Waakiye

Category: storytime

  • Societal problems and a conversation on Indian flatbreads…

    Societal problems and a conversation on Indian flatbreads…

    Name an attraction or town close to home that you still haven’t got around to visiting

    Hey…

    I hope all of you are doing well…!

    A Saturday it is and my eyes opened at 7:26 yet again I don’t know what is going on but my eyes seem to open again earlier than my schedule now twice in a row;

    But it’s good for me as I now have more time to do what I want and need to get things done sooner than before…!

    This Saturday morning came to me with some surprises and some questions;

    A friend of my sister, practicing law, was teased by a senior lawyer under whom she’s working, she told all of this to my sister and she hasn’t picked up any call from her past 2 days;

    I have told(my sister) to pay her a visit and if she’s not comfortable she can visit our home and talk all about it to her, and discuss the matter in depth to her…!

    If men could keep it in our pants, this world would be a much better place…!

    —

    Another one is a problem regarding my nephew;

    He is showing the behavior of someone who is acting really scared all the time and calls their parents on little things at school…!

    His behavior has drastically changed and has caused all of us move in panic and look for solutions all along…!

    We advised to let the school’s counsellor take a look and guide them to take a proper course of action;

    And she told us to look for a therapist(we don’t call it a psychologist because that makes us look coo-coo, an inherent trait that some of us Indians carry…)

    The therapist came to a conclusion that he saw something like a scary movie even after he was told not to and advised to go play with children in the other room;

    He himself sat there and it alternated something in him causing him to be paranoid about that later in a few days…!

    Right now he’s recovering as a few sessions take place and he will be coming to stay with us on Sunday if possible…!

    I’ll let you guys know how it goes…!

    Coming back to the prompt

    An attraction or a town close to home I haven’t visited…!

    There’s a place called MURTHAL , I’m pretty sure all of you have heard it before;

    And it’s ridiculously famous for its paranthas(flatbread with filing in it), served with white butter and creamy lassi…!

    People traveling between Delhi and chandigarh often make a pit stop there to have the said delicacy…!

    The only thing is paranthas are available everywhere, in Delhi which has a street called (परांठे वाली गली) paranthe wali gali…

    An entire street is dedicated to them as there are shops both on the left and right which sell paranthas with the same white butter, lassi and subzi(vegetable curry) too…!

    Is it worth the hype, I’ll let all of you know if I am fortunate enough to go there or pay a visit to the place myself in an update…!

    For the time being, we will have what we have at home and call it a day…😭😂

    Cheers 🥂

    Love Waakiye

  • Lohri celebrations and ways to communicate…!

    Lohri celebrations and ways to communicate…!

    In what ways do you communicate online?

    Hey…

    I hope all of you are doing well…!

    Yes, a Lohri update is due and I plan on doing that here itself because a lot of it was extended late until 12 am and I usually go to sleep by 11 or 11:30 pm at night…!

    It was a usual work day and I returned home around 9 pm after making a pit stop to buy milk and some other daily household supplies…!

    As soon as I reached home I assembled the bowl in which we put all of the stuff to offer it to the flame that we light earlier…

    These were the main Ingredients that we bought I know there are a lot of varieties and somewhere within the mix are hidden poha(flattened rice) and til(sesame seeds)…

    We bought all of these things above; if I were to explain rewdi it would be a crisp brittle candy made out of sugar or jaggery coated with sesame seeds…!

    After putting it in the bowl we started to prepare the actual bonfire…!

    We took a deep dish in which people mix cement, and turned it into a hack of a bonfire because the place around is surrounded by marble and a few years back it actually broke the bonfire as it got heated up real quick and cooled down as the temperature reached 5 degrees celsius the next morning…

    The base of it is made using a cloth in which was wrapped camphor and we used matches to light it and thankfully the wood that we had were dry as a bone they lit up real quick…!

    A few additional participants this Lohri…!

    Our dog a beagle he was an active participant chewing on the peanuts and popcorn, he really liked rewdi and went to each one is us to have one…!

    A pic when the initial wood caught on fire…!

    And when the wood caught on fire we took seven rounds around it while we put sesame seeds in it;

    We took a handful of it and walked around the fire while putting it in the fire bit by bit until the rounds completed…!

    And as soon as the seven rounds were over we took both handful of the rewdi, popcorn and peanuts and ate some of it and put the rest gradually in the fire…!

    After that we sat around the fire by putting chairs and took the warmth all within us as we snacked on the tri-mix until we were joined by our neighbour and they sat with us and we talked for hours upon hours about life and happening…!

    Yes the litter around is of the tri mix and the flames were roaring more than usual…!
    One of our dogs a beagle who enjoyed the warmth and snacks from the hands that fed him…!
    Another one of our dogs, a street dog that we rescued and took in; looking up at us with those eyes in a hope that they will grant her with some peanuts…!
    I don’t think you can see it but we did put in a few potatoes wrapped in foil; Do let me know if you can find all five of them…!

    Coming back to the prompt

    Which I almost forgot about…!

    In what ways do I communicate online…?

    Well, communication should happen that’s what matters to me we can talk over text, maybe direct message, WhatsApp, telegram, Instagram chat and so much more more…!

    Any way that feels comfortable to the other person is suitable for me;

    I used to chat on discord with people who formed a group after an app that I was regular on shut down…!

    I prefer to discuss all of it on call because of my business nature, but there are some things that happen over text and I respect the other person’s boundaries too…!

    (Because I’ve been on both the sides…!)

    A meaningful conversation happens any-way when we begin to talk;

    The only problem is that I cannot have a conversation to kill time or pass it just because I’m bored or they’re bored…!

    Maybe that is something that I’d have to look for improving in myself,

    But other than that,

    I’m almost all times open to converse even on topics that spark fear…!

    (**An edit before uploading aren’t we having a conversation here too…?)

    What was left after the night…!

    Cheers 🥂

    Love Waakiye 🤍

  • A festival that we will celebrate this evening and a memorable trip…!

    A festival that we will celebrate this evening and a memorable trip…!

    Think back on your most memorable road trip.

    Hey…

    I hope all of you are doing well…!

    It’s a Tuesday and the second day of hard-work is upon all of us;

    I’m happy for today because on top of being a Tuesday we are going to celebrate a festival called Lohri today;

    What is Lohri if you might ask…?

    It’s a panjabi festival celebrated to make the end of winter, in a sense as the days start to get longer(I mean the daylight);

    It also marks a new year for all of us, and we honor the staple crops like wheat (which is a basic necessity in all of the Indian households) which is sown at the year end and gratitude is expressed to Mother Nature for letting us plant and in return expect a good yield…!

    What happens during the actual festival is that we purchase peanuts, popcorns, rewdi, laddu(s), gud patti, and many more things the day before or the same day;

    (Well most people don’t purchase it on the same day as the footfall is too much and a lot of time is wasted…)

    And we light a bonfire(well not with butane or any fluids that can help us catch fire easily; but with Kapoor(camphor), because it’s a cultural event that happens…!

    We use dried up woods that we can buy or take out of our stock and arrange them in the form of a pyramid and using matches we start the fire and only use camphor to bring it to full flame…!

    And when that happens we gradually take turns around the fire, usually 7 times while we put the peanuts, popcorns and rewdi in the fire as an offering to the fire G0d and asking for their blessings in our life by keeping us energetic and away from foes all around the year…!

    A lot of chatter happened on the festival today;

    Well, I’m going to make an upload later this evening capturing all that happens during the festival…!

    Coming back to the prompt

    Most memorable road trip

    It was the year 2021,

    And a friend of mine planned a trip up north in the mountains somewhere;

    At the end it was me, my sister, my best friend, my best friend’s friend and one of my cousins;

    We had such a blast there, it was because all of us were naive and it was one of the first road trips that we did;

    We went to Ambala and got a car(with a driver) that drove us to Narkanda, a place that was the most beautiful and that was one of our first trips together and the first time I saw snowfall…!

    It was memorable so much so that we invented a drink which we continue to drink the whole trip and still remember to this day…!

    We took green apple rum, because that is what we found affordable at that time and we took Mountain Dew;

    And we downed drinks after drinks until the bottles were empty, and we also had a bonfire there which gave us warmth from the outside too…!

    A trip that still lives in the back of our minds every time we remember it…!

    I’ll see you again this evening with upload of the festival…!

    To good times

    Cheers 🥂

    Love Waakiye 🤍

  • Theatrical representation of Lihaaf….

    Theatrical representation of Lihaaf….

    After not being able to get to the venue twice, I finally got a chance to witness the theatrical performance of a story that I heard oh so many times through audiobooks-

    A play that was presented by Tamasha on stage group…!

    I couldn’t leave work early but I had to get my phone repaired from CP(Connaught place, Delhiites will understand…);

    For those who don’t know it’s a business hub within Delhi, and it’s wrapped around by roads that lead to various places;

    Another way to see it would be that all of the places lead here…🙈

    After getting my phone repaired which I thought would take longer, it didn’t because they didn’t have the part…(Yes it was Oneplus and I left as my time to reach there was coming near…)

    So I drove to the venue guided by Siri,

    I reached the place within a few minutes and parked my scooty and got the receipt for that…

    It was a calm find because I reached approximately 10 minutes after it was supposed to start, but it didn’t;

    So I checked in, got my seat confirmed and sat in the first row;

    Yes I got the frontmost seat and it was easy to find because I booked it months back when none of the seats were even booked…!

    I was a bit preoccupied with one of the other short stories that I was writing and glancing over some other work looking for errors as usual…!

    Until it began….

    Honest to G0d,

    I have seen a few plays but this was by far one of the best theatrical demonstrations of a piece of text that I’ve ever seen;

    The director, Chand Khan she did such an amazing job guiding all of the actors who shined like stars and played their roles beautifully…!

    —

    —

    The play Lihaaf which revolves around an aristocratic woman Begum jaan, who is lonely because she gets neglected by her husband Nawab, who is interested in men/boys…

    She finds solace in the arms of a masseuse Rabbu, that supposedly comes in her life to alleviate her body pain, and the massage leads to another thing until they’re in a bed together…;

    Looked at by others in a shameful way,

    Until the narrator, Begum’s niece sees what was happening, scaring her to her core, an all hell breaks loose when the she is abused by begum during the absense of Rabbu…

    The story doesn’t explicitly confirms the relationship between rabbu and begum or nawab and any other man…!

    An open ending story that gives us the reigns to steer the conclusion according to what we see fit…!

    And until the very end all of it seems like a never ending script either twists and turns;

    Forcing us to keenly listen and hear and draw our conclusions to the end…!

    I’ll attach some images that I captured which really won’t do any justice; but all we can do is try until we become the best at it…!

    Acting here begum jaan in red and rabbu her masseuse in black
    Other two maid(both of did a very good job will tag their names once I have them)
    Nawab and begum jaan
    Another angle of nawab and begum jaan
    Begum jaan and in red an impersonation of her feelings…!
    The director Chand Khan, in black
    Ending scene
    Final scene in monochrome
  • A stranger guiding your life…!

    A stranger guiding your life…!

    Come up with a crazy business idea.

    Hey…!

    It’s a Sunday,

    Let that realisation set in…!

    Yup, the fun is over and it’s the day that you procrastinate that having just the weekend is not enough , we need at-least three days as a weekend,

    No, I don’t mean having 4 working days,

    I mean there should be 8 days in a week, I know it’s a crazy idea but, imagine you logged of at work and went to a pub or planned to hang out with your friends, meeting them over drinks,

    And if you’re sober A better option would be going with them to explore a new restaurant or visiting an art gallery with them…

    You do that on a Friday evening and do all the chores on a Saturday; if you’re not hammered enough (then you can do that on a Sunday…)

    And now, instead of crying that you weren’t able to do anything; you have a whole another day, to do what you actually wanted to do…!

    As I’m typing this, it seems like an outrageous idea for daily workers and those working in hospitality or behind counters because an additional day that they have to work would for sure break their backs…!

    So, for now this seems like an impossible idea but not for long…!

    Coming back to the prompt

    A crazy business idea here

    You know how people are dependent on technology, like you’re reading this on a device, maybe a pc, laptop, tablet or even your phone…!

    And you’re hooked on it for hours upon hours, and no one can get you off it, maybe your parents have already dozed off but you aren’t able to so you get up, leaving your phone and stare at the night sky,

    And there aren’t any stars even the moon like you used to see when you were a little kid, maybe the level of pollution is too high and you don’t have anyone to talk about how you’re feeling…!

    So you call us on our number where a person who will discreetly come within a few minutes, and take you to out for tea or coffee no matter what the time is and they will drive you too…!

    Have tea with you and hear all of your problems and try to find optimum solutions;

    It would not be a subscription based because not all the time you need this sort of support, but that system would be available for long term users…!

    I hope I have cleared most of the people who were here to copy the idea or used ChatGPT to generate their ideas…!

    Additional filter

    It would be complex and crazy at the same time, a person or a guide would take you back in time to your childhood or some time before(this is a critical piece of information…)

    And you’d see the life of your parents before you were born, and how they lived their lives,

    And for an extra charge they’d let you explore your hereditary path, letting you trace your origin back to maybe a 3 or 4 generations(nothing more than that…)

    Anything more than that and it becomes an anomaly that all of the scientists who are looking for a single being that started all of our origin…

    And they are there to give you an experience that you could never ever achieve because after a lot of consideration this idea comes to you that you need to be aware of your lineage…!

    I know it’s a crazy idea for now, but we are not far from the time by that ai explodes exponentially and lets us form technology that can help us achieve this dream in our near future…!

    Well that’s it for a Sunday morning because it’s 7:30 in the morning for me and I started to think about writing this at 6 in the morning…!

    Cheers 🥂

    Love Waakiye 🤍

  • A billboard promoting mental health…!

    A billboard promoting mental health…!

    If you had a freeway billboard, what would it say?

    Hey…!

    I hope all of you are doing well …!

    There’s something that I want to try,

    I don’t know what time zone all of you are in but, my last post which I made by sheer accident late at night got many likes and views,

    So I’m trying something that makes absolutely no sense right now, but nothing hurts if it gives the content that I write a boost…!

    Well,

    When it will be uploaded,

    Most of my day would be already over,

    And I’d be home probably trying to have dinner or already in my bed that I cleaned this morning trying to sleep…!

    Coming back to the prompt,

    A freeway billboard(first time I’m hearing this because there are no such things here in India…)

    But I guess it would be either promoting my business or this writing work that I do;

    I know there are many billboards that also play videos;

    Maybe I could make an advert to promote safe driving by making an ad that tells to not drink and drive;

    Or,

    Another one would be to be on a proper sleep before driving because that causes a lot of accidents ;

    It wouldn’t truly be mine without having something in writing that separates my content from others;

    So it would be catchy;

    Like-

    One of my Instagram posts

    Like this one (⬇️)

    And this would be in an auto shuffle if it’s a working billboard or it would be collapsed into a single one when it is needed…!

    I know it wouldn’t be an immediate hit,

    But it would linger enough to make people search it,

    Maybe click on the link and watch the whole post…!

    That’s exactly how I feel…!

    With that being said it would be a great thing to see and look at,

    And I’d click my photo standing under it too,

    And it’s going to make people around me proud too…!

    A whole billboard belonging to me,

    I’d call it a dream come true…!

    Until next time…!

    Cheers 🥂

    Love Waakiye 🤍

  • A dream that didn’t come true…!

    A dream that didn’t come true…!

    What colleges have you attended?

    Hey…

    I hope all of you are doing well…!

    Whew, the weekend is upon us finally and I hope all of you are now ready to finally let loose because what a week it was,

    I remember celebrating new year then going back to work in the morning 😭😔;

    But not today;

    All of the work can be done on Monday and all the enjoyment happens today and some tomorrow(I.e. a Sunday)

    Coming back to the prompt,

    What colleges have I attended;

    I’m letting you know this once,

    I actually missed all of the college life because of some financial issues that we coincidentally got when I was supposed to be a part of the college and pursue my dreams;

    It was back in 2017 and I was supposed to take admission in the college of my choice;

    But it was outright refused by my father as he laid the facts in-front of me, it was very shocking and devastatingly cruel thing that happened to me, because entirety of my dream came to a collapse;

    So I had to pursue another course from an open university,(Du SOL)

    All of the material was available to pick from their office and I spent my whole three years going back and forth once to the place and the rest of the time I spent my time preparing from home;

    Later I was pushed into joining the family business which wasn’t a part of my curriculum at all and that led to technically destroying whatever I learnt from the place because I started the work from the grime and learnt as I went upwards;

    Well that sad story is supposed to be told another day;

    I wish all of you readers a very happy new year and I hope your dreams come true this year;

    Try to reflect on life sometimes, see how your child or your partner or even a stranger would react once they come to know your actions and story from someone else…!

    Would they be happy or sad or outright refuse to play your part;

    This becomes a very powerful reminder to amend or change your ways…!

    Cheers 🥂

    Love Waakiye 🤍

  • A person who sees through you…

    A person who sees through you…

    Are you a good judge of character?

    Hey…

    I hope all of you are doing well…

    I try to think of this as I am still learning how to be a good judge of how humans respond…

    Because if you want to know someone’s character you need to know a bit about them beforehand or have a basic knowledge of how people respond to cues and to other people around them…

    Imagine a scenario where you’re on a date with someone and you clearly see them giving a hard time to the waiter by butting in every time and berating them when they aren’t aware of something which they need to confirm with the chef and then they make fun of the person because of the low paying scale of the job that they are doing,

    This probably means they haven’t worked hard for their money or will treat you the same once everything shiny fades away…

    Another one would be how they talk to the elders like their parents, grandparents or someone older who passes them;

    But,

    Here in no way I mean you should tolerate whatever they say, you need to have your own opinion and views along with the guidance that they provide because they have a longer experience of the world that you and I live in and it wouldn’t hurt to just hear them out,

    Later you can form your own opinion in regard to their or maybe choose the path that is different from what they guided you to,

    Ultimately it’s your call…!

    Lastly, this is something that I was taught by my late father, imagine you give someone some money and they promise you they will return it to you within a span and they return it partially or a small amount and they try to avoid you after that,

    Not taking your calls or even thinking about returning your money,

    Now,

    The said amount became a life lesson for you and taught you the character of that person too…;

    It can be a cheap lesson or an expensive one too but you now already know who not to talk to or associate with anymore…

    With that being said,

    A new week is upon us and let’s find something that brings us happiness along with the work that we do maybe it’s coffee of the new place or a dish that you want to have…;

    Cheers 🥂

    Love Waakiye 🤍

  • Instances that bring me joy

    Instances that bring me joy

    When are you most happy?

    Hey…

    I hope all of you are doing well…

    Have you ever wondered if you’re like truly happy…?

    Like doesn’t it feel like all of it is an illusion created for you to endure more…?

    With that being said, there aren’t many things that give me happiness that can be everlasting, but there are numerous temporary fixes that help me along the way…

    One of those would be spending time with loved ones and friends away from all the devices maybe a retreat or all of us sitting around a bonfire and discussing our lives maybe sipping on something to cut the cold outside(iykwim)…

    Another would be spending time travelling to places, many people would believe that the destination is the actual goal but travelling to the destination is another thing that gives me happiness, it is very vibrant seeing the world pass in-front of your eyes and it gives me(a writer) many thoughts and ideas as I’m viewing them…

    And many of the stories that I write origin from the daily happening in life that passes from the corner of my eyes as I’m driving to and from work or when I make a pit stop somewhere to buy essentials…

    And,

    How can we ever forget the arms of our beloved…

    The whole world exists within them and even if we see each other after a few days and sometimes once a week; the love that we have for each other is undying, and when I’m in her arms, the world feels like it’s gone silent and all of chaos subsides(a cheap attempt at describing how it feels 🥲)

    Another one would be getting to know about the childhood of old people and how they grew up, there’s a lot of nostalgia and happiness with occasional tears that remind them of the time that now is long gone but never forgotten…

    How can I ever forget music and it’s vast immense, the only thing that I need is music((tbh that’s more like my phone headphones earphones Bluetooth speaker And some other equipment)) and I’m good for life…

    Some of the things that bring me immense happiness..

    The weekend is coming to an end and a new week is almost upon us 😩,

    Rather seeing it as another week that has to be endured let’s do some things that bring us happiness…

    Maybe a new start for the year 2026 that’s just a few days away now..?

    Cheers 🥂

    Love Waakiye 🤍

  • A deep sleep and an eye catching play…

    A deep sleep and an eye catching play…

    What was the last thing you did for play or fun?

    Hey…

    I hope all of you are doing well…

    The weekend is upon us and I hope 🤞 you’re free from all the stresses until Sunday afternoon because that’s when reality hits for the most of us…😔😭

    The last thing I did for fun was wake up full rested a few years back when I was travelling with my family, I was actually so tired because during the whole trip I was the only one who was awake idk why am I like this but everyone was asleep but as soon as I reached a place known to me I hit the bed around 8pm at night and woke up at 10 am the next day…😳

    It was 14 hours of me just sleeping that’s it, there was nothing that woke me up and no one that disturbed me and after I woke up I remember drinking a pitcher full of water;

    A whole 2 liter in a single sitting, it felt like I was in the desert for the past hours and my throat was dry and I was hungry so I just drank my fill and woke up well rested…

    ONLY THAT DAY AND NEVER AGAIN…

    It was a day and a half of travel and I was awake through the night too…

    I remember my family telling me that my eyes were bloodshot like there was literal blood running in them, I had indents of my wired earphone on my face and my phone was at 2 percent…

    I wish to get that sleep once again…

    Well that was a funny back story isn’t it…?

    BUT FOR FUN;

    I usually watch plays,

    The last one was Khichik,

    Where I saw a couple and their parting after finding out that they were involved with other after falling in love with each other and them meeting yet again and completing their final years with each other until the main characters passed away one after another…

    A beautiful play written by Shiv Subramanyam called snapshots from an album from the book Irani cafe and other plays..

    It was the first time I saw Girija Oak Godbole and Ghanshyam lalsa on screen and it was one of the best performances I’ve witnessed;

    The director Divya Jagdale did a great job by making the cast work in such a fluid manner that it was breathtaking;

    And a proof that I did, I’m attaching the photo of the performance I witnessed…

    (Haha to prove my point…)

    Happy weekend to those who are celebrating and remember to drink plenty of water of you plan to binge drink or anything and remember buying recovery shots if you step out fill your groceries…

    Cheers 🥂

    Love Waakiye 🤍

    In the picture Our national crush Girija Oak Godbole on the right and Ghanshyam Lalsa on the left(a few minutes before the play ends)
    A keepsake I bought after the play ended the actual book that the play was taken from…!