The spouse left for Nasik at the crack of dawn this morning. He was kind enough to ensure water didnt splash on bathroom tiles during quick shower at all on pain of having his ears chewed off by rabid woman deprived of an early morning lie in. I suspect he sponged himself. And then gently woke me, hesitantly asking if a cup of tea might be too much to trouble me for in the wee hours of the morning. I grumpily overboiled tea leaves and milk and set it before him. He drank it calmly. Said his goodbyes and was off. And I went right back to sleep. And then it was time to wake up and get down to the routine.
“Hello, where have you reached?”
“We’re still a long way off, bye.”
Ears try to interpret background road noise as if auditory signboards would be up in bold letters. Read, spouse is now passing mid sized town. Or spouse is now traversing through open farming zone.
A little while later.
“Have you had breakfast?” This said in guilty whiney tone since one has downed an entire paratha and is sated and satisfied the way only pure fattening foods can make one.
“Yup.”
“What did you have?”
“Breakfast. See you later.”
Self trying to decipher whether he has eating south indian idli sambar or a more saner fulfilling alu paratha or found a sandwich place on the road and made do with a sandwich. All from the tone of voice.
An hour later.
“Have you reached?”
“Almost there. Bye.”
Can someone offer to scriptwrite for this man of mine. He’s fast going from a man of few words, to a man of no words. Or perhaps, am I eating up all his words too?
About Kiran Manral
Kiran Manral is a writer and major social media influencer. After quitting her full-time journalist’s job when her son was born, Kiran became a mommy blogger on the internet, with a remarkably original voice. She was a journalist at The Asian Age, The Times of India, features editor Cosmopolitan, India Cultural Lead and Trend spotter at Gartner Iconoculture US, Senior Consultant at Vector Insights, Ideas Editor, SheThePeople.TV. Kiran is currently a celebrated author and an independent research and media consultant.
She was shortlisted for the Femina Women Awards for Literary Contribution in 2017. The Indian Council of UN Relations (ICUNR) supported by the Ministry of Women and Children, Govt of India, awarded her the International Women’s Day Award 2018 for excellence in the field of writing. In 2021 she was awarded the Womennovator 1000 Women of Asia award. In 2022, she was named amongst the 75 Iconic Indian women in STEAM by Red Dot Foundation and Beyond Black, in collaboration with the Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor, Government of India, and British High Commission, New Delhi.
Her novella, Saving Maya, was long-listed for the 2018 Saboteur Award, supported by the Arts Council of England in the UK. Her novels 'The Face At the Window’ and ‘Missing, Presumed Dead were both long-listed for Jio MAMI Word to Screen, and ‘The Face at the Window’ was showcased at the South Asian Film Festival 2019. The Kitty Party Murder was shortlisted for the Popular Choice award at the 2021 JK Papers TOI AutHER awards.
Her other books include The Reluctant Detective, Once Upon A Crush, All Aboard, Karmic Kids-The Story of Parenting Nobody Told You, A Boy’s Guide to Growing Up, True Love Stories, 13 Steps to Bloody Good Parenting, Raising Kids with Hope and Wonder in Times of a Pandemic and Climate Change, More Things in Heaven and Earth and Rising: 30 Women Who Changed India. She also has published short stories in various magazines, in acclaimed anthologies like Have A Safe Journey, Boo, The Best Asian Speculative Fiction 2018, Grandpa’s Tales, Magical Women and City of Screams. Kiran lives in Mumbai with her family.
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Fortytwoandcounting 
You know, you shouldn’t delve too deep into men’s psyche, don’t you? We learnt that when we were four but as grown women, keep forgetting. Though do you think he had picked up a wonderful sexy woman enroute and was indulging in you-know-wat and so didn’t want to be disturbed? Perish the thought 🙂
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if u find a solution let me know, he sounds like mine 🙂
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Was he driving or something ? So avoided to talk too many words just a thought.
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lol. mine sounds like this when he with with a co-worker he doesn’t know too well.
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My husband is all official sounding, brief and terse on the phone when he’s around others
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Exactly sounded like mine … every time I call him he asks “Can I call you back?” … on lucky days our conversations last 2 WHOLE SECONDS !!
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*sigh* I hear ya sistah!
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at least yours spoke
mine grunts..
Me: have you had lunch
spouse: low grunt
( meaning: no in a meeting, now)
Me: What time are you coming back
Spouse: Grunt
(meaning, 9 pm. may be 9 .30, if you keep calling me this often to find out)
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That’s why the only time I call hubby at work is when we have to coordinate picking up Apple from daycare or something like that.
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LOLOL Loved the post and the remarks 😀
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After reading many blogs about how hubbys are so talkative and involved in family life i thought I was the only one stuck with the opposite kind of person but yours sound like mine:-)and after reading the remarks I am glad we are not alone;-)
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