Letting go

"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, she gestured with her hand, and took her call inside.

By the time her call was done, my curiosity had piqued and I had mentally calculated the depth of my friendship with Shreya to decide how inappropriate it would be to ask her what was the person on the call saying when I arrived and why Shreya was so happy to hear that. So naturally, as soon as she re-entered the living room, against my better judgment and manners, I ended up asking her about the conversation that I had accidentally eavesdropped on. 

Thankfully, she did not seem to take offense and immediately answered the question. So the person at the other end of the call was Neha, her childhood friend. As per Shreya, Neha was one of those people who stresses a lot over finishing all the tasks on time, gives her 150% to every task, and takes up more than her share of tasks. A person who gives no regard to her health and peace of mind over her work and other responsibilities. Shreya didn't really have to elaborate much because I painted a picture of Neha right away. I have many Nehas around me so it really wasn't that difficult.

 Shreya said, "So, you can imagine how I must have felt when she said",

Yaar, matlab main kar sakti hu but mere se ab ho nahi payega

Yes, I could imagine. Neha wasn't giving up. She was letting go. Despite not knowing Neha personally, now I was feeling proud of Neha too. Shreya said that Neha had been balancing dual responsibilities at her house and work for a long time now. She had invested a lot on both ends with no regard to her health so it was really unfair when she was pressurized from both ends. And the pressure always increased during holiday seasons with everyone taking her for granted assuming she would be ok taking up the additional load of work instead of taking a break during the holiday. So, what she managed to do today almost sounded unreal.

Today, she had had enough so she negotiated responsibilities and tasks at both ends, with her team at the office and her family at home. Without compromising on anything that was important to her, Neha delegated and distributed her tasks among others clearly stating why she was doing this. Shreya laughed remembering what Neha had said. Neha had told her that when she was done, a few of her team members and family members were looking at her as if they were saying this is so unfair and Neha just responded, ya, welcome to my world.

I laughed out loud and wiped the tear that had slipped from my right eye. Wow. 

This never happens.

"I think your friend has created history today" 

"Hah, I agree"

"This calls for a celebration"

"Good thing I was already prepared", Shreya said handing me a glass of wine. 

"To small victories" 

"To letting go"

The world's in safe hands

 

(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 at his mom for a few seconds, willing her to go away, Paddy sighs, seeing that she is not budging. He signals Mokka to start the narration. Mokka abruptly sits up straight, as if he is reciting it to a teacher, grabs the paper from the table and starts –

Mokka – The problem we often see in society is that the conditions around the world are bad. The problems in society are increasing continuously. People often say that the world is ending. But we have to understand why and I think we have found a loophole. God is supposed to protect the world, save the world but who is saving god. Our solution is a strategy to protect the god to save the world.

Mom - …..

Paddy – So? What do you think?

Mom – Wow. Did you show this to your teacher?

Paddy – Yes…(Paddy says with a pause)

(All kids look hesitant. Looking at each other. This topic definitely does not seem their favorite)

Mom – Well…what did they say?

Paddy – Umm she just kept saying uh-huh when we explained our topic. Then we asked whether we should go ahead with it, she said sure. Tappy said she was laughing at us but I think she was just smiling because she liked the topic. What about you? Do you like the topic?

Mom – Uh-huh. Sure.

Paddy – Great. See, I told you guys.

Tappy – Paddy, I think your mother is laughing at us.

(Mom putting on her best innocent expression)

Mom – Well, I just really liked it.

(A few moments of silence where the kids assess what mom is thinking)

Mom – (clearing throat) So, what solution are you proposing?

Paddy – Okay. Let me start from the beginning.

(This time he grabs the paper and sits up straight)

Paddy – So, as per the common knowledge and as per our close observations of the action movies, to protect the god, we need bodyguards with the god and security at god’s house.

(Paddy looks up at mom to see if she is following)

Mom – Uh-huh

Paddy – (Satisfied, he continues) So, we start with the house of the god. Based on the places all of us have visited so far, there are three types of houses of god. There are big houses like big temples, churches, gurudwaras, mosques, etc. where we will place a guard at all times and a security camera. Then there are community common houses where we will request people from the community to provide security in shifts so that it will be easy to manage.

Mom – Uh-huh

Paddy – Lastly, we have small houses of god in our homes. There also we assign a person within that family to protect the house of god.

Mom – That’s… that’s good. Very thorough.

Paddy – no, no. We are not done yet. Silva had a concern after this plan. (prompting Silva) Silva...

Silva – (sitting up straight) So, I thought that since god is protecting the world and since we have been facing a lot of problems recently, god must be on the field taking care of people.

(Silva looks at Paddy to make sure he is on the right track. Paddy confirming his thoughts takes over)

Paddy – so we need to have bodyguards near the god. But we can’t see the god, so we have to guess and also ask around. Because Corona is spread everywhere badly, god probably visits places that have the most ill people.

Mokka – Yes. And there are farmers protesting also.

Silva – Right, and Chennai was hit with a cyclone.

(Mom looks reverently at the kids excitedly adding to each other’s ideas)

Paddy – Yes, so we will also ask around for the issues to know the exact location of the god so that we can send help there.

(Tappy clears her throat)

Paddy – Yes, I remember Tappy. Tappy has a theory-

Tappy – It’s not a theory. It’s the truth.

Paddy – Okay. So, Tappy believes that –

Tappy – It’s not my belief. It’s the truth.

Paddy – Alright. Tappy suggested - (briefly glancing at Tappy anticipating an interruption but Tappy is sitting back, uptight, with her arms folded. Paddy continues) – that god lies where people are happy and healthy.

Mom – Uh-huh

Paddy – So, we are also planning a phase 2 (Tappy clears her throat once again. Paddy clears his throat louder) As we all decided, there will be a phase 2 of this project where we will ask around to see where the people think god lies because everyone has different ideas and then we will put in more effort and send more security at those locations to protect the god.

Mom – Great. You guys have really thought of everything, haven’t you?

Paddy – No, no. Wait. There is more. (Looks at Tappy)

(Tappy sits up straighter if it is even possible)

Tappy – We have observed that the problems will keep on coming. No matter what we do. Looking at the current situation, there is a possibility that the god is understaffed. So, we have to help the god. Because we can’t have the god distracted or overstressed because that’s even more dangerous. So, we are planning to set up a…ugh…

Silva – a council.

Tappy – Yes, that. We will get all the intelligent people who know about these issues the society is facing to understand the issues and come up with solutions so that there is less load on god. (Looking at Paddy) Are we done?

Paddy – (goes through the paper and double-checks) Yes, we are done.

(All kids turn to mom)

Mom – (stunned)…

Paddy – So? What do you think? Is it good?

Mom – Huh (smiling). Sure.

(Mumbling) Want to save the world? Trust the 12-year-olds to be better at it than the world leaders.

Paddy – what?

Mom – Nothing. I really liked it. You guys continue with the assignment. I will make something special for you guys. My treat.

(she goes to the kitchen, smiling)

(Paddy turns towards Tappy)

Paddy – Do you think she was laughing at us?

Tappy – No. I think she was actually smiling.