Glass Half Untouched

"Yaar, matlab main kar sakti hu but mere se ab ho nahi payega" This was the first thing I heard as soon as Shreya opened the door. She was in the middle of a conversation with someone and almost immediately my eyes went to the phone in her hand. She was on a call with someone and she had put it on speaker. As soon as the sentence was said, there was a pause. It was like everyone in the picture was mulling over the sentence. I was trying to guess who was on the other side of the call and what were they giving up. Shreya's eyes had teared up and a small smile was forming on her face. I wasn't expecting this reaction. I was immediately intrigued. Considering the silence on the other side of the call, there were some afterthoughts there too. As the pause stretched, I started feeling like I was interrupting something personal and important. Shreya must have thought the same because she quickly removed the speaker mode, opened the door, motioned me to take a seat. 2 minutes...

  (Paddy, Mokka, Tappy, Silva were huddled around the table, making some sort of to-do list, talking to each other in serious whispers. Paddy’s mother enters the room and looking at the scene, amused, she can’t help but ask-) Mom - Hi everyone, what are you guys doing? Paddy - We are doing an assignment for our class. Mom - Okay? (prompting Paddy to continue) Paddy - ? (Paddy just frowns at her) Mom – What is the assignment about? Which class? Paddy – Mommmm (Paddy whines). Can we do this later? We are really busy right now? Mom - …… (standing there with a mom pose) Paddy – ugh…alright. It’s for our class of ‘community organization and planning’. Mom (mumbling) – Leaders of our country are failing at it and they expect the 12-year-olds to do community planning. Paddy – what? Mom – Nothing. So, tell me about this assignment. Paddy – We have to find a problem in our society and find a solution. Mom – Okay? Paddy - ? Mom – go on. Continue. After staring...