It was 4 pm and Rama had to rush to pick up her son from the bus stop. Rama a former banking professional and a career woman now above all is a dedicated mother who dots on her kids. When Rama’s Father was alive he always used to motivate Rama to follow her passion and fly high in her career. Rama an independent woman had always dreamt of making it big.
A rewarding career and a hefty pay package was what she had always dreamt of. Never ever had she imagined that she would be away from her first love her career and would get solace running after her two kids.
Time played its part well and Rama decided to stay indoor to raise her kids. Rama had always prioritized her family above all post her nuptials and when it became difficult to reconcile both work and home she decided to quit one for the other.
Her husband Satish also insisted she take a break as he couldn’t see her being in stress every time. Initially Rama used to feel low as she had left her job in which she had toiled and invested a good 8 years of her life. But being a Taurean she preferred to be firm on her decision as she felt the need of the hour was to give her full time and energy in shaping up the growing up years of her two kids.
This is the time of the day Rama loves the most. Getting ready to go down and pick up her son from the Society stop. As this is when she gets to meet her society friends who too come to pick up their kids and together they spend a good amount of time gossiping and chitchatting.
Rama otherwise a homebody gets to know the entire community news from her friends. Starting from various recipes to diet control plans and skin care treatments everything finds a place in their chat list. Initially she was hesitant to open up but gradually she started enjoying their company.
However today Rama is super excited. As after a gap of almost one month she is going to meet her friends. Being vacation time most of her friends had travelled to their native and now that schools have reopened all are back with full enthusiasm as it marks the start of their kids’ academic year. Happiness coupled with anxiety appears in a mixed bag on Rama’s face.
Happiness first as she just can’t wait to see the radiant smile on her son’s face and anxiety as to whether the diet she was following has yielded any result, whether compromising on sweets and chocolates was worth for and if yes then her friends are going to notice her efforts or not.
Taking her infant in a stroller and phone, door keys aptly placed in the back pocket of her faded jeans she hurriedly pressed the lift button. She just can’t wait to go down as after giving much thought she was able to finalize on that petite black floral top she used to wear prior to her pregnancy. Will she or won’t she ……………….as she takes the top in her hands after a long time.
The smell of the naphthalene balls reminds her of the day when she was six months carrying and not a single dress of hers was fitting in. For the first two trimesters she was gaining a Kg a month but in the last trimester there was rapid weight gain. When her baby was due she was 10 kg on the plus side and she knew within that it’s going to be difficult for her to come back to shape as she doubted her metabolism.
But thanks to Dr.Joshi her dietician and her strong will power she was able to focus and lose a lot in the last two months .Her happiness knew no bounds as she went to Dr.Joshi’s clinic last week to check her weight and finally was all smiles after seeing the scale pointer stop at 59, her pre pregnancy weight. `I have done it’ she said getting a pat at the back from Dr.Joshi as well. Finally putting her inhibitions aside, she tried the black top and it fit her completely.
As she brings the smile to her face thinking its ground floor in the third floor she is joined by Lata bai. Lata Bai the one who used to do the household chores at Rama’s place gives a smile to Rama’s ten month old son while Rama stares with utter surprise. Lata to better describe was a ‘Phone Jockey’ always addicted to her phone.
God knows where from she used to get the calls one after another. She hardly paid any heed to Rama’s repeated request to talk slowly and once to make matters worse Rama caught her talking endlessly on her mobile hardly paying any attention to the Roti which by then had turned into a baked pappad. That was enough to show her the doors. Finally meeting her today and getting a return smile was what Rama had least expected.
These three seconds seemed like three hours for Rama who was eagerly waiting for the elevator to open in the ground floor. She hurriedly rushed to the sitting arena where she found her friends waiting for their little ones. Rama was super excited to meet her friends and a warm hello followed by a tight hug with a radiant return smile was enough to boost up Rama’s spirit.
Here comes Adi’s mom wearing a cute pink dress short enough to show her perfect body curves. Wow!! Beautiful came out from rishi’s mom followed by Rahul and Nishant’s. Rama thought that it was going to be her turn next, so she kept on smiling anticipating a complement at any point. But to her utter surprise the show stealer was Nidhi, Adi’s mom who by then had started explaining her dietary charts and hair texture to Rama’s friends. Rama didn’t know what to say, confused in her own thoughts she couldn’t utter a single word.
How was she not complemented for her looks? How could her black floral top go unnoticed? Heads used to turn when she used to wear it with her beige cargo pant to her office. Even Satish used to notice it who otherwise is mostly hooked on to the laptop completing his office assignments. So what’s wrong today? She had been constantly trying to lose weight.
For first six months of her pregnancy her only concern was to feed her new born properly but now that her younger one is already ten months old, she has been making some dietary changes followed by yoga to stay fit and shed those extra lbs.
Now that she has come to shape has her weight loss regime taken a toll on her face as the glow she used to have earlier is no more there or else is it simply that her girlie gang has been floored by Nidhi and she stands nowhere close to her. What went wrong she wondered…………………….
Avoiding a grumpy face and showing a fake smile she ran as her elder son jumped from the bus to greet her. Oh baby ………she exclaimed as she took him off from the Bus. The little one slightly taking a pause and curiously enough asked her, ‘Mamma, r we going out somewhere? you are all dressed up and look so good.
I thought we are going out for pizza. Rama was perplexed. The entire dressing up process, Lata Bai, Adi’s mom all seem to have vanished. It was only her five year old’s question that seem to have baffled her. She was speechless. Finally she planted a kiss on her son’s forehead and marched ahead to gorge on some healthy pizza……………
Published in Urmi 2017
