Just as always

My day started early, at 4 AM, on the 12th of August. My brother and I went for a walk to the Durga Maa temple nearby. We sat there for a while, talking about our next plans in life — what to do, where to go. Then, as always, we came back home and fell asleep again.

Later, I woke up, nothing special — edited some clips, had breakfast, lunch, studied a little. But in the evening, I heard loud voices from upstairs. When I went up, I saw my mom scolding my sister. Instead of staying quiet, my sister was arguing back. I tried to stop them, but she turned her arguments toward me, so I went silent and left. About seven minutes later, I heard the situation had calmed down.

Not long after, I got a call from my elder sister saying she would be visiting in two days. Everyone got excited. We talked for a bit, and then I went up to the rooftop to enjoy the sky, but my mind wouldn’t settle.

The next day began the same way, except we had to wash all the clothes, bedsheets, and clean the whole house. It’s a regional tradition that whenever someone in the extended family passes away, on the tenth day after their death, all the male members shave their heads and wash every cloth in the house that had been exposed during those ten days. So we shaved our heads, cleaned the house, and washed all the clothes.

Later, I went to the farmhouse. A few days ago, the flood there had been at its peak, but now the water level had gone down. The floodwater had come from the Ganges River. We took a bath in it, and after that, the rest of the day went normally.

Now it’s the 14th of August, 11:41 PM, as I’m writing this. I’m trying to think if I missed anything worth noting, but no worries. The day began as usual. By evening, my dad returned from the market with some items for tomorrow’s Independence Day — small flags, a few wearable products. He even took some videos of my sisters dancing. Everyone was enjoying themselves, but I stayed out of it, playing chess on my phone.

Dad later said he needed to go to the chowk, so I went with him. When we came back, I found my brother — the one I’ve written about before — had gotten a small electric shock at the flour mill. I went to check on him. Thankfully, there were no major injuries, just some discomfort in his hands and feet, so we rubbed them and he was fine.

After that, I texted a friend who had distanced herself from us. She was online but didn’t reply right away. Later she said she was busy preparing dinner for her family. I decided not to push and instead focused on writing in my physical diary. Maybe we’ll talk later, maybe not — it’s just a matter of wait and watch.

Tomorrow is Independence Day. Mom might take this phone with her to school for the celebrations, which means I’ll be home alone without it. Not that it bothers me — I’m not really into these events anyway.