Three Word Wednesday - cold, depraved, powerful

This post is for Three Word Wednesday.

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It was a cold dark night. The street was buzzing with people. She had turned back couple of times to look at him and their eyes had met. He was huge, dressed in jacket, sweatpants, with a black hood over his head. His face looked depraved. She felt he was following her. She was on her way to deposit money in the hospital for her mother's surgery. Her handbag contained all her hard earned money. She held her handbag closer to her and increased her pace. She slipped and fell down with a loud thud. Her handbag slipped off her hand, dropping to the pavement. People around looked at her with pity. She felt two powerful hands on her shoulders helping her to get back on her feet. "Take care, young lady." He said, handing her the handbag. The black hooded man walked away giving her a polite smile.

Five Sentence Fiction - Abandon

This post is written for Five Sentence Fiction

He came back to an empty house, a house which looked complete only with the presence of his wife.

She had promised him that she would never leave him, never abandon him.

He lied down and closed his eyes to find some sleep; to find some peace.

They were together once again as she had promised.

He found her in his dreams; that night and every other night.

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The Twin Sisters! - Flash Fiction

This post is written for Three Word Wednesday

Mira and Priya, the twin sisters were poles apart. Priya was the amicable and outgoing type. And Mira completely opposite to her. From childhood, Mira kept all her stories to herself while Priya shared everything. As years passed, the two girls turned into beautiful young women. Still, Priya remained everyone's favorite.

It was only few days past their twenty fifth birthday. Mira was consoling her mother. Her mother was crying in an unrefined manner. Her father looked completely blank. Priya was missing since two days. The police had called few minutes ago to inform that her whereabouts were still unknown. Mira was left with a frivolous grin on her face.

Is Laundry Only a Woman’s Job ?

“I am writing for #IsLaundryOnlyAWomansJob activity at BlogAdda.com in association with Ariel.”

Is laundry only a woman's job?
Absolutely not!

And why not?
Simply because it's not rocket science and anyone can do it. It's much simpler these days.

The below household statistics that emerged in Ariel’s survey conducted by AC Nielsen surprised me highly. The numbers are unusually high than what I had expected.

What do men do when away from home?

The statistics shows how much dependent men are on women for laundry. The first question that comes to my mind is what do men do when they are away from home for a long period.  Don't they wash their clothes? They somehow take care of doing their laundry.  Then why this dependency on women, the mother or wife when they are at home.

Image Courtesy: Google

Why this inequality?

Brought up in an all-daughters-family, I was not susceptible to this domestic inequality. Lucky me! It's a known fact that while a boy played outdoors, a girl helped women in domestic chores. This has been happening since ages. Household work only for girls. Pink for girls and blue for boys. The gender stereotype thing! So is the upbringing a reason we see these kind of results in the survey?

What about the media's role? How many of these washing powder and soap advertisements show a man doing laundry? Most of them depict a woman who lovingly cleans the dirty clothes.

Image Courtesy: Google

And the society in general terms a man henpecked if he does household duties. Yes, it's his duty also!

How many women feel laundry is a women's job?

The above survey does not have a number for this. My guess is that majority of women feel it's their job. The minute a woman is married she is expected to take care of household chores in her husband's house. And most of the times a married woman owns upon her this responsibility. A woman efficiently has to juggle between her house and office work. Why not give men a chance to showcase their skill? Why not help them take up multiple roles?

Laundry is no longer hard work and not time consuming either. The washing machines and powders these days have simplified the huge effort of washing clothes. Thanks to the improving technology!
On a lighter note, let us all be part of the Swachhata Abhiyan (cleaning spree) at home. It is a small step to improve the gender disparity.


Ending with a cool clip.

Image Courtesy: Google

Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge #68

This post is written for Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge #68

The goal of this Tan Renga Challenge is to compose/write the second stanza of two lines respectively counted 7-7, but that's not an obligation as you all will know, towards this "hokku" (starting verse) by Ese by associating on the images in her haiku. With that second stanza you continue or complete the Tan Renga.

the endless night

unable to count the stars

in the frozen pond (Ese)

at the crack of dawn

all the stars vanished (Vidya)

A foe turned friend

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.

I disliked him 

And all of his kind

He was my foe

For a reason unknown

His handsome face

That gait so different

Failed in total 

To impress me

We crossed paths

Every passing day

He lived in the street

Same as mine

He gave me looks
When I passed by
Ignoring him
I moved on

He had friends

Old and young

Cheering him

Loving him

One fine day

An angel small

Came into my life

And my house

As days passed by

So also months

He and that angel

Turned close friends

In front of our house

Often he was found

For that angel or

For something else

That angel calls him "Bow"

And so do I
Though not thick

We are still friends

Three Word Wednesday - Electric, Passionate and Savage (A Short Story)

This post is for Three Word Wednesday

Image Courtesy: www.ypayonline.com

I was only few meters away from my house when I saw an electric spark and the transformer I drove past blew up with a loud noise. All the street lights went off and there were no lights in any of the houses on that street. The entire street turned pitch dark. The headlights of my car helped me reach home. I somehow managed to reach the doorsteps of my house. I knew my wife and son would be asleep. I was looking for keys in my bag when the door opened and what I saw surprised me. There stood a lady, not my wife. She was holding a candle light. Her face looked familiar but I was unable to recognize her. She bent down to look at the young boy standing next to her. She gave him a passionate stroke on his head. The boy smiled. She then turned to me. Her eyes suddenly turned big and red. Her face turned savage.

I opened my eyes and found my wife staring at me. I felt as if I was sleeping my whole life.
"Are you alright now?" She asked.
"What happened? Why did you faint when I opened the door yesterday night?" She kept questioning.
I didn't remember a thing.
"You were shivering whole night yesterday. Dr. Amit, our neighbor administered an injection to calm you down. How are feeling now?" She kept talking.
"Let me get you coffee" she said and left without waiting for my answers.

As any other day I got up from my bed and picked up the newspaper lying on the table. I flipped through the pages. The photos of a woman and a child caught my attention. "Woman and son hit by speeding truck" read the headlines. Yes, they were the same whom I had let to die on the roads the previous night. I stared at the photos. The boy smiled while the woman's eyes turned big and red again.

A promise kept - Poem

This post is written for Three Word Wednesday

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Bidding her good bye

He promised to be back

Very very soon

And she trusted him

There was a thunder

When he stepped out

He looked above

To find a cloudy sky

That was no hinder

And he wandered out

He had a promise to keep

And looked all resolute

Rain poured down

Which worried her now

He was out there

Alone in dark with the weather so bad

He came back home

Looking shabby and completely soaked

He released his fist clenched so hard

and revealed that shining thing

He was jovial

While she looked troubled

"Thank you brother!"

She hugged and said

Within the shining paper 

Was a chocolate small

She broke it into two

To give her little brother the bigger piece

Haiku - Rainbow

Haiku written for the prompt Carpe Diem Time Glass #16, Rainbow

sky and sea 

meet to become one

a rainbow is born

The tea leaves told the story

This post is written for the prompt  100 Words on Saturday by Write Tribe

Image Coutesy: http://thumbs.dreamstime.com

Her husband's retirement did nothing to him. He was up and ready for his morning cup of coffee as early as 6 am. She, still half asleep dragged herself to kitchen. It was something she found in the kitchen which woke her up completely. The tea container which was empty since long was now full. She opened the container lid and took in the aroma. The tea leaves told the story. They revealed the secret kept by her husband. That day, she served him coffee with smile. She knew the surprise that was awaiting her. Her son was coming home soon. 

My 2015 word of the year

This post is for the prompt 2015 Word of the year

It took me few minutes before I could come up with my 2015 word of the year. I actually have a couple of words for this year.

There is one thing which all of us yearn for and that is "happiness". I am no different. I am looking forward to having a happy new year, literally! My daughter, born in 2014 is surely going to bring lots of happiness in our life.

Life, as such is hectic with having to manage both job and my baby. I am working from home for time being and I am not sure till when I will have this luxury. In case I have to give up my job, I am getting myself ready for the same. What I want to do now is "relax". I don't mean to go on a long vacation for relaxing. I want to relax my mind more than my body and I want to do it at home along with my household chores, office work and managing baby.

"Happiness" and "Relax" are my words for this year. What are yours?

Five Sentence Fiction - Fresh

This post is written for Five Sentence Fiction

She was sipping on the freshly brewed coffee, looking at the newly blossomed flowers of her garden and listening to the chirping of the birds.

She turned to look at the calendar and it flashed to her that it was January 1st, beginning of a new year and the world outside looked happy and cheerful.

She had woke up previous night when she heard fire crackers in mid night, made sure her kids were not disturbed by it and now realized the reason behind late night crackers.

'Neeta, can you please get my coffee?' She heard her husband's voice.

Her much needed alone time for the day was up and she rushed to go about her daily chores.