Contradictions

 

They plant trees

But no one sits in its shade

They smile a lot

But it’s all a charade

 

They say they love

But it seems so fake

They make relationships

But time is too hard to forsake.

 

They say a lot

But do they believe?

They say they will try

But then, why do they deceive?

She Never Gave Up

I passed her house every day on my way to the bus stop. She sat in the veranda, always knitting something or the other. Occasionally, she would look up and smile at the people passing by. Sometimes I saw her walking around and climbing the two tiny steps into her home.

I never understood why it took her more than a second to climb those steps. I would walk from the Banyan tree which was almost a 50 feet away from her house, I would stroll ahead of the veranda towards my stop, and stand there looking at her but she would have climbed only one by then. Looking at her I knew that I never wanted to be a frail 80-year old.

I would sit on the bus and stare at her empty life. What was her story? Where was everyone who once lived in that house? Was she always that alone? Was she a robust woman in her youth? Several questions wandered in my head every day when I saw her, yet I never had the courage to go to her and ask.

One day, as I was crossing the same path, she smiled at me and gestured like she wanted to talk. I was scared, but the curious girl in me wanted to go as well.

"You are early today. The bus will come after twenty minutes, honey."

"Yes, aunty. I forgot my watch at home. Guess I will wait."

"You can keep your school bag on the chair and wait here if you want."

"Umm. Ok. Can I help you with something?"

"Oh, aren't you sweet. I am absolutely fine, honey."

"What are you knitting?"

"It is a scarf for my grand-daughter. She is getting married next week. They will all come tomorrow from the U.S. and the festivities will begin."

"That's good to hear. Can I see the scarf?"

When I saw that scarf, I got to know everything I needed to know about the lady. On one corner of this beautiful masterpiece were these words which said much more than she could tell. It said - She never gave up.

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Fat Chance

Being bullied was not new to her. Being called names was not new to her. But being dumped - this was a first.

‘Fatso’, ‘Moti, ‘Bhains’, ‘TunTun’ -  Triya had lived with a lot of names all through her childhood. She was accused of stealing food from tiffins. Sometimes the accusations were baseless, but a few times, she was actually hungry beyond words. The compulsive disorder to hog all the time made her thick skinned. As long as she was able to munch on to something, she ignored all the rude remarks and accusations.

She was even the funny one. Friends were easy to come by because she entertained everyone so much. As school finished and college started, she didn’t realise that it was time to do something about the weight.

Rahul found her witty and smart. They hit it off at her best friend’s 18^th birthday party. From then on, they did everything together – eating out, watching movies, going shopping, the works. She was beginning to fall for him.

But Rahul had other plans. Aparently she was not his type. Triya began to realise that she will have to look better in order to do something for her love life. She resolved she would participate in the ‘Biggest Loser Jeetega’ campaign in the near-by gym and show the world how gorgeous she was.

With little motivation, she began the program. She worked hard for a couple of weeks but then gave up. Meanwhile she met Ajay in the gym. Like Rahul, he was charmed by her personality and humour. They started seeing each other and love began to blossom.

Ajay won the ‘Biggest Loser’ campaign by the end of the year. Triya was exactly where she started. And on the night of 25^th December, Ajay dumperd her saying that he couldn’t go out with someone who had no self esteem and motivation.

That was it. Triya looked at herself in the mirror and thought she had no reason to live. Losing weight was not easy for her. She had tried, but it wasn’t her cup of tea. She thought she had no chance of finding love in this life. She decided to hang herself on New Year’s eve.

She got up in the morning of that fateful day with no purpose in life. She had given up her hopes and desires. She sat on the couch with her last bucket of ice-cream and switched on the TV.

The anchor was interviewing a group of obese women who were planning to make New Year resolutions. One of them particularly caught Triya’s attention. The lady was with her husband and was much more over-weight than her. She said, ‘The best thing about the New Year is that we have the ability to start fresh and turn it all around. This is an extremely fat chance, and I am willing to take it.’

There was something in those words that made Triya throw the tub of ice-cream and postpone her suicide plans till the next New Year's eve. She opted to take that Fat Chance and well, the rest is history.

Image source: here