The Coastal Girl

 

 She woke up earlier than usual today, the sky was all bright

The cold was starting to disappear, and everything seemed alright

Finishing up the morning tasks she reached her office soon

And worked with unwavering attention till noon.

Life was so good to her, she considered herself lucky

She had a secure job, great colleagues, and nothing tricky.

Oh! she had an office crush too whom she would admire often

She craved for his attention, she longed for his glances

But she never gathered the courage to tell him what she felt

She believed it would look brazen.

 

She had some lunch, worked again and then returned,

It was the same story every day, nothing different

The same place, same people, same work,

Even weekends were all same, nothing exceptional

Watching a movie or web series was the new normal

The towering flats, malls and supermarkets which were once exciting

Now even they had started to get boring.

For she stayed in a PG with a couple of friends

In the urban city of Gurgaon, far away from where she belonged

 

Sometimes she would get a chance to witness the setting sun

On some random holiday, and that too after some struggle

Oh! Now even that view was rare and special,

It was a distinct sight every time, though she had seen it a million times.

The chirping of birds returning to their homes,

The rays of light slowly getting feeble,

The warmth of the sun losing intensity,

The earth slowly proceeding towards twilight,

Paving the way for the arrival of a dark night.

 

All these scenes drove her thoughts back to her home

Somewhere in a coastal town of Odisha

It is the same sunset there as well, but not the ambience

As the world where she had grown up was different, probably better than this

Far from the hustle of over-crowded metros

Far from the blanket of ubiquitous flats

Far from all that polluted air

And far from such extreme weather conditions

She remembered being at home, which was totally her own,

Sitting on the balcony or on the rooftop,

Or wandering aimlessly, with an unoccupied mind

With the breeze from the sea kissing her face giving a touch of coolness

She would sip a cup of hot tea enjoying the moment.

 

She used to get nostalgic while coming back to the present

But sometimes she carried on, reminiscing her childhood

How beautiful those days were, no worry or tension.

Her holidays were spent on the neighbouring temple

Or playing with her friends on the nearby ground

Or at the beach with the waves engulfing her feet

And she mocked herself, for all that is now gone.

 

But today is a usual one, no sunset sightings no recollections,

She returned from work, took some rest, and sat down again on the TV

Waiting for her roommates, munching something she found

But suddenly her phone rang, it was her mom.

She had the same old concern about her marriage

Repeating again her list of suitable proposals

Urging her to start thinking about settling down

As she thought it was already late.

But our girl brushed them aside with career excuses

The same old tactic that was now getting redundant

 

However, later she did give a thought about it for the first time,

She could not prolong those excuses for long

She realized that one day she must tie the knot,

She realized that one day she has to start a new family

She has to start a new world with someone new,

In a place hopefully different than this.

She made herself ready for what was to come

She was anxious but deep down she also felt happy

As she went to pick her phone up to tell this to her mom,

Oh! How satisfied she would be to finally get her consent,

But then the doorbell rang, her roommate arrived,

And she got lost in her company, the same evening conversations

She kept that work for some other day, maybe for the next call,

And she lived in the present, as she does every day.

Gossiped with her roommates, had some dinner, and went to sleep

She has to get ready again for office tomorrow, the exact same way.