Waakiye

Category: storytime

  • A close call and a disruption in my routine…!

    A close call and a disruption in my routine…!

    What do you wish you could do more every day?

    Hey…

    I hope all of you are doing well…!

    This day has blessed me with sunlight and warmth;

    And it’s currently 8:03 as I’m writing this one….

    I just came back from a bird hospital that exists nearby;

    Guess what we rescued…!

    A little baby pigeon

    One of the street dogs, who’s timid and almost a year old was carrying it in its mouth like it won a prize;

    After showing the street dog a treat;

    Greed overcame and dropped it from the mouth and ran for it in the other direction;

    After grabbing the pigeon with my hands I brought it into my home,

    Grabbed my sister and took it to the bird hospital that is situated on the east park road, Karol Bagh, New Delhi…

    After getting an initial assessment and being made aware of its weakened state;

    The lack of hydration and food turned out to be the culprit…!

    After dropping it off and driving back home it’s almost 9 and most of my morning walk time was almost over…!

    🥲🥲🥲

    Coming back to the prompt

    Something I wish I could do more everyday…!

    I think you already know the answer but I’d like to add a few things;

    —

    Like having more hours each day;

    But something like that wouldn’t be possible and it would be a chaos on its own and its repercussions on all other things that happen during the day…;

    I wish I could be of more help to those who are in need,

    Not animals per se,

    But,

    Helping other fellow humans who are in need and aren’t fortunate enough….!

    I wish to tend to this garden that is on my terrace with my own hand which I do on my days off,

    But on the regular,

    I water them on the alternate days only…!

    At the end,

    I’d like to be closer to my own self and have enough time to write and pen things which help me in the long run by giving me perspective on life and all of its avenues…!

    In Crux I’d like to be a but more selfless,

    And focus outward that gives me more things to think and do…!

    What about you…?

    What is it that you want to do more of each day…?

    Cheers 🥂

    Love Waakiye 🤍

    Another rescue that was dropped by another kind human waiting for its turn…!

    I love people who help those who cannot speak and tell about their pains and suffering through words…!

    May those people live long and happy lives…!

    😇🥹

  • Being Someone’s Courage and Confidence…

    Being Someone’s Courage and Confidence…

    Who is the most confident person you know?

    Hey…

    I hope all of you are doing well…!

    This day started at 6:43 for me as I forgot to put my tab, laptop, phones and power banks on charging and I spent doing my morning routine of freshening up while putting all of my devices on charge and then I decided to follow my routine of morning walks…!

    It’s currently 7:16 in the morning and I’m blessed to have woken up to live another day…!

    I really want to tell you all something…;

    After talking about how I cope with my negetive feelings in yesterday’s prompt,

    I began to be considerate towards the things I mentioned in it with care and much attention,

    Like how much they saved my life instead of thinking they were just a part of this life..!

    And,

    I genuinely felt happy after a long time,

    Thinking about how grateful I was for this life…!

    I say that because a few people,

    Genuine people who are a great part of my life told me that I seem happy and I should keep on doing what I did…

    And to my astonishment I don’t know what it was until I started to think about this as I’m writing…!

    A sense of security came with that thought and how i acknowledged the things which helped me get through my sad times…!

    Coming back to the prompt

    Most confident person I know…

    I think all of us are confident enough at some aspect of our life—

    Imagine thinking about

    A Small Business Owner or

    A Music Producer or

    A CEO of a large MNC

    Or

    A Singer,

    Or a Writer

    (Just like you and me…)

    All of them are in a position that requires a high level of confidence and certainty in their skill…

    Do you think any of this would’ve been possible without taking risks and trusting ourselves with our initial abilities and skills—

    on top of that having confidence to start everything of which we once possessed a figment of…!?

    And now that all of us are in a position above others,

    I look back at my past and think,

    What was it that started all of this…?

    Was it the love for the language,?

    Or

    Was it a need to talk to someone when there was none…?

    Or

    Was it a blessing that I earned from my teachers back in high school for being attentive enough in my English classes…!

    Only fate knows what it has planned ahead for it all…

    But,

    If you look at it from a third person’s point of view,

    Imagine someone who thinks you have a good prowess of the language English;

    And for them,

    You are a big source of confidence and they might take a good skill from you if they are around you…!

    Even if it’s not your first, second—

    maybe the third language…!

    But the fact that you can talk and write in a language that they lack at;

    They might look at you like you are the epitome of confidence and someone they aspire to be like…!

    And,

    If we are in your shoes,

    Maybe you work in corporate world,

    And

    There is a boss that you look upto,

    Who you want to be like;

    You like how they carry themselves,

    When they talk it feels like a free flow of information that is easy to grab…!

    And when they speak to you in a quiet setting it feels like a personal win,

    Even shadowing someone like that feels you are gaining some momentum from them which makes you feel that you can reach their level someday…!

    And if you get into that bosses shoes,

    They might have someone they look upto for something that gives them a chance to grow even more…

    Now,

    Consider yourself in that child’s shoes,

    That employee’s shoes or that boss’s shoes…!

    When looked up from their pov,

    There is something that we have to learn from each of them;

    It’s the matter of perspective when it comes to confidence and a confident person…!

    A crook might look upto the underboss to learn skills and his confidence to execute someone or do things that are illegal with such ease that it might feel unbelievable…!

    No matter where you look,

    There’s something to learn and someone to look upto,

    Someone to be like,

    Someone’s confidence becomes a bar that one wants to cross…!

    Unknown to the fact that there might be someone looking up to them and want to be like…!

    Isn’t it…?

    Cheers 🥂

    Love Waakiye 🤍

  • The Quiet Ways We Disappear Each Day…

    The Quiet Ways We Disappear Each Day…

    What activities do you lose yourself in?

    Hey…

    I hope all of you are doing well…!

    Well this day started a bit early as I was up at 7 and writing down a dream that I had about someone passing away and the things that happen as soon as we discover it and we call those who are around us and try to begin things according to our traditions…!

    It took me 40 minutes to recollect all of the information and write;

    And after penning it all down I got up to go for my morning walk but then my mom came into my room and I told her all the dream and people involved in it…!

    And she told me something like that happening in real life and how she saw living proofs of it may time and then the conversation drifted off to a different topic—

    Here I am,

    Writing this all at 8:21 in the morning and the sunlight is blessing us all…!

    Well it’s a common occurrence for me now as I have been penning all of my dream(which I remember…)

    As soon as I wake up I grab my phone,

    And not scroll anything,

    I just open my notes or journal app and pen what I remember in a fast and quick manner and I skip all of the mistakes—

    Which I correct later when I am proofreading or I have to upload it somewhere…!

    —

    I will try my level best to give you a proof this evening about a dream that I had somewhere along this life…!

    Coming back to the prompt…

    Activities I lose myself in…

    I know these times are very difficult;

    Once we keep in our perspective attention span of people and how it has deteriorated compared to previous years—

    —

    When we look at people walking by and they are looking into those screens;

    We get into a painful realisation,

    That the childhood that we spent once playing,

    Getting hurt,

    Crying,

    Learning to get up yet again and doing it all over—-

    Those times are over and everything happens over calls or video calls now;

    Or—

    You didn’t remember carrying your power bank and the battery in your phone died that’s why you are looking at things around you now…! 😂

    But;

    A painful realisation comes in,

    The devices have controlled us more than we imagine;

    They came in these big boxes, those bulky monitors and that cpu unit we once had—

    But these days the phones and laptops have turned each and every thing into a something that you can carry everywhere and do everything on the go…!

    Well,

    For me it’s the same and a bit different simultaneously;

    You know you read all of the above 12 maybe 13 lines because I love to lose myself within these words…!

    As I begin to think and write about something by dwelling into a world that exists within mind;

    And simultaneously trying to explore the readers mind and coming up with some things that might be common with both of ours….!

    Another one would be work,

    Because I’ve developed love for it over the years,

    And the day feels unfulfilling until a major chunk of work isn’t completed;

    Well not all days are the same and some days I return home with this unaccomplished feeling that’s hard to shake off—

    And when that happens,

    There’s nothing more worse than that;

    Until I go next day and come back home with a sense of accomplishment…!

    Other than those two I love to listen to music and lose myself within that moment…

    And love would be an understatement because if it were possible I’d keep an headphone in my ears all the time and not worry about my hearing at all…!

    Well this one couldn’t have come at a bad time because I do have my earphones in…!

    Well,

    It takes me to a world that exists beyond this one as I listen to a wide range going from classical to new school;

    Folk to rap,

    From Fairuz to Nusrat Fateh Ali khan to Sidhu Moosewala(LLSMW 🕊️)…

    It takes me to a world beyond this one and makes me exposes me to their pov and their mindset…!

    And if you are still here reading this after-all,

    I cannot tell you how we lose ourselves in the arms of our loved ones…

    There is nothing that is more soothing than being in the arms of someone who loves you for who you are and time flies away so—

    Oh so fast…!

    And how the time passed so soon as I’m writing this one—-

    It’s now 9:06 and I have to go…😅😂

    Cheers 🥂

    Love Waakiye 🤍

    (Final editing time 9:16)

  • A deeper look into LPG shortage in India and rewatching old classics…

    A deeper look into LPG shortage in India and rewatching old classics…

    What movies or TV series have you watched more than 5 times?

    Hey 👋

    I hope all of you are doing well…!

    A cool breezy morning it is and it’s 7:33 in the morning here;

    And I’m back on my routine of morning walk as I’m writing this one…!

    Something I’d like to bring to your attention that’s happening here in Delhi…!

    We the residents of Delhi are going through an LPG(liquified petroleum gas) shortage;

    There are lines near the agencies,

    Increased rates of the LPG cylinders,

    On top of that the rates have been increased by a factor of 60 rupees in the matter of a month;

    And the duration of rebooking period has increased from 21 days to 25 days now…!

    I know it might feel like it doesn’t affect you but it does affect people around you and as an informed citizen you should be aware of what is going on around the world,

    And what are its consequences that we all are facing…!

    We all were already stretching it to 21 days and now the new rule tells us to extend it by 4 more days again…?

    A task that seems impossible without having an induction plate or chipping in money to buy one in black…!

    You know what,

    If we had pipeline gas at our residence I would be unaware of this fact;

    But,

    I don’t so you have an insight into this…!

    The main reason for increasing this time limit and the shortage is to trap the banquets and restaurants owners who illegally buy domestic LPG cylinder cans that are cheaper than the regulated commercial ones by a factor of 1000 rupees…!

    This crackdown is on agencies and their illegal tie ups with places of business and the illegal way they were obtaining these cylinders on fake name and address proofs;

    Diverting an essential commodity away from its specific use i.e. us common people…!

    1700 worded LPG rant later we are here 😅😂

    Coming back to the prompt..

    Movie or TV series I have watched more than five times…!

    It would come to you as a shock but I don’t watch much of TV or movies;

    But,

    I’m into trying new things—

    I do watch videos YouTube a whole lot like an old uncle in your family…!

    😂🫩

    As I had mentioned in the prompt a few days before,

    I am watching The nanny.

    A 1993 tv series which is so hilarious as I accidentally came across it while doomscrolling reels…!

    But there isn’t anything that I watched five times;

    Not even a movie…!

    Because I do remember bits and pieces of it enough to remember it from my memory…!

    And it just stops being funny or worthy of spending my time on…!

    That’s how it is for me,

    And it can be very different for you I know…!

    There is some anime that I like to watch when I am free and secluded from the world,

    And when a new season comes in I do watch the old one to keep the flow going;

    Because, a new season can either be months or years apart and if that happens,

    Things slip from the cracks;

    So I rewatch the season quickly to jog my memory and keep up with the things that spill from the previous season to the next one…!

    Well I hope you do find something new each time you watch,

    And I hope you watch it from a different perspective each time making it a new experience for you…!

    Cheers 🥂

    Love Waakiye 🤍

  • Being Superstitious and Binge watching TV series…!

    Being Superstitious and Binge watching TV series…!

    Are you superstitious?

    Hey…

    I hope all of you are doing well…!

    Slept well past my normal hours today for the first time in a while…!

    I remember going to sleep at 2:30 in the morning just because I wanted to watch a few more episodes of the TV series The Nanny from the year 1993…!

    And after watching a few episodes half asleep I think I will be watching them again to remember what I watched in the last hour…!

    With binge watching comes some munching so I had a bag of puffcorns that I went through almost until it was two in the morning…!

    Waking up at 8:30 and with a massive head pain and pain in my right leg;

    I decided not to go on my morning walk,

    But instead I will go on a night walk later after returning home from work….!

    Coming back to the prompt

    Our superstitious nature…!

    Are you even human if you don’t have a tad bit of superstition in things around you…?

    Well,

    A bit superstition makes us be aware of things that happen around us;

    Imagine travelling on an empty road that doesn’t seem empty to you;

    That’s your superstition talking to you and telling you to avoid walking on the road;

    The same also kicks in when a black cat passes the path that you wanted to take,

    And you change your path thinking it brings you bad luck…!

    But let me tell you something,

    That black cat is probably scared of something or running to get some food…!

    Another one would be sneezing before going someplace…!

    Like as soon as someone is leaving from home or leaving to do something important,

    And someone sneezes;

    They tell them to wait a few minutes and leave home a bit later—

    That is because if there is some mishap that was supposed to happen sometime in the future, it can be avoided as that wait kicked a change in the timeline…!

    I don’t know much about that…!

    Well,

    A bit of this superstition makes us who we are;

    We do things in advance or delay them as much as possible as possible,

    Sometime we take a detour,

    Sometime we avoid going to a place altogether that day and decide it can be delayed another day;

    And when that happens—

    It brings out our superstitious self and let it take over us…!

    Well,

    Maybe for good,

    Our good luck and wellbeing of those around us….

    Don’t we…?

    Cheers 🥂

    Love Waakiye 🤍

  • Offerings to Time on A Steel Plate…!

    Offerings to Time on A Steel Plate…!

    Write a letter to your 100-year-old self.

    Hey…

    I hope all of you are doing well…!

    Running a bit behind my schedule as it’s almost 8;

    Technically 7:59 as I am writing this…

    I had to wake up early as there is a puja 🙏🏻 (A prayer)

    That we do each year on the Tuesday that comes after Holi festival;

    Preferably the next week of Holi;

    But I’ll confirm this and come back to update it after making this post after asking the adults that are still in our home…!

    (Update here-> )

    Well the context is that we pray to a goddess named,

    Sheetala (शीतला माता)

    An incarnation of goddess Durga,

    Who protects us,

    Well technically all of her worshippers from infectious diseases like pox and its forms…

    For which every year we make food before the midnight strikes and eat that food throughout the day making it a day old and the same is offered to goddess Sheetala…!

    We wake up before sunrise and in a plate we keep what we made,

    The plate after we did the prayer and asked for all of our well being…!

    The same are mentioned in the image 👇

    Puri filled with potato(A veggie version of your standard empanada…)

    Gulgulay( literally donut holes but without a consistent shape as they are hand dropped into hot oil…)

    Sweet roti( A standard Indian flatbread that is sweet…)

    And wrapped in the newspaper is turmeric and chana daal( split Bengal gram…)

    And Bengal gram you see in the plate were used as an offering to the goddess; a handful of which were left overnight to soak in water…!

    And a crisp 20 rupees note that you see which we will put in the temple donation box…!

    The brown coloured doughnut holes in the right corner which are on top of the veggie empanada and on the left is the flatbread and in the newspaper are the turmeric and split Bengal gram…!

    Walking right into our prompt

    A letter to my 100 year old self…!

    Remember all of these traditions that we carry;

    And have been carrying for generations that have moreover been morphed according to accessibility…!

    These traditions make us who we are,

    Without them we are just nameless,

    Clueless being whose days are just stringed together without any change,

    You work,

    Come home to sleep and then repeat…!

    Make an effort to talk to your friends,

    Try to do something with them every once in a while and keep them in your good books and be in good books with them…!

    I hope we found a life partner that tolerates us and the deep thinking and over analysis that we do…!

    I’ll be spending more time noting down things that I like and both of us love to do—

    I know that’s what we both want,

    Also I know there would have been times when it would be great to keep our phones in our pocket after noting the bullets that we write and continue them later…!

    Because if you’re not present with those who are around you,

    You didn’t live your life…!

    I know we still have a habit of taking morning walks maybe on the rooftop of our house or maybe with a pet that we have,

    Because I know we have a pet at home…!

    I hope we do occasionally go on night outs on the weekends and drink tea stopping at random thela(a tea stand);

    And we have conversation about life and it’s happening with people that we love and travel with…!

    Something very important,

    I hope our kids and their lives are taken care of and not left hanging in the middle just like ours—

    And I hope—

    I sincerely hope you remember the infinite sacrifices that our parents went through and you do remember dad’s laughter and our mom’s smile including both the sad and happy moments that we spent both in our old and new home…!

    And,

    If you’re alive at the time of reading this one,

    (Which I really hope you are…)

    Look around you and tell me if the people those who surround you—

    Are they really happy for you to be there or they’re there just to mooch off of you…?

    Also,

    I hope we are still writing,

    It might not be much because with age comes a lot of forgetfulness,

    and some of our posts might sound repeated to the readers …!

    But continuing something for almost three fourth of our lifetime would classify as some sort of special event…!

    Well,

    I hope the entire world is cheering for us,

    As we make another post—

    And even if they aren’t;

    I know each one of them is special to us;

    Both of us…!

    Cheers 🥂

    Love Waakiye 🤍

  • The Empty Space Between Our First and Last Names…

    The Empty Space Between Our First and Last Names…

    What is your middle name? Does it carry any special meaning/significance?

    Hey…

    I hope all of you are doing well…!

    Well yesterday ended on a weird note—

    Last night as I wrote some sketches on things that I wanted to describe;

    One was “what epitome of evil looks like”;

    Another one was how on a mother’s passing she meets her newborn that wasn’t able to survive…!

    .

    The latter one brought me to tears because it was all too emotional for me to feel and write;

    To be in someone’s shoes that I wasn’t made for and trying to give you all a witness into the thought…!

    The other one sent chills down my spine as I wrote that in a completely empty room and I felt like I wasn’t alone anymore…!

    Well they will be polished and uploaded some time in the near future here;

    But,

    For the time being there is a prompt that is unanswered by me which needs my attention—

    Middle name and it’s significance

    Well I’d call them blessed those who carry their legacy with them, which was granted to them by their forefathers;

    Oftentimes it can be something that a person considers to be an issue because it extends their name and there are other beurocratic problems that comes with it…!

    Well it hasn’t been my problem because I don’t have one;

    But my father had one;

    An it was “Kumar”

    The problematic aspect

    There were some problems with our 10th class marksheet where my sister had his first and last name but didn’t have the middle name which became an issue as we went to make passports because they rely on the marksheet and the details didn’t match which becomes an issue;

    A big one as no one was willing to budge…

    So we had to change it on Aadhar card which matches the marksheet which in turn now matches the passport that she holds…!

    Whew 😥…

    The process took a couple of months,

    Not taking money and time spent on it into the account…!

    The legacy;

    The name was chosen by my grandfather for his son which made him special from their other kids;

    Maybe there was some special attention that he was given;

    Or they expected him to be the one who will carry their name ahead…!

    Oh the hopes and dream that we have from those who come from us…!

    And a want that we have deep down in our hearts that they carry out our dreams too…!

    The middle name kumar doesn’t have any set uniqueness because it’s quite common in northern India;

    It’s also used to mention someone who is unmarried or underage;

    The female counterpart of which would be Kumari…

    Well that’s it for the day…!

    It’s a Sunday today and spend it wisely,

    Complete all of your chores early on so you can spend your evening as you wish…!

    Go sit in the sun for a while if you can and eat some tangerines if possible…!

    Don’t forget to hydrate…!💧💧

    Cheers 🥂

    Love Waakiye 🤍

  • Lessons from a Morning Walk in a Restless World…!

    What is the last thing you learned?

    Hey…

    .

    I hope all of you are doing well…!

    .

    A pleasant good morning to everyone…!

    .

    As per my routine I’m on my morning walk and it’s 7:45 in the morning…!

    Something happened last night and I can’t put my finger on what it was but I was up at 6 and spent a good half hour on catching up on some news, the geopolitical situation around us,

    And it’s safe to assume it’s not looking good for any of us as there is a lot of tension and stresses that we are going through global and personal too…!

    …

    A thought roams in my mind that isn’t this war or war like situation a coverup for not releasing the 3pstein files which physically incriminates a lot;

    I Mean A whole Lot of our top officials and those in power and their cannibalistic behaviour or their predatory tendencies that harvest our young ones..!

    ..

    There is a lot that’s going currently and it’s also supported by something fake that is built up by Ai;

    So a plea from me to you is,

    Kindly check any sources that you refer to and if you’re forwarding a video that someone sent you,

    Confirm it’s genuineness from them and if it’s not credible enough;

    Don’t share it ahead and advise them the same…!

    ..

    Anything can be morphed and changed to your liking or what you want it to be;

    So beware before sharing anything that seems even a tad bit sketchy to you…!

    Coming back to the prompt

    Last thing that I learnt

    This life that we all have been blessed within it are things that we learn all along…

    In my personal life, I learnt that there are some quirks that I have and some people have told me how they feel threatened by it…!

    When I am talking to someone I look into their eyes and many have told me that it feels like I am threatening them or trying to extract some information that exists within them just by making them feel scared…!

    .

    To which my reply always is,

    You don’t have anything to hide do you…?

    .

    And on hearing a objection worthy and a questionable “No, I don’t. ?!” as a response from them I draw my conclusions and continue to hear them;

    Because I’ve already got my answer from them…!

    In my business life,

    I learn something new each day because when you have employees who don’t care about the machines and infrastructure;

    There are new problems you run into everyday;

    And you have to tackle them in a new way each day—

    On top of that having a habit of noting each thing down in my notes app and the way we do things so it’s easy to see it later and jog our memory is something that I haven’t seen anywhere yet…!

    In my professional life

    This is something that might be very common with you all;

    There are lot of people who are just on this face of earth to make your life miserable…!

    They push work onto you that aren’t yours to begin with and then they take credit for it too;

    ..

    So it might be easier to just tell them no beforehand and give them the reason that you have in your mind of their wrongdoing and it would be better to make it public so that other people don’t fall in their trap again as you did…!

    ..

    You will save may lives going down that miserable path,

    Only if you have proofs for the fact that they are mooching your work and calling it your own; only then can you call them out otherwise it’s you all alone in that fight…!

    Other than that there are things that we learn each day by bettering ourselves each day…!

    Being true to your own self and taking action where things aren’t matching your ideology and what you planned when you started all of this…!

    It might be a hard path ahead but,

    Changing yourself today means that you can be better tomorrow and that tomorrow never comes until you make an effort today…!

    Life’s full circle in the above line…!

    So,

    What are you waiting for,

    Go do a thing that sparks that change and makes you better…!

    Cheers 🥂

    Love Waakiye 🤍

  • The Discipline of Quiet Growth

    The Discipline of Quiet Growth

    How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success?

    Hey…

    I hope all of you are doing well…!

    It’s a beautiful day today as I am out for my morning walk and it’s 7:44 am in the morning as I’m writing this…!

    The weather is shifting from cool to a little bit of prickly heat as the sun rises Infront of me

    have a look…!

    The dot in the middle is sunlight reflected off my camera lens don’t worry…!😉

    Occasional breeze cuts through the heat as I walk on my terrace as per my usual routine…!

    Let me be clear—

    It’s not like I do any of this to gain any traction or satisfy myself with likes or clicks…!

    But it’s more about keeping at it and honeing the already existing talent and system that I’ve built myself around;

    An outcome of which can be something that I can use for my benefit later on in my life—

    But,

    For now it’s only keeping myself in the shadows and continue to work to better myself each day…!

    Well I cannot say coming back to the prompt now as we have already backed into a territory that I failed at earlier…

    (Khair…)

    Repeated failures that set all of us for success…!

    You must have heard that there is a stronger chance of succeeding once a person tries to better themselves each day…!

    I can give you two answers how this has turned out to be true for me and how it has changed me as a person both from inside and outside too…!

    First

    If you haven’t been connected with me long enough it would be new for you but,

    I came from a commerce background and I was pushed into an engineering field due to reasons that we shall discuss some other day—

    In which I failed daily,

    Because learning while working in that field was tiring,

    The change in the environment, the loss that we had to take on parts and equipments—

    Let’s now walk into the fact how many injuries were there—

    Often I fought with myself to call it quits but I didn’t loose hope and trusted the process more than myself and now things happen automatically;

    Like my mind on its own dwells into any problem that is thrown my way and starts to look for solutions each time a problem arrives at my workplace…!

    Something that was a dream that I had,

    first few months into this job;

    Well I wouldn’t call it a job because it’s our family business…!

    Second

    All of this writing,

    It didn’t happen just because I had a knack for it,

    Well something changed within the last few years of my high school and I decided on my own that I will write and initially there were a lot of problems,

    A lot of things came at me at a single time and with the fact that my dream was taken from me I had a lot of things on my mind to a point that I thought about ending it all…!

    Funny times now that I look back at them…!

    But,

    Amongst all of this I found comfort within these words as they were with me when I was all alone and had no one to talk to…!

    And these words were the only thing that pulled me out of my misery and if it weren’t for them—

    You,

    This whole world wouldn’t have Waakiye writing daily for you all;

    My dear readers…!

    So,

    Anyone and everyone that likes to read what I write,

    Even those who scan past it;

    You have become a part of my success story and you will remain within my books as long as I live and breathe on this G0d’s green earth…!

    And even last night,

    when the world felt heavy,

    I found myself writing again.

    Questioning. Wrestling. Trying to understand what cannot be explained.

    And this was the outcome of it…

    To a G0d who cannot save their wards…!

    Discipline is not just repetition in comfort. It is consistency through confusion.

    Cheers 🥂

    Love Waakiye 🤍

  • Holi celebrations and first few lines from my autobiography…!

    Holi celebrations and first few lines from my autobiography…!

    You’re writing your autobiography. What’s your opening sentence?

    Hey…

    I hope all of you are doing well…!

    I’d like to start this by wishing all of you a very happy holi…!

    A festival of gulal(powdered color) and water is upon us which can hit you in the form of shower, a stream or even wrapped tightly in a balloon…!

    Also, a tradition of burning a mound of wood neatly wrapped in dupatta(a traditional scarf like cloth women wear here in India…);

    Also around it is placed dried cow dung cakes which on asking around I came to know is to cancel any bad omen on kids of the house…! (I was told this by a few people including older women who continued this tradition up until this point of time…)

    They also burn in it a stem of plant which also has some buds let me look for their picture…

    This is the mound that I’m talking about;

    The stem that is burned in it is either a stem or two from castor plant or it’s a stem of silk cotton plant…!

    Which were being sold for 50 maybe 60 bucks a pair I think…;

    It’s kept in the family almirah which usually holds the money in the Indian household for some time and during holika it’s taken out and burned to bring auspiciousness…

    (I don’t know how I forgot to take the picture of it🥲)

    The wood used to make the support structure is any old wood available at home as you can see in the image a wooden palate is broken and placed along it…!

    At night or later in the evening this mound is burned and the cycle of the season is counted;

    Oncoming of spring and ending of winter and triumph of victory over evils in this nature that surround us…!

    You can also see Diya’s placed at the bottom and flower maala(garland) and dots made using atta(wheat flour) these are the niche traditions that people follow that have been a part of their lives…!

    Coming back to the prompt

    Opening sentence of my autobiography

    First of all an autobiography would be a great thing that I would take upon myself;

    But only after I would have done something worth writing in it;

    These days all of it is struggles and maybe in old age I will write something like a biography that revolves around my life…!

    It would go something like this—

    “He came up with so much stuff from within these four walls that it’s astounding;

    You can imagine someone feel trapped within these walls,

    But for waakiye,(my real name) it was the only thing that they could ask for;

    Some solace and these four walls in which they found the world that this world enjoys…!”

    A little garden that we maintain…!

    A little warning to all those who are celebrating Holi…!

    Apart from the risks that are associated like losing your balance if a water filled balloon is aimed at you or a squirt of gulal mixed water goes into your eyes;

    It’s better not to travel today and if you absolutely have to;

    Be on the constant lookout on the rooftops as children will do this to you..!

    And they’ll say the same old thing—

    “Bura naa mano holi hai…”

    Translations

    “Don’t take it in the bad way, it’s the festival of Holi…”

    Many men will be on the streets ready to grope women, in the veil of this festival…!

    And,

    In a figure of warning, please don’t step out of the house as it can lead to a traumatic experience and kill the festive spirit altogether…!

    You can spend it with family and friends within closed doors…!

    Let me be very clear,

    This is not something I can force on you;

    But,

    I can tell you to be a little more careful about it…!

    Also,

    When you’re on crossroads or a four way you will see some things in the middle of the street like a lock or powder sprayed or a Diya right in the middle of the four way…!

    It’s better to avoid it as it is done to transfer some bad omens from the person who did it or the person who crosses it…!

    It might feel like it’s far fetched but that’s what we were told and have followed to avoid crossroads…!

    And,

    At last,

    Don’t

    And I mean—

    Don’t eat anything that any person gives you along the way, if you’re travelling somewhere today…!

    Cheers 🥂

    Love Waakiye 🤍