‘Oh God’, Vanaja took a look at the time and gasped. The time was 6 a.m., and she had to at least wake by five in order to get her housework done on time. The alarm went off on time but her body was too tired to wake up, due to a slight fever and backache she had for two days. But she knew these excuses won't help with her duties.

Without further ado, she got on her feet and touched the floor and prayed for blessings from Mother Earth, and rushed to bathe. After her morning routine, she got in front of the mirror and placed a Sindoor on her forehead, and headed to the kitchen.

As soon as she entered she realized that the cooking gas had been exhausted for the last two days. She was fed up waiting for the gas agency to get her a new cylinder, and she lost hope for her husband to get it done. Sighing she took some wood and started lit up the kitchen fireplace. The rain was not on her side since the moisture on the wood hesitated to burn the wood, but with a few more efforts she finally got it lit.

At first, she made tea for her husband and brother-in-law. She gave one cup to her mother-in-law to give to her brother-in-law and took the other cup and walked to her bedroom. She came near her husband who was still asleep, tapped on his shoulder, and said “Sathyetta, your tea is here”.

Woke up from his sleep, she received the cup from her and then slowly pulled her to his side and made her sit next to him. He then began to flirt with his wife. She playfully mocked his silly approach and with the pending work in her mind, she got up and headed back to the kitchen.

She had a lot on her plate. She had to prepare breakfast, the construction of their home is ongoing next to them so she had to prepare tea and lunch for a few of the workers, she needs to get the tiffin done for her son, for school, and a plethora of other activities.

Getting her son Appu, ready for school is itself a task. She has to at least call her son several times before he wakes up and has to make him do all his morning activities. Appu is in grade 4 and adores childishness very much. Her mother-in-law used to say that she is the one who pampers her husband and her son.

Her husband Sathya works abroad in a Gulf country and he loves her very much but she lacks support from him when it comes to working at home. She is the one who has to even tutor her son after his school. She then tried to erase her thoughts and forget the tiredness of her body.

She then focussed on finishing her work one after the other. She had finished her work before Appu’s school van arrives, at 9 o’clock. She almost completed her work by then just when she heard the van honking. She quickly packed Appu’s bag and held his hand and rushed to the van. After boarding her son, she walked back to the house thinking about her forenoon work. She picked up the laundry and walked to a nearby river.

On her way, she met Sumithra, her childhood friend and now neighbor. So they had a very strong bond with her. After a brief chat, she went back to her home and Vanaja continued with her walk to the river. She had to finish her laundry after which she had to visit her father who is bedridden for about a year due to paralysis.

After she had done the laundry she came back to the house, got dressed, and took her Activa scooter to her parent's house. After reaching the place, she went to the kitchen to prepare porridge and boiled water, for her father. With the water she went to the room her father was resting, she saw him lying with his eyes wide open. She sat on the edge of the bed and began to massage his head with medicinal oil and gave him a towel bath with boiled water. She changed his clothes and dressed him up in clean ones. She then took his soiled clothes for washing, after which she came back and took the porridge to his room.

She spooned the porridge into his mouth and after finishing wiped and cleaned his mouth. She then poured the wastewater into the toilet and flushed it down. Now she had to prepare the dinner, which she went ahead and began.

She then said leave-taking to her father and headed back to her husband's house. As soon as she reached there her son had just gotten down the school van. She took him home and gave him food to eat.

She then stood there, beside the table, watching her son eat, and began indulging in her thoughts ten years old, her wedding day. It all seemed that it was yesterday. Today is their 10th wedding anniversary. This year too will pass without any celebration or at the very least, any recognition. Often at times, she used to fantasize about her husband gifting her something on this day. But she knew that it is something that might never happen. She then bottled up her thoughts and wishes and went back to the kitchen to begin her never-ending work.

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