The family

"We need you to do something. You chose the sweet way or the other. Although, from what I know of you, you love the torment", he smirked.
I stared through the dusty iron bars of Tuskan jail. David's two beady green mean eyes had grown into a monster. I couldn't believe I had missed that in high school. After 10 years, life seemed like on the evil twist of faith where everything bad happened and paused and everything bad just repeated.

I could either stare through the bars or at the mirror. I chose the bar because last time I tried the mirror I saw the horror in my eyes, 2 beady mean green eyes and I knew that was the only way. What options do you have with your family as hostage? Tearing down everybody else's mother seems less horrifying....and yet that's not what she taught you to be.

"What's it gonna be Diana, love?", he smirked.

A tear escaped the right corner of my eye and tried mid way. The battle had begun, the monster had chosen. My worst fears were actually before me and it was time I decided to embrace the devils within.

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Here's the start to a literary fiction. You'll see the link once it's up.

The City Coffee Life

I watch the small cars swamp by from across my coffee table,
Where my hot latte goes cold,
And I sit by myself and stare at the mundane streets,
Yes, it's not a hell of a deal,
That's a normal city day life.....

I haven't brought my laptop today,
I promised to tell you about the others around,
So that's what I am doing,
Looking around and watching them chat & share,
And noting the weirdly familiar things today;

The couple across the room,
Both of them have dressed very similar,
Jeans & plain t-shirts,
Nothing cheesy about them,
They don't even seem to be in love,
Except when you hear them speak,
Each of them belong to a different native town in India,
That means their native tongue is different,
But when they are working together,
You can see their eyes sparkle with joy,
As if they were on a thrilling journey,
And language was not a bar;

I see the little boy outside,
With a begging can in his hand,
A poet like dressed guy gets up,
And waves to the boy outside,
He sits him by his side and gets him some food,
And watches him eat with ecstatic joy,
I think he works for MAD, he wears the t-shirt,
It's a foundation here, educating the not so resourceful;
I give some more time to him,
I'm crushing on him already.....but nothing more here

There's a geeky guy sitting on the next table,
I checked for his charger last time,
He was kind enough to pass it to me,
Only he didn't ask my name, sad,
And suddenly I saw the guy get all chatty with a bunch of guys around,
It seemed like they just met,
And spoke and started a business plan right away,
Wow, such amazing stuff here;

I reach out to my laptop,
Type in a words,
I hope to finish this novel someday,
But for today,
Here's what I got you,
A typical city coffee day;

You know what pulls a crowd here?
"My dad bought me a ferrari"....no, not that,
"I'm building this alarm to alert an hour before a heart attack"....yes, this does!

Yes, I accept a little bit of isolation comes by,
I accept I get to be a little irresponsible at times too,
I accept life alone isn't as fun (you'd think),
I accept it's difficult to get by in a new city,
I also accept things get busy & lonely at times,
But the best parts are the freedom of not being judged,
How many places do you see life being stringed into such beautiful dreams every moment?
How many times have you seen couples mate over startup dreams?
How many coffee shops do you see with buzzing new ideas to save the world?
How many MADsters do you see?
How many times have you seen me not being judged for walking into the coffee shop all alone, freakishly enjoying it and not a word about that?
I can barely count the number of times people don't get judged,
But right here, in this city, I find that,
My peace of mind, my dreams & a world where you are less than just what was set for standards,
So I can finish my coffee, pay my bill and walk out feeling relaxed & safe,
That's the city coffee life,
And I think I fall in love with it every day!

A Daughter's World in her Father's Eye (Part 2)

Another blockbuster! Only because thus means the world to me. I'm sure many more daughters related to me.

To the lovely dads who have treated their daughters so well.....respect and love.

This was another of those mundane days. You already know of the 15 day vacation I get to spend with my family at home. Rest of the time, I'm slogging in my 2nd dream job. Oh, yes, I enjoy it. However, it's a little incomplete with my little cozy family not here.

On the recent vacations, while we packed my father's luggage, he whispered softly, "What do you write, you don't share?". He's read my professional blogs and always followed then but this was different. My father was asking me about my literary write ups and this was new. He reads a few of blogs which being romantic in nature, I sometimes feel a little awkward....but guess what, my parents have advanced way more than the image in my mind. Their acceptability surprises me.

My father is conservative in certain way. We've had a love hate relationship, we're both strong headed and pretty much share the stubborn gene. So, literally, the arguments fire hard.....my mother helping in subsiding it. Now that you know that don't you think you could come to me and say anything negative to me about my dad.....only I can say that & I love him to bits, so you better tread carefully.

And then he said, " I don't have to worry. You don't when you gave such gems for daughters". Our ever long battle to get them to live close to us is probably weighing them down but we'd like to see them so much more often, we'd like to know they are safe.

When he asked about my writing, I smiled....not just literally, in my mind too. As mentioned earlier, I grew up in a moderately strict family but not very open and fair in many ways. That's made me a strong, head strong lady. Too much for men? Huh.....not if you're a man. And I know that from my dad.

This is my dad who's supported me on the stupid rocket competitions I've been to, my constant inspiration, the one who actually understood my dreams and respected them instead of wanting his own fulfilled.....love is unselfish, I think they've taught me that.

All my work will always be dedicated to you lovely people who made life and its value so high. Thank you for being the inspiration in all my life.

How many of you could stand up and shout out your family would support you no matter what? I could.....now you know where my strength comes from. It's eternal and I'm keeping it.

To all the dads out there....love your daughters and you'll know no love as that. Love them because they need your validation, they need your strength, they need you to understand how men should be, how they need to be treated. In return, you will have a companion for a lifetime and you'll see love in a different way everyday. To all the women out there, it's not a son's responsibility to look after their parents. Be the son, leave the society. Believe what makes sense to you. It is your responsibility to change the picture. Your parents are not just your responsibility, they are your support system. Help them a little, they'll love you either ways....just give it a little time and you'll see what life has to offer.