Love At First Write

The brass bell at the threshold never rang; it was struck.

Every evening at seven, the iron gate clicked, followed by two firm, metallic thuds on the front door. That was the signal. Without a word, Aarav’s mother would leave the kitchen, lower the flame under the simmering dal, and wipe her hands on her pallu. Aarav, seven years old, would instantly lower the volume on the television and push his toys under the wooden sofa.

When Meera was six, she learned that some touches came without permission.
An uncle hugged her long after she tried to pull away.
A cousin touched her in ways that made her uncomfortable.
A family friend would place his hands on her and tell her not to be “so shy.”

"Let's buy monthly groceries this weekend. I won't be here next weekend," he barked, stretching his arms before landing on his bed.

"Why?" she asked in a very casual tone, folding the laundry.

"When did this happen?" cried Ankita to a terrified Ankit. When he turned, he saw a never-before-seen version of her wife. Eyes blood red, as if blood flows out of them instead of tears, those tired eyes hadn't slept for months.

(Door shutting. Stomping)
"I don't want to go to school from tomorrow", declared 11-year-old Eti as she wiped her tears, which did not stop flowing.
"Are you mad? What about your dream then? Who is going to be the first female doctor of this Hitawa gaon then?", interrogated Eka, her twin sister.

"Ha.."
"Chachu, Ha... Jaldi song batao na..." cried 9-year-old Kartik. The Gupta family had been traveling to Delhi, leading the baraat for the most eligible bachelor, Aditya, for the last few days.
"Hawa me udta jaaye
Tera Laal dupatta malmal ka...", came a lyrical voice from the troop boarding the same compartment from Sant Hirdaram Nagar Railway Station.

Reyansh, get the second tokri," screamed Sujata, Reyansh's Nani from the terrace.
"Oh, Nani. I come once a year for a long vacation, and you end up making me child labor. Not fair. Huh!" Uttered Reyansh and he came panting while lifting the tokri.

Early morning, Mr. Srinivas Sundaram picked up the freshly creased newspaper which was stuck inside the traditional latch by the newspaper distributor. In an hour he was done reading all the news. Then he thought of starting to solve the crossword and Sudoku. Just when he was folding the newspaper to bring the crossword closer, he noticed the date on the top right corner of the page. 29/06/23 it mentioned.

Poonam was going through a tough time. After staying in marriage for 49 years, she was learning to live on her own, newly, as her husband had recently passed away. She was on a journey of self-discovery and exploring new things. Draping an indigo saree with a crop top, wearing chunky oxidized jewellery, and letting a warm breeze play with her hair were all a part of it.

Sharon brings a pet home, it's their first time. Infant David starts catching some or the other infection post that. After visiting the doctor for the third time in a month, Sharon decides to find the root cause. On the third visit, she asks the doctor, "Rabies is an animal disease, how can a human catch it?"

After 9 years of war, Yemen remains one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. An estimated 4.5 million people—14 percent of the population—are currently displaced, most of whom have been displaced multiple times over several years.

"Bhaiya, last month we saw that project, you remember? They were talking about the smart city? We were behind in urbanization, then we realized we were only making concrete jungles. So now we have nature-focused projects. We keep tweaking the words here and there, in the end, we only look for what fits in our budget, right? Today I got to know about Xalapa, a city in Mexico.

"15 scenic spots to visit in West Garo Hills and needless to add off-beat in front of them. They are sparsely populated with locals and countable tourist visitors. I am glad I chose this spot. It is beautiful beyond words, but what hit my mind was the words of a local chai boy.

Volcanoes spew hot, dangerous gases, ash, lava, and rock that are powerfully destructive. People have died from volcanic blasts. Volcanic eruptions can result in additional threats to health, such as floods, mudslides, power outages, drinking water contamination, and wildfires.

"Mumma, you have to see this video on YouTube. This is a real transformation! I mean with timelines and all, a disaster converting into a tourist spot, wow!

"In 2024, the Tsunami will complete 20 years, and here are facts from the incident which make me think about what could we do to make things better. Still not being able to find a solution, here I am, sharing my observations from that day only to see some help and advice.

Shivam used to write letters to his pen pal in Nepal. In his latest letter, Abhay informed him about a new address. Because of the sinkhole, he along with his family had to change his residence as the nuance of sinkholes was impacting their health. Shivam tried to search more about the same on the internet.

It took me 50 minutes to cross the street,

Which usually requires 15 minutes,

Reason? Riots.

January 2023

"25 years to that dreadful day and we have gathered here to discuss more about it. We have Suzanne King who has studied all about it and further consequences", says Natalie - the host, " Over to you Mam!"

Dhruv: Mumma, what do you mean by UNESCO World Heritage Site?

Rita: UNESCO gives this title to the places that survive a catastrophe or are preserving culture. Which place are you reading about?

What Happened? On April 20, 2010, an explosion occurred on the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico. The explosion, which killed 11 men, caused the rig to sink and started a catastrophic oil leak from the well.

Today we know the science behind the Northern Lights. But imagine gazing up at the phenomena of green, red, and purple lights flickering across the sky and not knowing what they are. It’s no wonder the aurora borealis have influenced folklore and legends through the ages.

While almost any type of fire, wind, or weather-related event can certainly be devastating, accidents that take place in the ocean or other waterways can often be much worse. Trying to flee from the wreckage in the water can put people in even more danger.

"The newspaper culture is dying, and you still spend one - one and a half hours of the morning reading it. Appa, your smartphone will give you more information, trust me", said the irritated Kunti, wife of the historian Shanti Kumar who loved reading about partition and stories around.

19/12/23: Aditya and Ananya arrive at Jodhpur by train at 7.30 am. From there, they have their car bookings made to do a camp stay at Jaisalmer at Sand Dunes. They have their breakfast near the railway station and start driving at 9.15 am.

"Japan has the most exclusive variety of flowers. Also the cherry blossoms there are unmissable..." Said the voiceover on TV as 10-year-old Saiyam was watching the National Geographic channel.

"It has been 12 days. Is there still any scope of being hopeful at all Kiran Sir?" Asked a journalist to Space Commission Member and Former ISRO Chairman A S Kiran Kumar, who was associated with the mission. It was 12 days after Chandrayaan 3 made a successful soft landing, and there was no further update.

"In recent years, the deadliest Atlantic hurricane was Hurricane Mitch of 1998, with at least 11,374 deaths attributed to it, while the deadliest Atlantic hurricane was the Great Hurricane of 1780, which resulted in at least 22,000 fatalities.

Village: It's so hot! Just the beginning of March and we are sweating. All because of city people. Your urge to grow and progress fast has impacted us innocents so badly, despite us being negligibly involved in it. We still have to take the brunt."

"Alert was declared, we knew we may have a flood-like situation. But who would have imagined 16 feet of flood water even in the wildest of dreams? I could barely manage to survive because my house is on higher planes so we had a flood water of height 8-10 feet.

26/01/23:
"...But sir this meeting is important. The tender has to go today else we will lose the contract." saying that Shefali kept walking behind Hemant. "I have a flight to catch, if Piyush manages to make it to this meeting then good else I don't mind losing the contract," announces Hemant as the lift door closes when he departs.

It was a hot day. It was past the usual time of bus arrival at Derna stop. Sarah eagerly waited for Tareeq's bus to arrive, exams were on and she wished to be the first person to know how it was! Losing her patience, she called up Khaleed to kill time. He was in an important meeting and hence could not receive her call. As soon as the long meeting was over, he walked towards the cafeteria to grab something to drink as he unlocked his phone to call back Sarah.

"That's all from my side! If anyone has any questions, you are free to ask them now!" addressed the Dean to the 20 students who had come from different countries as a part of the Special Student Exchange program.

Karthik stomped his feet while entering the room as he learned that they had to pack their bags and leave for Dhaka the same night. Kamal had no option but to take Karthik with him, the cons of being a single parent you see. Kamal's organization thankfully allowed that and always made sure their employees traveled comfortably and their stays were well-organized.

"Today the Amazon is becoming a wood stove," Yoka Manchineri, an Indigenous nurse specializing in Indigenous health, told Mongabay at a college in Rio Branco, the Acre state capital, where she participated in a meeting with the state's Indigenous health counselors.

"Chai... Adrak wali chai... Garma garam chai..."
Screamed the chaiwala.
"A chai may make you feel better. Have one cup na?", asked Aman to Deepti.
Mr. Bakshi, who was on a solo trip to Rishikesh, overheard the conversation. After observing them for a good 1.5-2 hours, he dared to ask, "Is it nausea?"

"30£ sir!"

Sumit flashes his card.

"You are at the wrong counter, sir. On this one, we accept only cash."

"You are the king of my heart and a master of so many other skills, But cake making is an art you will never be able to learn", said Kavita in a low tone with a chortle as she coughed. "Why should I? You are there, you bake that yummness always so why should I learn? I am very honest skill-wise you see, I do not try to experiment with something that does not belong to my expertise! And who will tolerate the criticism coming from the grandchildren?"

6 months later:
"You have seen and heard the incidents and situations in so many women's lives. Which one do you think is the most difficult?" Arunima was asked in an interview just before she was about to collect her award.

After a remarkable festive season, ladies at Aanchal were planning to take a break; a much-needed one! All the hard work was rewarding indeed, however, Arunima had no idea how to make them happy.

With an active website, Aanchal was able to reach local as well as global audiences. Popular media mentions and many influential people started noticing their work. Season-wise many made-to-order categories were introduced with time. All the women were happy and constructively occupied.

After 20 days of sessions with Smita, Roshani was still trying to figure out what she wanted to do ahead. While she was doing good emotionally and personally, that was not the only thing she wanted to do, live like a parasite. Everyone around her was doing something or the other.

It's 6 a.m., a pleasant morning. Roshani felt like she was breathing different air, it was the same air, but it was the way she breathed that changed. Her 4 sessions of yoga with Smita made her feel that. She sipped the hot chai thinking about whether she should go for a counselling session or not. It was her first time, and a lack of awareness about counseling was giving her anxiety. "Will I be asked to describe that horrifying day again?" was her biggest fear.

"You may have heard the news about rape, read about it in the newspaper or on social media. Everyone says the culprit should be punished, hung to death, left to open public, and things like that. But does anyone think of what the girl goes through? Till what level are you guys going to stoop down to gain TRP and views? The result is just declared and although she seems satisfied, there is a whole lot of internal healing she has to go through now.

While Roshani was personally celebrating her partial victory of 2 of the rapists being caught, Sarthak called her to the police station. They caught hold of a few suspects and Roshani had to identify them. Roshani was not prepared for it, she thought of requesting Arunima to accompany her. Unfortunately, Arunima was not available. She decided to wait till Arunima came, but after waiting for half an hour, she left for the police station.

Arunima has a distinct style of working. She knows each one from the Aanchal Family personally. 60 of them, a 63-year-old thrown out of the house by her son, a 3-day newborn baby found on the corner of the street, a 34-year-old who was not accepted by the marital side of her family after her divorce from her abusive husband and the list goes on and on. Aanchal is run by all these women, who cook for themselves, run the place efficiently, also earn a small amount from the skills they know, and Arunima, like a guiding light is always there to guide them.

11.40 PM (IST): Inspector Sarthak on his regular patrolling rounds near Khandala ghats. PSI Krishna Rathod asks the driver to stop the van as he gets nature's call. He finds a tree and does his thing, meanwhile Rocky, the trained canine keeps barking and sniffing, as if he wants to lead them somewhere. PSI Krishna sees everyone running behind Rocky, zips up his pants, and starts following them.