My Happy Place

BY VARSHA KARNANI

I come home after a long time, knock the door and enter,

Sitting on the couch, my grand pa and grand ma wonder,

Their eyes get moist and filled with tears,

As I run towards them like a little toddler.

I hug grand pa first, not because I love him more;

But because I don't want to keep him waiting,

As I know I won't be leaving grand ma for an hour.

We all cry, with our heart pounding with joy,

Until my grand ma shouts, "Go leave me now, don't annoy".

I argue with mom for no good reason

And she scolds me, "You haven't changed a bit".

The same annoyance I cause, getting finicky over food;

Fighting with her for utilising my empty cupboard space,

Although I have nothing but memories to keep in that place.

"It's only been an hour since this troublemaker's arrival,

And she has already gotten on our nerves!", at last she sighs.

My dad checks me out from top to bottom;

And he frowns, "You have become more lean and thin!"

"Did you not finish the almonds I gave?"

"Are you not eating apple, banana or grape?

Trust me, I am exactly the way I left;

But for Papa, I could gain 10 pounds and still never be fat.

I see my siblings, peeping through my bag,

For chocolates and snacks and leftover cookies.

Trying out all my new and old clothes,

Deciding what they would be wearing for the entire next week.

We gossip about people -

Their friends, my friends, our neighbors, our relatives;

We scroll through Instagram to lock our choice of reel,

That we would try hard yet fail to create.

We all sleep in the same room

Talking endlessly and tirelessly; talking random shit!

Laughing crazily over absurd things,

Things that would make no sense the next morning.

As we drift off to sleep, I wonder,

How as a child, I wished to live independently.

Having my own space, with my own routine,

And no one else to interfere.

But now as I am living that dream,

I crave for that one week I get to live in my childhood home.

Living by yourself sure does sound cool and all;

But, being with your family is indeed the happiest thing of all.

I am Varsha Karnani, an engineer by profession, who likes to play the odds and fantasize through the pixels and letters.

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