THAT MEETING IN THE MORNING.

She woke up, startled by the sudden shouting and screaming. She immediately sat up when she saw her mother barging in her room. her mother's daily routine radio had turned on again, precisely almost at the same, usual time. And she went on like, "You have lost all shame. Will first sleep late at night, then wake up late. Here, half the world has left for duty, and here this madam is still in her dream world, sleeping away to glory....."

She just sat there, her eyes lowered, her face expressionless, knowing it fully that that was the best way to deal with her mother's lectures. She had failed in one of the entrance exams and later decided to quit it because she could not handle the pressure. As for that, she was sitting there, sitting and listening to the words of her mother, listening with all the attention she could give then. 

Her hair was a mess, falling all over her lowered face. Her fingers continuously trying to remove the imaginary dirt from near her eyes' corners., in an attempt to keep them lowered. Her brain trying to wake up just as quickly as her frame did. Her ears yelped for some cotton plugs to shut out the loud noise. And with all this going on together, she was trying hard to stifle a long yawn. 


However, unaware of the inattentive audience, the radio continued, uninterrupted, and signed off the show with the words, "Get out of the bed. Freshen up. And come to the living room in 10 minutes. Just TEN MINUTES." And after those words, the silence that settled was like the start of the snowflakes falling on the ground and settling itself comfortably. It was so welcoming and so soothing for her ears and her mind too.

After her mother walked out of the room, she jumped out of the bed and went straight into her washroom. While brushing her teeth, she was trying to figure out what she had to say, how she had to say it and with every rub of her brush and a shift in her hand position, she framed a new sentence that she would say to her parents. This wasn't her first time. She has had such meetings previously as well. So she knew what to say and how to say it. And just like all the previous times, she left the washroom with determination, the determination that this time she will convince her parents. SHE WILL.

She entered the living room exactly after fifteen minutes her mother had left her room. Not so bright room, her parents sitting in a stiff position, their empty tea cups placed on the table in front of them. (It meant they already have had a discussion before calling her.) Their eyes intently staring back at her. Her mother did throw a glance at the clock when she entered but said nothing. With a sigh, she seated herself on a seat diagonally opposite from where her parents sat. Looking at them, all her determination vaporized. And then the session started all over again...

This time they were harsher, this time they were more strict. Her ideas, her plans were not even listened to. She had been given the final ultimatum. If she would not decide, all strings would be pulled off and she would be married off soon. And this is how that dreadful meeting ended. Later that day, she got herself enrolled for the course her  parents wanted her to do, only to welcome more taunts, more pressure, and more defeat than what she had faced in the previous one. And where she had thought that she would finally get to take a step towards her dream, she actually walked backwards, going away from what she really desired.