It’s 5 am and a week day, and the cooker in Anita’s kitchen is whistling away to its heart’s glory. The alarm she sets to wake up her amigos- the husband and the 9-year-old mini her, has been unabashedly snoozed repeatedly by the senior sleepy head, while Anita is on her toes performing the everyday circus in the kitchen with great proficiency. As usual, the slumber of the father-daughter duo outdoes the alarm, but Anita is not worried yet since the clock still looks friendly and in her control.
Now its 5.45 am, and the puris, the curry, the bread, and the eggs all have found their respective places on Anita’s kitchen counter, waiting eagerly to be put into their favourite lunch containers. She looks at the clock and wonders how it could take such a big leap in the blink of an eye- from 5 am to 5:45 am, how fast?
She rushes to beckon the sleeping beauties to wake up. Seeing them still tossing and turning on the bed, Anita’s voice, which started on a mellifluous note, begins to turn sharper, while her facial expression transitions from the Zen mode to ninja mode. The husband senses the changing weather in the room and promptly gets up from the bed. The child- still in her dreamy world.
It’s 6 am and the lovely aroma of Anita’s beloved Darjeeling tea gently lures the husband. He registers attendance in the living room. The couple steals some blissful moments to enjoy their tea until its time again for the morning storm to rage. Up and about, now it’s his turn to wake up the little princess while the clock mocks as it strikes 6.10.
The morning light invites itself through the bedroom window and now the child’s eyes are half open, half dreamy. A few tantrums, a mini-battle later, the kid’s tooth and toothbrush finally greet each other, while Anita’s voice now hysterical, pierces sharply through the morning calm all the way from the kitchen to state that only 40 mins to get ready.
The next 20 minutes, the man freshens up, greets the gods with his prayers, cuts the fruits, packs the lunches and plates the breakfast. The daughter sleepily comes to the table, and they sit down and have breakfast.
It’s time for the husband to leave for work. A hurried good bye to him and she rushes back in to check on the daughter who is moving at a snail’s pace while only 10 mins are left for the bus to arrive.
Time gallops- so does Anita’s stress. The snail shows some pace finally, and as she wears her ID card and picks up her bag and lunch, the school bus bellows. The lift swiftly takes them down to the ground floor, and the child finally boards the bus. Anita heaves a sigh of relief.
She goes back upstairs, dumps herself on the sofa and breathes. The storm has settled, the house is all quiet now, save for some tiny birds chirping merrily in the balcony. The woman makes herself another cup of tea, tunes in to some soulful classical music and immerses herself in the morning calm.
The calm that comes after the chaos,
The chaos that she lovingly owns and embraces, every single day.
-Devjani Majumdar
