Machar

TIRED from her whole night up status Vidya desired sleep. She looked at her one-month-old Daughter Maira. She was in deep sleep occasionally cooing. Vidya stretched her legs, rested her back against the bedside and putting her head on its edge she looked at the fan.
“The balloons must be taken off,” she thought.
Vidya knew hot summer days were fifteen days away. It was mid March and in Chandigarh summer showed its true colours in April when fan will be put into service. She closed her eyes. A minute or two later she heard a buzzing sound. Eyes opened and she saw a tiny machar revolving around the face of Maira. She with a wave shooed it away and again closed her eyes. But the naughty machar came back. Again, a wave of hand and a look at the repellent, which was on, gave Vidya’s eyes a closure.
The buzz sound came back with vengeance this time. Vidya cautiously with a wave of hand tried to catch the machar in her fist. And she succeeded. She held her breath, took a good time to squeeze it and with a Aha! opened her fist only to find the machar fly higher in the room. Disappointed Vidya left a sigh. The sparrows were busy outside announcing the arrival of morning. And Vidya was busy inside trying to save piece of her heart from a petty machar. Vidya had never thought that even a machar could give her so much headache. Vidya looked around the room and finding no trace of the machar felt happy.
Her eyes watched Maira. She was a beauty as every child is to a mother. Vidya stared at her daughter for a quite long time, side by side hearing the bathroom singing of Maira’s father. This time Vidya heard two buzz sounds fearing her heart and breaking her stare. She looked around the room and found two machars sitting on the set top box. A tiny and a little big. Vidya smiled. She thought of them as mother and child. A buzzing was heard and Vidya felt a great relief as she saw the mother machar guiding the child machar out of the room.