An eerie silence had surrounded the house of mr.and mrs. Agnihotri living in delhi, only the sound of utensils clackering could be heard in the kitchen. It was a bright sunny day yet no whisp of light was able to enter the four walls of the house. From the kitchen emerged the daughter ayesha , clad in a black formal wear , her face neutral showing no emotions but her eyes betrayed her facade. She had returned only a month back from London and was here for a short while but fate had other plans. ayesha was a single child but she always felt as a stranger in her own house .On the outside she seemed normal , no one could tell that both
her parents were gone in an untimely death only a week before , but her insides were telling a story she found unnecessary to feel. A sudden pace had equipped her lifestyle , she didn't feel
like taking a break ,always onto something, and today in this hastle she heard a ring , the doorbell.
It was as if the world had been put to hault while the voice ringed her ears.
Ayesha frowned and moved towards the door , she wasn't expecting someone but as if the universe ever did what you expect . As the door opened a bright rays of yellow light entered her eyes almost like the sun had himself set his foot down on Ayesha's parents house to shed some brightness onto her. Once the rays cleared there stood a figure dressed in a saree , greyish hair and fish like skin. It was her grandmother, that is all she knew from the pictures she saw in childhood , lest a total stranger . her presence a gentle yet persistent
intrusion into Ayesha’s carefully constructed emotional wall. She made room for her grandmother to enter and she bowed her hand in a namste , "i have come child" said her grandmother looking at her with a motherly warmth. It made her uneasy , her grandmother told her that she had come here for few days as to live with her and settle things in absence of her daughter . It made ayesha furious , wasnt she capable to handle all this alone, she was a grownup dammit.
Ayesha found ways to evade her grandmother's company in those initial days, retreating into the garden's desolate beauty, feigning absorption in books whose words swam meaninglessly before her eyes, or busying herself with endless, pointless chores. Her Nani’s quiet presence felt like a soft spotlight on her raw grief, a constant reminder of the gaping void in their lives. Every shared meal was an exercise in unspoken sorrow, every attempt at conversation felt stilted and unnatural. Ayesha wrestled with a profound awkwardness, a distance that echoed the underlying feeling of not quite belonging that had always lingered within those very walls,
even when her parents were alive. Growing up an only child to busy parents, she had often felt like an afterthought, their professional lives and social engagements taking precedence.
The house, despite its occasional bursts of festive warmth, had often felt vast and empty.She had learned early on to cultivate solitude, to find refuge in the world of books and her own thoughts. Now, this ingrained sense of being slightly apart, of not fully connecting,
resurfaced, amplified by the weight of her loss. Her Nani’s presence, though undoubtedly meant to comfort, initially felt like another layer of unfamiliarity in a life suddenly and brutally stripped bare.
The outburst came one particularly bleak evening. Ayesha and her Nani had been looking through old photo albums, each faded image a sharp jab of what was irrevocably lost. They reached a section brimming with snapshots from Ayesha’s childhood birthday parties –vibrant scenes of laughter, balloons, and sugary chaos. But as Ayesha gazed at her younger self, surrounded by fleeting moments of celebration, a bitter resentment simmered within her.
"It's not fair, Nani!" she cried out, her voice raw with a pain that went beyond the immediate
grief. "It's just not fair! They were always so busy… always at work, always out with their
friends. These parties… they were just for show, weren't they? A few hours of attention, a Few posed smiles, and then back to being alone in this big, empty house!" Tears streamed down her face, hot and angry, fueled by years of a quiet, gnawing loneliness. "Don't you see? Even when they were here, I often felt like they weren't really here. And now… nowthey’re gone completely. I feel so lost and desperate for their one glimpse ….just to tell them that I am back , I feel stupid when ma called me and I kept on ignoring her , showing my anger but now I keep on blaming myself for was it really worth it ….I couldn't even tell them how I feel, and before I could muster up the courage they left me again like always and everyone expects me to just… be sad? But I’ve been feeling this kind of sadness for so
long…”
Her nani did not say anything, because she knew while ayesha might have said all of this out of pain and despair .she deeply loved her parents and understood them.she knew ayesha needed an outlet for her emotions and this was it , that night ayesha wept in her nani lap untill she cocooned into a calm sleep. Her grandmother gently patted her head and smiled looking at her daughters's photo , a tear escaped her eyes . The pain of loosing her child gnawed at her every night. The truth was it wasn't just ayesha who needed a companion, a outlet and through ayesha her grandmother was able to acknowledge and process the grief that struck their lives, they healed each other in a way.
She woke up next morning with a heavy heart , She had to leave.......
she clutched the photograph of her children and packed her bags before the dawn , she sat on the very same table her daughter used for her exhibits and scribbled something on a piece of paper, finally smiling with a heart full of content, ayesha grandmother kissed her temples and left the house she transformed into a home.
Ayesha woke up with a strange lightness in her body that day, a gentle ray of light teased her face . She had envisioned a flavourful aroma of delicacies would surround her home and soft tingling of bells would enter her ears but there was a peaceful noise . She tiptoed on her feet to the living room to find her grandmother but was met with silence , with a feeling in her heart she checked the whole house but couldn't find her nani , a dull ache creeped into her heart as she knew this day would come , looking around her eyes swept over a note DEAR AISHA ☆ , a knowing smile captured her face.…….as she folded the letter , her eyes were full of tears but this time they weren't of pain, they were of acceptance and content.She finally began to understand. Her mother’s work
wasn’t a separate world, a barrier between them; it was an extension of her very being, a language through which she expressed her soul, a soul that now resonated within Ayesha.
The long-held feeling of being an outsider in her own home began to dissipate, replaced by a quiet sense of belonging, a tangible connection to her past and a hopeful glimmer of her
future. The study , once a symbol of her perceived isolation, now felt like a welcoming sanctuary, a space where her mother’s love, articulated in vibrant hues and delicate strokes, still lived and breathed. With a newfound lightness in her heart, Ayesha stepped fully into the
room, ready to embrace not just the memory of her mother, but also the dormant creator within herself.
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