Happiness is rediscovering yourself!

She has a busy routine. Getting up early, opening the locks, bringing the newspaper to the tea-table because her husband would be awake in sometime, preparing tiffin for both the children (nowadays they ask for 2 tiffins in the school!), dropping them to the bus-stop, coming back and preparing tea for her husband. Then started the arrangements for the day, breakfast and tiffin preparations for the husband, bath, puja, giving clothes for ironing to the laundry-wala, placing order over the phone with the sabziwala etc.

She tells herself everyday, that she is not bound to do all this, but she does it because she feels happy to do so! "I do it because its my family"
Once her husband and maids leave for the day..(Oh her work winds up pretty early everyday, lets say by 8:30 am) she sits back and realises, she did not read the newspaper today and then she felt an emptiness in her stomach which made her remember that she did not have her breakfast despite of preparing variety of things for everyone. "Oh its just like any other day, super hectic!" she said to herself. Its okay, she thinks and puts half paratha in her mouth and talks to herself "My happiness lies in doing things for my family,' doesn't matter if I get late for my breakfast today, I would try putting a schedule in place from tomorrow."
Diwali is soon to approach, and the preparations which usually start in all Indian households had started at her place too! Cleaning of the house and cleaning of every nook and corner of the house, collecting old stuff and segregating it and deciding what to give to whom, making place for new things - are on full swing. 

The maids are always happy with her, because Bhabhiji always gives them food on time and also helps them financially in case of emergencies. Her actual work starts when the maids are also gone, because then she can sit back and do things at her pace..

This time she had decided in advance that she will not purchase anything new this Diwali, thinking "I already have a few new saris, I  shall wear from them, why should I waste money on a new apparel?" There are other important expenditures like school fees, Diwali bonus and also gifts to be given to near and dear ones and of course new clothes for her little bundles of joy and also a small teeny weeny surpise gift for the love of her life!

But there was something amiss ... what was it? She had a happy family, a doting husband, happy and healthy children, her own house, healthy parents, caring in-laws..what was amiss then?

While cleaning her store-room she came across a box that her mother had handed over to her 2 years back. Since last 2 Diwali's she used to clean it and keep it again at the same place. 

She becomes very happy to see the box! "2 years and I did not get time to go through this!" She open's her pandora's box (For her it was her life, her biggest priceless treasure, as it was given by her mother!) and in there was her diary...an old diary. Oh how happy she was looking at that diary, that she started laughing aloud brimming with happiness!

She had completely forgotten that she used to write, and also get appreciated for that! There were poems, prose, just like that lines..some unfinished stories some unfinished poems... Oh how dear it was to her! She could barely take her eyes off it. So this was it! This was what she was missing.. in the chaos of daily life and family management, relative management, grocery list and all these things, she had forgot 1 person - Herself and also forgot what made her happy!

"How nice would it be to go back to writing" she was thinking in her mind- was going on in her mind and then the doorbell rang..

"Dustbin Madam"

She left the diary there and got up to handover the dustbin to the sweeper and also a box of old clothes of her children that she has collected over the year, to hand over to the sweeper for his children, she had also kept a box of new stationery items for his little ones.
Then the phone rang - "It was her sister-in-law! She had her surprise visit planned for this bhai-duj and they started discussing about the plans of shopping and roaming around in the short trip"
Then came the time to pickup the kids from the bus-stop, their lunch, their homework, their playtime, cooking the dinner, time of arrival of husband, winding up the kitchen, reading bed-time stories to her little ones and handing over the glass of water and medicine to her husband.. and then when everyone slept.. she headed back to the kitchen, for doing some pre-preparations for tomorrow's breakfast!

After finishing everything, she sat down with her glass of water on the sofa, very tired after a long long day, she felt like lying down then and there and sleeping away to glory. But she got reminded of something, she went to the store-room, switched on the light, and there lay her old tattered diary.

She picked it up, went to the writing table, took out a new pen that her parents had gifted her few years back and started scribbling..

That very moment she decided something.. She decided that she would give sometime to herself daily and go back to her lost love - 'writing'. She was smiling and couldn't stop it because this Diwali she had taken the best decision of her life! A decision to make herself, her soul happy!

So what are you going to discover this Diwali? 
Rediscover yourself! Happiness is your birthright...execute that!