for my darling baby

My daily dose of Ordeal

I face a mammoth task daily, that of commuting from my home to office and coming back to home in the evenings…you may think .. how is it a mammoth task ? Okay let me tell you … this daily commuting form home to work and back.. it inevitably saps all my energy in the morning and leaves me dead tired in the evenings. It is my daily dose of ordeal… the huge traffic jams..thanks to innumerable projects of construction of flyover, grade separators, underpass etc etc.. which has to be completed before Commonwealth games in 2010.. this has given way to unending lines of vehicles.. honking incessantly… uncaring pedestrians ignoring the green light and walking away merrily in midst of blaring horns and angry abuses. Struck at one place in the traffic not moving even an inch for as long as half an hour.

After all this chaos on road, by the time I reach home around 8.30 / 8.45 pm or sometimes even at 9.30 p.m ( I leave office at 6.00 p.m sharp) all thanks to atleast one outdated , ill maintained DTC bus which would have broke down on a busy road right in the middle of the traffic. Now the whole thing takes away precious two and half hours from my daily life.. I am left to reach my mothers house at this hour, pick up my children , who are so happy to see their mother who sees off one of them at 6.20 am in the morning and the other at 7.30 am., they jump and squeal and hug me all over showing their love but me.. what do I give in return.. at the most a feeble smile or an angry yell .. I pick them up hurriedly.. mumble some niceties to my mother and scurry back to my house.

On reaching my house I plonk myself on the sofa.. my school going child brings in her home work, her revision for Unit test, her arts and craft assignment…poor thing tries to do the maximum work before I come in with the help of my mother but still she has something or the other to be supervised by me. My little one climbs on to my lap.. wanting to hug me and get her rightful dose of breast feed from her mother. Another hour goes in this.. then I lift my self up wearily … all the while yelling or yanking at my elder one.. do this.. study this.. write this… and then off to the kitchen.. By Gods grace I have a life partner who helps me out a lot in my household work… also in the kitchen .. inspite of this I am always left irritable… angry and generally unhappy with life due to this daily ordeal.

This Delhi traffic jams are taking the life out of me and many other ladies like me who have to get back home on time, lookafter their children, their studies.. cook food.. prepare things for the next morning etc. I wish I had some magic wand and had some miraculous time management tricks to erase this problem out from my life forever.

I know many of you must have never seen a traffic jam.. never heard of 2 and half hours commuting time from workplace to home when actually the distance can be covered in 45 minutes if the traffic is normal. Well guys.. such things happen with us lesser mortals who have to travel in public transport in the National Capital of India… no such luck as chauffer driven car (as if it would escape this maddening traffice)and two maids waiting for instructions over phone to cater to my orders… as u can see this is the life of a very ordinary woman in an ordinary world…right her in our own capital city of India.