Defining moments

Following is a story that was conjured more than a year back; only making its way to the blog today. I owe my vote of thanks to Rohit sir for the discussion we had that laid the foundation of the idea.

Sitting at the window pane at twilight with a cup of hot tea and peering across Mumbai landscape used to be Natasha’s favorite daily regime. She felt rejuvenated staring at the endless expanse and the infinite commixing of the sky and the sea, which used to act as her daily dose of new energies and ideas. 

Moving in to the sea side apartment was one of the best decisions she had taken. It was always a relaxing experience to glance out and find kids playing in the nearby park, couples walking along the cobblework, and the spectacular setting sun. But, that day when she was in dire need of a good story for her magazine ‘Diva’, the sickening sight outside pathetically failed at generating ideas and her mind was all void.

There are some days when the yellow dwindling light at twilight would dance on the grass blades. But that day didn’t appear to be a chosen one. Some days the light would gently caress the frolicking waves of the Arabian Sea. Not on that day. Normally the sky would be painted with ruby stripes weaving a web of mottled orange at sunset.  But the setting sun wasn’t spectacular either.  On that evening rather, with a highly brown overcast sky and dust winds, it was hard even to keep the windows open and the shrouded light did little to incite Natasha’s literary creativity. “Now even the Gods are conspiring against me”,  she mumbled.

She looked at the draft she had prepared in the last 3 hours, “There are some Defining moments that partition your life into segments of Before and After. These defining moments could be one or many, involve some major event of your life, or could even be a small innocuous episode of meeting a person, or perhaps some act of yours that leads to a life changing experience. The point of interest is that how one single moment can demarcate your lifespan and transform your life in a distinctive manner”.. 3 hours gone and no end in sight, and moreover no idea of how to take this forward..she let out a deep sigh.

Her eyelids started to droop as she again looked out of the window into the lull of the sky. Mother sleep had started to cast its spell on her. She knew she had to come up with a story for Diva in the next 10 hours; and with her present scenario, she was nowhere close to it. She has had several sleepless nights last week and was neither in the mood, nor with the energy to sacrifice another one. But Sonja’s voice on the phone kept on echoing through her mind  ’Natasha.. Believe me your dream of becoming the chief editor could materialize with one good story, just one good story sweetie.. remember it has to be good, enrapturing as always, just make sure you put all emotions into it. It would be great if you could come up with one of your lovely life based flicks..I know I can count on you.. will get in touch tomorrow morning, keep your draft ready by then , bye dear’.  Recounting Sonja’s words were the last thing she did before she was taken in the cosy hands of slumber.

She was woken up by the shrill sound of the alarm. She got up swiftly and looked at the watch. It was 11.00p.m. ‘Darn! 4 hours wasted.. I need to rush up’. She got up hastily from the window side sofa and made her way towards the kitchen to wash up and make herself a light snack. She still had a long night in front of her, and her stomach wailed to have something, and her mind too needed some nibbles before it went on a steeplechase of ideas. She wondered if she had the forethought of putting an alarm and a blanket on herself before she went to sleep.

As she took her steps towards the kitchen, a whiff of aromatic spices met her. She hesitatingly moved forward and peeked inside to find a pot of simmering soup on the stove. She closed her eyes to let her senses take in the aroma of the fresh spices. 

She turned at the familiar warmth of a voice from behind and the gentle touch of a hand on her shoulders , “I see you have been over-toiling for the last couple of days, so I thought you would need a small break. Your favorite hot garlic broth is on the flames; and the table is all set up ma’am. I also picked up aloo chat and icecream from the store on my way back. Quite a combination to gel up with the soup, but I believe you would like it”. She bit her lips as they reflexively curled into a smile. 

He continued as he emptied the soup into bowls while popping some croutons into them, “By the way looks like Sonja is on a prowl again; that restless lady! I happened to look at your draft when I went to the study, did you get the defining moment you had penned down?”

She smiled brightly at the question while glancing at her wedding photograph on the refrigerator from the tip of her eye; her eyes a reflection of the excitement glaring in that photo, ‘Yeah. I did. Just a while back. That’s the most beautiful defining moment for any girl, you know!!’.