A Monday

                 It is very difficult for a person who is so fond of going office every day without fail, to stay at home on a day which is neither weekend nor a holiday and when he’s not feeling ill either. The world looks so calm and serene to him that he can’t believe how much he missed the life while he was busy all the day in his office..

                 It was a Monday. The previous day, though for the entire world, was not a holiday for Rattan. As the vacations for Diwali got over, he was back to the work, but only for two days, after which he fell sick. Coming home in the middle of his work on Sunday, he took a good rest and finally recovered. The Monday morning was difficult for him as he woke up late and had not decided whether to go office. Being absent without any reason was going to be disastrous for him, as he barely knew what to do for the whole day except his routine office work. It was 9’o clock already and there were little chances of reaching on time now. The years of work and hardship had given him a lot of leave balance and he had not used it much. Though, he was at home for Diwali, a vacation of 3 days was barely sufficient for him. So he decided to stay back and explore his own vicinity where he was staying for past five years.

                 Rattan was used to the office breakfast which had limited choices. Today, he decided to make something on his own. He tried to recollect any recipe that he might know. The list was small, so he browsed through it in his mind. Working as a computer engineer had made him expert in quick mental calculations. It took no time for him to realize that he can’t really make anything worth eating for breakfast. So he just opened his bag and started searching for something to eat. Accidently he found a packet of homemade ‘sevaiya’ that his mom had given him a few days ago when he was home for Diwali. Something rolled in his mind and he decided to prepare kheer for breakfast.

                  He ran towards the nearest dairy but unfortunately it was closed. He decided to try searching in the village that was behind his building. Rattan jumped over the compound wall and entered the tiny village which was somehow stuck in the buildings of this rising city. A man was sitting there with his buffalo. Next to him was a kettle full of milk. Rattan’s eyes shined with a glow. He asked the milkman to fetch him as much milk as it was needed to make kheer. The milkman dipped his bowl into the kettle and took out a liter of milk. Surprisingly, Rattan had not brought anything with him to carry the milk. So he brought the entire kettle from the milkman, paying the price for the kettle too!

                  When Rattan returned home after this adventure, it was well past 11’o clock. The breakfast time was long gone but he still decided to try his recipe. He put some ghee in a vessel, turned the stove on and threw a handful of sevaiya in it. Since the quantity of it was not too much, he emptied the whole packet in it. Then he poured as much milk as possible in the vessel. He didn't forget to add sugar and all the dry-fruits which were not taken out of fridge for several weeks. He started mixing it all with a smile on his face.

                   Jawed woke up and came out hearing the unfamiliar voice of Rattan singing a song.

“What’s up bro!”

“Hey bro, good morning!”

“Good morning ‘eh.. what you doing?”

“Nothing .. just making some breakfast”

“Wow.. looks like we’ve got a chef at home”

“Haha.. yeah”

“Hey wait shouldn’t you be at work by this time?”

“Nope. It’s a week off”

“It was yesterday, man… it’s Monday now!”

“Yeah.. still, it’s a day off”

                  Rattan finished making the kheer and started pouring it all in a big bowl. Jawed was going to insert his finger in the bowl to be the first one to taste it.

“Stop. What you doing?”

“Tasting it..”

“No. not here”

“Then where?”

“You know what I saw today morning….”

                   Both of them came out with the big bowl of kheer in their hand. They started walking towards the village behind their colony. It was Jawed’s first time there and Rattan was guiding him into the tiny streets of it. This morning, when Rattan was out to seek milk in his vicinity, he had seen a world which was so close to him, yet so far from him. There were children roaming around there, with a piece of biscuit in their hand which was a gift for them from some stranger. There were no clothes on them but still the broken toy in their hand was the dearest possession they were holding. On the day of Diwali, they must have looked at the children in the tall buildings of the vicinity enjoying with the crackers full of colors and amazing sounds. But here, their day might have gone without a meal. Rattan saw all this with his eyes and was shocked to see that a world outside his office was indeed in existence. This world, in fact held more challenges than his office!

                    Today, he had decided to make kheer, not only for him, but also for all those tiny angels of his locality who might have missed the fun on this Diwali. He, with Jawed reached the village where the kids were playing. As all of them smelled the aroma of something beautiful in the hands of their dada, whom they had met a few hours ago, they came running towards him. Jawed gave them all spoons but didn't forget to keep one for him. Everyone enjoyed the experimental recipe of Rattan. The children were feeding him sitting on his lap. It was a wonderful afternoon indeed!

                     After returning home with the empty bowl, Rattan smiled and promised himself to do this often. Jawed too was happy as never before. A week-day at home was well worth it!