Menoka was having a bad hair day. Maybe changing the serum brand wasn’t the best idea. But what else could she do. An hour’s worth of wrangling with Indra had no effect on her paycheck. Maintaining herself was getting difficult. There were a hundred young nubile females hovering over her job. She could not lose this.

Being Indra’s PA wasn’t a joke. There was Shiv, who refused to be put on hold. How much ego and anger that man had. Phew!!! She had a soft corner for Brahma though. He was so calm and composed and never demanded irrational favors. She claimed he got the senior citizen benefit but everybody agreed that she was trying to switch bosses. “Please Sir, he is in a meeting with Vishnu Sir. There is nothing I can do,” she wailed in misery. Shiv yelled for a couple more minutes and then hung up. Every year during Durga’s visit to her paternal house, he reacted in this way. “Men will be men, gosh,” she exclaimed. Hopefully all this stress wouldn’t give her wrinkles.

A few minutes later, Karthik skateboarded into the office and almost knocked a vase over. Teenage was taking a toll on the lad. He was overwhelming at times. Menoka baked when she was stressed. But there was Ganesh with his eating disorder. As a result, bringing in treats was banned lately. Recently, a girl named Apsara was his physical trainer. Nonetheless, his elder brother Karthik spent more time flooring the attractive trainer with his charming looks and cool gadgets. Kids these days!

On the other hand, Durga wasn’t done with packing for the last few weeks. She had to carry so many gifts for everyone. Twenty-four hours weren’t enough for shopping. “People should try with four teenage kids,” she muttered. She returned the last few days to find her beloved husband smoking pot. “Preposterous! Is this why I married you?” she screamed. “We aren’t in college anymore. Drugs are illegal. It isn’t the 70s, honey,” she explained. To add to the decibel level, her daughters were fighting too. Laxmi accused Saraswati of uploading some embarrassing picture of her on Facebook. “What will Vishnu think now Maa? If he breaks up with me I swear I will destroy all her PhD recommendations,” Laxmi howled. Saraswati smirked and nodded her head in disagreement. “How on earth, oops Heaven, does someone predict a woman’s mood,” Shiv thought. Regardless, he was beyond cognitive reasoning by 8PM.

There was a week left, and so much to do. Durga was getting impatient. Menoka had emailed all the tickets and her itinerary. That girl was priceless. How she managed to squeeze her in first class was beyond her comprehension! She would highly recommend her for a promotion.

It was nighttime. Durga struck off one more day from her calendar. A week more, and then she would be home; her home; where she would be pampered, loved, fed, cleaned after, entertained etc. She looked outside her window. Yes, the festivities had begun. It was her time of the year again. It was Durga Puja.