I know crying
is a skill
I automatically wipe
my eyes even though I know
Crying
Is a skill.
Nikki Giovanni

The Indian shops are cluttered with diyas and mithai. And in a quiet way I am reminded of the Festival of Lights Diwali. It's been two years since we celebrated the festival with family in India. We are trapped because of the border restrictions and quarantine rules. Now they have also stopped asking us when we would be travelling to India. I had hope for this year but now I can't see that happening and I can't promise family anything about our travel plans.

So while we huddle in our home and wait for the normal life it's okay to feel sad and long for the quieter days. Sadness is not a disease, it has to embraced. It's okay to feel sad about festivals and memories which were once closer to us, now there's that fragrance which lingers in the pages. We humans don't know how to hold and when writers feel sad they need to write. Just the way I am doing now, words unite me with sadness. And I feel complete. Tha't the way I will be celebrating the festival this year by celebrating my sadness and captivity and by longing for that freedom to be with family. There is a poem here hidden somewhere you will find it.