STAY A BIT LONGER

The day I was born, my mom held me in her arms, all through the day and night

My dad took turns to stay awake to help my mom sleep

Days, nights, and months passed, and I grew with their unconditional love, but the cycle of taking turns to care for me never stopped

 I said to myself, ‘Oh God, let them stay a bit longer.’ with me

I started living on my own and could think just about me and my career

Any phone calls from my parents ended with 'Hello' and 'I'm fine.'

Gradually, there were many missed calls

My mom and dad stopped calling me, and there were only SMS

Life was spinning so fast that I failed to notice my hair had turned grey

One day, I stood in front of the mirror and looked at a different version of myself

As I started recollecting my childhood memories, I could visualise 

how I pulled on Dad's grey moustache, counted Mom's grey hairs,

tightly held the index fingers of both parents while crossing the road

took a joy ride on Dad's bicycle,

wore a frock made by Mom,

watched the moon and counted stars while sleeping on the terrace with them during summers

and had movie days with parents, 

which meant carrying a packet of biscuits and a water bottle for me

As I engrossed myself in my past, a drop of tear fell on my palm

I realized that I failed to ‘STAY A BIT LONGER 'with my parents.

-Saradha