Life must go on...

Sound waves reaching my ears sounded very distant. Some faint whisperings and sympathetic words regarding my present condition. The mere act of opening my eyes proved to be a herculean task. Surely I must be under sedation... what is that other sound I hear? Wait, is it Nila? Her face dripping blood and screaming at me for help... oh god...I feel like I am blacking out...

I always hated to wake up to the sound of alarm. For me, the perfect way to wake up was to hear the soft sound of nila calling out my name. “Amala, come on, get up you lazy bones... it’s already 7 in the morning. Get up and get going... I don’t think you want to miss your favourite psychology class now, would you??” Bingo. I would be up in a second. She knew that I wouldn’t want to miss my psychology class in a million years. This was the trick she would use to separate me from my bed and to be honest, was almost fail proof. The thing is, growing up without your mother can be tough. But not when you have a sister like Nila. She was the guardian angel mom left us, when she passed away. Shortly after, dad followed her. Since then, it’s me, nila and our champion brother Sidharth, a.k.a, Sid. We were doing pretty well, thanks to Sid’s job and nila’s part time like sewing. Me, being the youngest, was excused from most of the chores and enjoyed unbounded love from them. Life was looking colourful and our future looked promising. Or so I thought.

Usually when I am back from college, I find her in the front porch, sewing something while waiting for me. But not that day. It felt strange to find her usual spot unoccupied. She might have gone to the market I thought. After having some food and a relaxing bath, I laid down to catch a nap. I was woken up by Sid, violently shaking me. Since I was sleepy, I couldn’t exactly make out what he was saying. It was almost 7 in the evening. The first thing that came to my mind was, he was scolding me for sleeping when I should be studying. Mumbling some apologies, I jumped up and ran to my study table. But he caught me by the arm and asked me to get ready. Looking up at him, I found his eyes watery. Unable to comprehend his actions, I asked for Nila, the reply to which was a painfully long silence. I couldn’t make the head nor tail of all of this. He tearfully pleaded me to get ready. I obeyed him mechanically and set out with him...

I never imagined a time without my nila. But now, iam living it. That fateful day, when I sat in my class cracking jokes and happily chatting away with my friends, my poor Nila was fighting for her dear life... she was trying to come back to us, but the wound caused by that accident was way too deep. It happened when she was crossing the road – Nila got hit by a drunken truck driver.

I don’t remember anything after hearing about my Nila. Every memory is blurred. Some lights, sounds, unfamiliar room, scents... although I remember shouting and screaming at the top of my lungs. When I finally woke up, I found myself in a hospital bed. The calendar on the wall reminded me that I had missed quite a few days in my life. Life felt quite mysterious.

I heard the door creak and saw the anxious face of Sid peeping, closely followed by a nurse. He tried giving me a quick smile, one without a soul... I know that our lives won’t be the same again, but we need to catch up. After all, this is the circle of life...