Priyanka Bonamis

It's another crowded train morning. The world flashes by in a blur of
green and gray, slowing down and speeding up with the steady rhythmic
beat of the train. She stood by the open door, the wind in her hair,
her colourful dupatta billowing out behind her. 'Just another shit
day,' she thought to herself thinking about the last couple of hours.
It began, as usual, at 4 am. Her much needed precious few hours of
sleep were interruped by the sound of the baby crying. Her husband who
lay asleep beside her, nudged her asking, 'Will you get that, jaan?'
Of course she would get that. Who else would, Ani, her husband? Oh no!
Heaven forbid he ever woke up to console the crying baby! What would
his mother say? She got out of bed, crossed the room and walked
towards the baby. It was times like this she hated herself for
finishing that third bottle of wine 14 months ago. Looking down at the
unconsolable girl crying in her cot, she softly said to her, 'Next
time i'm just going to leave you there to cry yourself out.' But she
knew that wasn't true. There was no way she could let her angel cry
like that. It broke a piece of her heart everytime she saw those big
eyes fill up. She picked up the child, putting her over her shoulder,
patting her back to sleep. Finally comforted by the presence of her
mother, the little tot fell asleep, thumb securely corked in her
mouth. And that's how it began, her day. What followed was the usual
morning madness. Breakfast for her husband, the in-laws, feeding the
baby, preparation and packing of lunch, one for herself, one for Ani,
a 3 minute shower, ironing Ani's clothes for work, her own too.
Kissing the baby good-bye and the mad rush to the station in the
crowd. Now she stood by the door-way with her few cherished moments of
alone time. Just her, her thoughts, her dreams, her memories and about
a hundred other women packed into a tiny space. 'How did my life get
like this?' she thought to herself. It was going to be one of those
days at the office again. Her ambitions for herself as a big shot
corporate bitch were replaced by feeding schedules, Ani, her in-laws
and a mundane routine that was repeated everyday without change or
variation. As she silently began to mentally list out the day's work
to be done at the office, the train pulled into CST. Waiting for it to
come to a complete halt, she stepped off, disappearing into the crowd,
just another soul in the sea around her.