Yarns Of Imagination

The apartment was in the same condition as they had left it in on the morning of the 7 th of December. The lights were on. The ceramic dinner plates with dried and crusted layers of leftover food lay unwashed in the steel sink. The door to the balcony was open. Aneesh would have scolded her for leaving the door open, for not washing the dishes on time. He would have complained about how high the electricity bill was because Kaavya was not in the habit of turning the lights and music system off. It was almost second nature to think of what Aneesh was going to say at any step. Without him she was unsure of what to do next. Their office cum living area was in an untouched mess. The blue and gray cushions were scattered all over the place. The coffee table was placed aside to make space for the paraphernalia of their work equipment and tools. There were paper cut outs, yarns of different types of materials, sewing machines, crayons and sketch pens, magazines, power cords, scissors, gadget...

It was 2 AM in the morning. Ravi was almost dozing off but the dozen excited relatives who had come to see him off at the New Delhi airport were still highly energized. He was tired of bidding goodbye, convincing the aunties that he would not marry a white girl and checking his passport and documents umpteen number of times.  “You are fulfilling my dreams, beta.”, said his dad patting him on the back. Since childhood I have only dreamt of getting a master’s degree abroad and settling in the land of opportunity. But … .” “Dad, this is the twentieth time you have said that in the past one hour”, said Ravi, cutting him off, dreading hearing his excuses for not making it to America. As he proceeded to security check he was relieved to escape the farewell party which had been going on for weeks now and ended at the gates of the airport since the farewell bidders were not allowed beyond that; relieved to escape the helpers in the security area pestering him to let them carry his baggage ...