middle of the night, and my world spun around in full speed at the thought of what must have happened to her!

"Hello, Maa? What happened? Everything's okay, right?", I questioned in haste, the second she answered the call. "You're okay, right?", mom questioned back. "Of course I am. What will happen to me? I'm perfect", I answered. "Then, why didn't you answer my calls?", she asked in disdain. "Maa, you called me up at 2 a.m.; I was sleeping and my phone was on silence. Why did you call me?", I asked back. "Nothing...I had a bad dream about you and I woke up in the middle of the night. I couldn't fall asleep after that, so I thought I'd talk to you because I felt unsettled. But you didn't answer my calls, so I scrolled through Anuja's Kitchen's Facebook page...she has amazing recipes, you should follow her. You and your friends can cook the best dishes within a snap of your fingers; her method is easy and food is tasty. Don't forget to follow her page; it's Anuja's Kitchen...anyways, I was saying that I scrolled through Facebook and I saw your post...you posted something about heartbreak and loneliness. After seeing that, I couldn't stop worrying about you. Everything's okay, right?", mom worriedly questioned. "Oh God, Maa!", I exclaimed and rolled my eyes. "That was a random post on Facebook; just because I posted it doesn't mean I'm going through it. I thought it was a beautiful piece of writing and I shared it, simple", I explained and Maa remained silent, which only hinted at how unconvinced she was. "Trust me with this, I am absolutely okay. I'm sorry I shared that quote; but it didn't have anything to do with my condition. Not everything I post on social media directs at me; sometimes I post it to help others. Don't make a big deal out of everything I upload, Maa. If something's wrong, I'll talk to you or Pops; I won't post it online, I'm not stupid. Social-sympathy, or whatever, won't change my life and I won't even post about my problems; now, chill", I convinced her.

"Breathe out and calm down", I whispered. "You're so stupid; I didn't know what I was thinking when I delivered you!", mom scolded and I smiled, feeling relieved. "I didn't sleep all night because of you; my head would have exploded, while I thought about you", mom carried on. "I'd suggest you to stop stalking me on Facebook, you'll feel better. I think I should block you", I joked. "Don't do that! I'll create a fake ID and keep track of you", mom said back and my jaw dropped open. "Maa, you're such a creep. Stop stalking me!", I judged. "All mothers are stalkers. When you become a mother, you'll know", she recited her typical dialogue. "Sure", I sighed. "Okay, listen...I need to go. I'll talk to you later. You better catch some sleep, before your head actually explodes", I said in one breath. "Listen, wait, wait!", she exclaimed, loudly, and I hung on line. "How is everything else in Mumbai? I don't know why, but I have this strange feeling about your situation in Mumbai", mom guessed it right, and I felt the need to spill everything out to her, but I couldn't bring myself to do that; if I told her about the homelessness, she wouldn't sleep for next many nights, until I returned to Surat. "You're overthinking. Every little thing is perfect, Maa. There's nothing to worry about", I comforted her with a lie. "Do you need money? I have saved up money for an oven, but you're more important than an oven; shall I deposit the money in your bank account?", mom questioned, and I giggled. "Buy the oven and bake cakes. I'm alright", I smiled. "Dia, Rajni Aunty is calling you downstairs to join the prayers", Chanch sleepily said, and I showed her a thumbs up.