Happiness is…….

 The minute and an hour hand of the wall clock made a perfect ninety-degree angle. Sunlight was peeping inside the window of her bedroom and fell on her face. Her fair skin glowed, her eyes felt a sudden increase in brightness of the room. She opened her eyes and stretched her arms. She yawned deeply. She looked on the other side of the bed. She had the bed all by herself for the first time after the marriage. She rolled over and crossed the imaginary border of the bed. She was on the other side – an unexplored side of the bed. She stretched her hands horizontally to measure the width of the bed. She looked up at the fan. Soon, She got off and went to her dressing table. She was looking at her reflection. Her hand went for the hair clip as usual. She looked at her free hair and decided not to tie them. She put on her flip-flops and went to the bathroom. She had all the time in the world. She was alone. There was no one to interrupt her today. She didn’t have to listen to her mother in law. She didn’t have to cook for her father in law. She finally had time to meet herself. She took her own sweet time to brush her teeth. She looked into the mirror again. She was staring into her black eyes. She was flaring her nose a bit. She smiled at herself. She realized how beautiful her smile is. She stepped into the shower. She had a fascination with water. She loved getting drenched in rains. She started the shower and created her own rain. Water was dripping down on her body. She shivered as her clothes were getting wet but she loved that feeling. It was a definition of happiness for her. She enjoyed water droplets on her face. She was just standing there and experiencing every drop of the shower. She hesitantly took off her clothes. She looked around. Obviously, there was no one to see her. No one to judge her. She could feel the droplets directly on her skin. There was nothing extraordinary about the shower but it felt different to her. She came out of it and wrapped a towel around her. She came back to her bedroom. Her hair was wet and she was drying them with another towel. She took her favorite blue jeans and a black top which she hardly wore. After marriage, it was not possible for her to wear whatever she liked. She got dressed up and looked at herself in the mirror. She smiled from left to right. She felt young again. She felt comfortable again. She did a swirl. She put on her red lipstick. She did her hair. “maybe I should do some styling” she spoke to herself. She decided to go to the salon. She made breakfast for her. She ate it slowly because she could. There was no hurry. There was no rush to eat. She was eating a hot breakfast which she rarely did. She took her purse, put on her specs, and headed out of the home.

She reached the salon. She sat there in the chair and kept the specs on the table. Aparna Didi – her usual hairstylist put some shampoo on her hair and started rinsing them with her fingers. She felt so relaxed. She closed her eyes and rinsing continued. Aparna washed her hair nicely. She got up from that chair and went to another one. She sat there and Didi started drying her hair by the blow dryer. They were already looking nice. “Do my usual styling” she gave instructions to Didi. Didi knew what to do exactly and there was no chance of messing it up. She was looking into her reflection in the mirror. Her styling was done and she looked like an actress ready for the shoot. Her hair got smoother and they got a nice wavy vibe to it. She took her specs and looked into the mirror. “Wow!” she said to herself. She took a couple of selfies in her cell. She paid the bill and got out of the salon. She was feeling hungry so she decided to go to a nearby restaurant. She entered the restaurant and took an isolated table for her. She never sat alone but that day she felt like sitting alone and she wasn’t sad. She knew the difference between being lonely and being alone. She ordered food for herself. While she was waiting for her food, she opened an app on her cell Haikujam. She wrote some jams. She replied to some of the texts she received. She had met a guy named Dhruv on the app a few months back. Their frequency matched and they started talking on a daily basis. She replied to him also but the message didn’t deliver. Her order came and she put down her phone. She ate her food slowly and enjoyed every bite of it. “So food also makes me happy” she mumbled. She paid the bill and called her college friend. They weren’t in touch for years. She felt like calling her and went with her instincts. Her friend picked her and there was no awkwardness. She started complaining about not calling for so many days. Their conversation flourished soon. Her friend told her much she missed her. They were cherishing their college memories. After a long talk, she finally hung up. She was smiling. She felt genuinely happy. She called another friend in the city and asked her if she was coming shopping. Her friend immediately said yes and they decided to meet in the nearby mall.

She reached the mall which was a bit far from her home and it was almost 4 in the evening when she entered the mall. She met her friend and they started shopping. They were trying out clothes. They were giving each other suggestions. They were bitching about others. They were teasing each other. They were fully enjoying the experience of shopping – trying out different shops, trying out different outfits, bargaining with the seller. After they were done shopping, they were hungry again. It was almost past 7 now. She went to the food court and took a table for them. She ordered some snacks for them. She was eating it and she noticed that there was some guy sitting next to her table and he was curiously looking at her. She didn’t know how to react and she was trying to ignore it. That guy got up from his place and came to her table. ” Hey! Are you Esha?” He asked. She looked back at him. His face was familiar but she couldn’t decide where she saw him. ” It’s me – Dhruv. We are friends on Haikujam” he gave his introduction. “Haa Ji” she replied with a big smile on her face. This was a pleasant surprise for her. She never imagined that she would meet her Haikujam friend in her city. She was happy to see him there. “What a pleasant surprise. Nice meeting you Dhruv. How come you are here? ” Her words filled with happiness and awkwardness. She stuck out her hand for a shake. They shook their hands and he sat with them. ” Actually I’m here for work-related stuff. I guess I told you about my new venture” Dhruv said. Esha nodded. She wasn’t clearly remembering but she knew he told that. ” It is nice meeting Esha Ji,” he said with a smile. They used to call other ‘Ji‘. “Actually I’m in a hurry so I have to go now. I came to say hello” he said and he got up. She didn’t know how to react. Should I ask him to stop? She couldn’t make her mind. ” Sure. It was really nice meeting you. I wish we could talk longer” she said. “I wish the same” he replied. “Maybe some other time. I’m here for a few days. I’ll meet you aaram se” he gave his trademark smile. “Sure” she replied. ” Bye Esha Ji,” he said and went from there. She saw him going from there. She started thinking about how wonderful the day had been. It was getting late so she dropped her friend at her home which was on the way. Esha reached home. She freshened up. She changed into comfortable clothes and sat on her bed. She was thinking about her day. “umm it’s not like I did some crazy stuff but I enjoyed this day”. She mumbled to herself. She took her phone. She opened the Haikujam app. She wrote the first line. “Happiness is”. She got a notification. Dhruv completed her jam. “enjoying the little things in life!