Chapter 1: Morning Calls
"Aye Sanka Devi!"
I groaned, stuffing my face in my pink pillow. Not again. This had become a daily routine for buaji, and honestly, today was the last straw. Every single one of my friends woke up to their alarm clocks. I woke up every day to my own, personal alarm - my buaji. Madhumati by name, but oddly, completely contradictory to its meaning of 'full of sweetness'.
Hey, don't get me wrong! I love my buaji - probably like all of you bunch do. But, you know that annoying way that elders have, of interrupting you JUST when you're in the middle of doing something worthwhile? Yeah, Buaji did that a lot. Oh well. As they say, beggers can't be choosers. And in this case, I'm definately the begger. Heck, I'm a whole 21 years, pretty tall, and perfectly capable of doing something useful with my life. Unfortunately, my family doesn't think so.
I think their vision of an ideal girl would be something like my elder sister, Payal. Jiji is wonderful - but really boring. Tbh, a lot of things about her are... well... too lifeless. She has boring jet black hair... wears the dullest coloured salwaar suits (Befor you say it, yes, she wears salwaar suits, even in 2013... I know what you mean!) and does the same routines every single boring minute of every single boring day. She's 23 but she dropped out from University to help out my Mom with the housework. I think, heart of hearts, my mom wanted me to do that too. But I told her clearly, from the first day of University that that was JUST not a possibility. My dream? To become a fashion designer one day. I've had the same dream since I was 9 years old and I didn't have the mental or emotional capacity to simply let it go. Today, that dream is about to come true. I just got hired at one of the most prestigious companies in not only Delhi, but the whole of India. AR & Co. I smiled, feeling excited at the prospect of actually designing clothes instead of just dreaming about them.
"Aye Sanka devi, Uthi ke naahi?! {Did you get up or not?}" There came the noise again. I rolled my eyes. "Aayi buaji! {Coming Buaji!}" And saying so, I bobbed off the bed and stumbled sleepily towards the bathroom. As I moved forward, the feeling of someone slowly dripping water onto my foot increased. I looked down, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. And the sight below me made me cringe.
"Ewww! Jalebiii..." I whined to my dog, not the famous Indian sweet. "Move your lazy butt and stop drooling over my foot!" I commanded, sticking up my index finger. I liked to believe that the German Shephard in front of me had some sort of X-ray vision. He always seemed to see right through me. And right now, he was giving me 'the look' as if to say, "You crazy kid, I ain't scared o' you!" I glared, wondering why I didn't have the strength to properly threaten any cute living thing. "Fine then, be that way." I mumbled, brushing him off sleepily as I wandered into the bathroom to do my daily routines (please, do I NEED to specify??)
Half an hour later, I was prepped up for my first day at AR and starved at the same time. I plopped down onto the table, rubbing my hands together in anticipation. "Yumm! What's for breakfast Buaji?!" I asked. Buaji's hands immediately flew to her hips. "Kabhi Hindi me batiya degi tho zabaan kat jaayegi ka? {Would it kill you to speak in Hindi for once)" I grinned. "Buaji, this is 2013, aur Khushi ek nayi zaamane ka ladki hai. Hindi is SO out.{Buaji, this is 2013 and Khushi is a girl of the modern world}" I said, fumbling with the grammer. "Btw, what's for breakfast?" I whined, famished. The elderly woman raised her eyebrows as she threw a paratha (or whatever those chapati thingys with the fillings in them are called. Ugh, I hate them). "Ye B-T-W ka hota hai sanka devi? {What is B-T-W Sanka Devi}". I know. Hard to believe right, that there's still a person in this world who doesn't know the full form of BTW? Yepp, that's my buaji for you! She's a one piece.
"By the way." I said as I munched difficultly through the paratha. God. Whoever invented these things probably hadn't bothered to taste it themselves. Yuck. I poured my favourite Maggi sauce onto it in an effort to mask the taste. It worked to a certain extent. But only after burning my tongue off from the spice. (Not literally, Obv.)
"Buaji, where's maa bauji?" I asked with my mouth stuffed with Paratha. Buaji's hand flew to her forehead. "Hai Sanka devi, agar tu aise khaayegi, to sasuraal jaake kya izzat rahegi teri? Pehle ee bata, kaun babua shaadi karega tujhse?! {If you eat like this, what kind of respect will you have at your inlaw's place? First tell me, who would be willing to marry you after seeing you eat like this?}" I frowned, offended and stuffed another piece into my mouth.
"Whoever I marry will love me for me Buaji. Dekhna, one day I will find my dream man... jo ameer bhi hogi, paisa bhi kamaaayegi, aur achi bhi dikhti hogi. {Someone who is rich... and goodlooking}".
Another glare was shot in my direction from the one and only. "Pehle hindi tho bolna seekhle pagaliya! It is not Hogi it is Hoga. Warna kissi firangi se shaadi na karani pade teri! {First learn to speak hindi properly, god forbid if we have to get you married off to a foreigner}." She stated. Buaji's face turned pale at the thought of me marrying someone who was not Indian.
"Jo hoga dekhi jaayega {We'll see to whatever happens}" I said, shrugging. "Par, where are amma bauji?!" I asked again. "And jiji." I added, remembering.
"Teri jiji bazaar gayyi hui hai, samaan laane, aur maa bauji doctor ke paas. Tere bauji ke pair ke liye check up hai aaj. {Your jiji has gone to the market, and your parents have gone to the doctor to get your father's leg condition examined}" I nodded, vaguely remembering bauji complaining of knee pain. And he was rarely one to complain.
It had taken a whole 45 minutes for me to finish eating. "Don't ever make these things again Buaji," I warned. "Agli baar khaonga nahi! {I won't eat it next time}". I slung my sexy white Chanel Coco bag over my shoulder, getting ready to walk out the door. "Ek minute ruk! {Wait a minute!}" Came the voice behind me. I groaned. What NOW? "Buaji, this is my first day at work! At least let me go today!" She glared at me before heading off to the kitchen. I tapped my foot impatienly. My eyes were as if glued to the clock. I wanted to make an impression on my boss. Who knows? Maybe he'd give me a promotion on the very first day? I grinned at that prospect. "Jaldi aayie na! [Hurry up!}" I called to her feeling extremely anxious.
At that very moment, the elderly woman waddled over to me, looking {might I say} much like a penguin. I bit my tongue in an effort to hide my smile. "Ee le Sanka devi," She said, thrusting a bowl in front of me. Yoghurt. I raised my eyebrows "What's this for?" I asked suspiciously. "Pehli baar kaam pe jaa rahi hai Kusi bitiya aur dahi khaane se shubh hota hai." She said, stuffing a spoonful into my mouth. I smiled. Wow. It was the first time she had actually called me by my name. Sometimes my buaji could really be a sweetheart. I gave her a light peck on the cheek, grabbed my cellphone and headed out the door, all while calling an excited "Bye buaji, bye Jalebi" behind me.
I sat on my pink scooter and mumbled an eager, "First day of work, here I come!" before I sped off into the distance.
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Chapter 2
Edited by -Sanjana- - 12 years ago
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