THE LANDLINE

 Hi everyone. 

How are you all?

Does anyone know what a landline is? It's basically a device used to make calls, but the only difference is, that you have to remember all the numbers! More than a communication device, it's used as an address proof in Indian households. 

See, it's almost never used to call people. Only when all your options are exhausted, then you use the ultimate option- LANDLINE. 

However, there are 2 exceptions to this. One being my very own mother, and the other was my nani. Just like any other mother- daughter, they both used to talk hours on the phone with each other! Nani, telling her what she had made, what's the hot news in town, which relative had a child, which one got married and what not! My mother, on the other hand, gave her all the updates about Delhi. Oh by the way, my mother belongs to small town in Haryana, about 200 km from Delhi. So that's why we used to visit nani only about 3-4 times an year. 

And all these millions of hours of conversation took place at the landline! It was a daily ritual, wherein my mother used to get done with all her chores by 7pm no matter what, and then waited for the landline to ring. It happened every single day! I mean, the way we brush our teeth, have food, the very same way the landline was supposed to ring at 7pm! 

The great thing about landline was, that it somehow prioritized our relations. You can't just go on calling or texting every other person you meet, through a landline! You care about someone, then you gotta make the effort and know their phone number by heart!

I personally loved the sound of landline ringtone so much, that I'd give anything to bring it back. Or shall I say, I'd give anything to bring nani back. It's been almost 8 months since nani left, and the landline too lies useless. Believe me, that silence at 7pm everyday, is deafening. Till now, if something different happens in my day, I get excited for once, that I'll tell about this to nani. But then, reality strikes. 

Now, me, my mother and the landline, just wait for that phone call. I'm keeping a note of everything that I'm going to tell nani that day.

That's why, please take care of your loved ones. Make as many memories as you can. Even if you don't like your grandparents, just try once cracking a joke with them. Or maybe telling them how your day was. They'll surely be on cloud nine.

Until then, take care everyone!