“Mommy, I don’t want to go to school today” said my little daughter, Safiya.
“Baby, dad will come next week then you have to take holidays, so go this week and then we all three will enjoy the next weekend together with daddy“
After saying this to her, she became so happy to hear the news that in just 7 days her dad will be home, it has been a year since she last saw him. When she was all ready to go to school, I went to my closet to find myself a dress to wear for work today. The bell rang, and I went down to open the door. I thought it must be my neighbor, to come on to check on me. But to my consternation, Mohit, my husband was at the door. I was just standing there gawking at him. “How could he be here today, there is still a week left for him to come home.”
All these thoughts were rushing into my head. I was not able to retrain myself from touching him, to feel the warmth of his body and realize that this is not the dream that I had last night.
“It is you; you know I dreamt of this last night.” I said.
“How could my queen dream of something and I would not make it a reality. I missed you a lot” he said.
“I missed you too” by saying this line I was not able to hold back my tears. It has been a year since we shared our time together. Since the three of us went for a movie and dinner and were a perfect family. I missed him a lot sometimes; I would cry myself to sleep feeling the desolate space on bed, longing for his touch and consolidation. But seeing him on the door in his olive drab uniform with stars on his chest makes all that time worth it.
Yes, Mohit is a SOLDIER; he serves the nation, leaving me and his 7-year-old daughter all alone. But both he and I are proud of this fact that while he is gone he is serving the nation. There are times when I wish I could tuck him in his blanket and put him to sleep every night. There are times when I wish he wouldn’t be a soldier. There are times when I want him to leave it all and come back home to me and our daughter. But then when I look at him and I know that this whole time without him was worth seeing him on my door with his sandy boots hugging me like his life depended on me. To have my eyes watered with tears of pride, and see him kiss our daughter and making up for all the time that he was not here.
The time that he is with us remains in my memory which is cherished by both me and Safiya. The time that he is with us is never enough to make up for the times he was not.
After 2 days, I got up from my bed and saw him wrapped around in the blanket and enjoying an amicable sleep, after an astounding family night. He looks so placid when he is away from all the hassle of war and duty. I wish I could make him stay with me forever just the way we are now. Thinking these thoughts I went to the door and found a letter. I opened to read it, and all my dreams shattered in that same moment.
I could not hold back the knot formed in my throat, and the tears in my eyes. He came from behind me to take the letter from my hand; he didn’t need to read it. He knew he had to go and his time home was a precise. He was called back and his leave was suspended immediately as we were expecting a WAR.
When he is gone there is emptiness in life I cannot cumber up to define in words. The word WAR scares the shit out of me, and I panic on watching any news channel, keep on checking his location to know that everything is right at his end. But it is really difficult to have it all together when my husband is miles away working on the most dangerous projects for months end or even more, joining us just by his voice.
But there is one thing that I know about him and that NATION is and always will be before me and our daughter. And I am fine with that as long as I could instill the same values in my child. I am fine until he is the subject of my prayer at the beginning and end of the everyday.
When you fall in love with a soldier and the pain of separation and insulation comes with it, but it does not make us hesitant. Blissful, courageous, passionate, patient, honest and real, that is how our love is…and always will be.
From- An Army Man’s Wife
Even if you don’t want to pursue it for long, learn the basics. Be a beginner and later on when you get busy, develop it as a hobby. If you don’t have a partiality for any specific music instrument, then go for keyboard, it is the easiest to play. Moreover, music calms you and drives the negative radiations away.
An NGO does not demand much from you, you do it voluntarily. Many NGOs ask you to come a day per week and many for only certain projects. When you work for it, you will realize that you are becoming the reason for someone else’s smile that kind of contentment and 
The internet cult is budding beautifully and for a reason. There are many videos and serials on the internet quite different from the daily soaps on Indian television. They are not only entertaining but if you actually watch them closely, they will force you think, to reflect. It mirrors the current state of our society and addresses the complexity of the relationships in the life of Gen-X. TVF in India is doing a great work there.
There are a myriad of television series and the reasons to watch them cannot be put in words. In my lame efforts I can only say that those should be in your bucket-list whether or not you are free. It is something you should do before you die. Some that I can list here would include- F.R.I.E.N.D.S, Game of Thrones, Sherlock, Breaking Bad, Suits, to name only a few!
There are many websites, 
Even if you are not a sports lover, join one. A Sport is not just about teaching you the techniques of playing it or about the wins and losses. It teaches you a lot more countless things, the most important being dealing with losses, defeat and depression. 
Learning a new tongue could be a lot more fun! There are courses of 3-6 months or even a year where you can learn a new language by attending classes once a week. You can also opt for distance learning programmes in Urdu, Persian, German, French etc.
If you love cooking, develop it as a passion. If you are not very good at it then watch several YouTube videos. You don’t have to drain your money in cooking classes. YouTube teaches you hundreds and thousands of dishes, snacks and drinks which are very easy to cook.
Be a reader. Search online for e-books or buy books matching your taste and develop a habit of reading them.
If you like to play and you have been wasting your time playing games on your cell-phones and laptops then there is way by which you can make learning a lot more fun. Download games where you can play quiz and at the same time learn or download some word-building and vocabulary games! ‘Quiz up’ is one such game which connects you to random opponents from people across the world. You can interact, make friends and at the same time learn a lot.
Try sharara in this festive season for sure. Keeping in mind, this piece would have glitter and shimmering outlook. Simple and sober piece may fail to add an impact. This shimmering piece will add a style and glamour to your personality. You can get it in various colours and shades but shades like red, orange, Indigo and pink are in great demand.To create fusion, you can give a western twist to the lower pants and can also add a style element in the lower portion of long kurtas. Carrying a stole or dupatta in a stylish way will give it a cool look.
Fashion of anarkali suits never gets outdated. Carrying anarkali having heavy embroidery work gives a royal look in the festive season. They came up with different designs. You can customise them easily from neck cuts to their texture according to your needs and liking. When on one side anarkali makes your personality looks elegant and royal, on the other hand if they are of latest designs, you can look trendy too after wearing them.
This type of suits are of loose fitting. Yo can carry it with chudidar pyjama in day and plazo in night with a stylish dupatta.
Lookwise similar to kaaftan, buy one side shoulder kurtas with an embellished neck line. It will help you look elegant and attractive.
This year, Plazo has become a top trend. One can easily carry it with long size kurtas. They look super gorgeous. From work to play this look is set to make you look like a overseer . Heathen jhumkas and stilettos are a must.
Could you ever imagine wearing your kurti with a skirt? Other than Plazo, one can carry long kurta with long skirts too.If you haven’t tried this look yet, here comes the time.Try it and look different. Here it is a perfect pairing of kurti with skirts. It is feminine, lavish and all the way desi. You can go from ankle length to floor length skirts and look indifferent yet graceful for the day.
This pattern gives a very stylish look, especially kurtas with slits.
If you don’t want to carry proper suits with dupatta but also want to style yourself indian, carry pants with traditional jackets. This team up will help you give an Indo-western look. It is trendy and gives a deep impact of high fashion. From the long jacket to crop jacket, you can team up your kurti with any jacket and can get a stunning look. Accessorize your dress with long earrings and peep toe sandals.
This trend is in fashion. Nowadays, this style has take a shift from western to Indian dresses too. . You can team them up with any bottoms be it a Plazo or a chudidar and carry the sufiana aura wherever you go.
My Grammy had gotten really old now. She had started forgetting things and repeating the words she said. It had started to get on my nerves. That day after just sitting in the chair for almost an hour without uttering a single word I had asked her to make me some special Kheer of hers that I really liked. It was something I ate on all my special days. I even gave away Grammy’s special Kajoo Kheer as a return gift on my sweet sixteen. She was really ill a day before that but that woman still got up. Funny what love can make you do. When she got back with a glass bowl in her hand. I saw the color orange instead of white. She had made a Halwa rather than her Kajoo Kheer which somehow was unacceptable. I remember screaming at her.
I am sorry I spoke to you that way. “I shouldn’t have talked to my beloved Grammy in such a manner. I am really sorry.” I apologized and apologized and she didn’t even utter a word. I told her all the things she had taught me. To love the ordinary things in life, to cry when a puppy dies. To laugh when you stumble down a hill and to never hurt anyone. As tears rolled down my cheek while remembering my childhood I ran to her chair and saw her eyes open with still a tiny tear inside it.