The world had become unrecognisable to her. Where have all the years gone? Wasn't it just yesterday when she shyly accepted her husband, Sumit's proposal.

Life has been a blur since 2018, when Sumit retired. Things were never the same again. Sumit had to opt for early retirement because he could not compete with his younger, tech savvy colleagues.... Reena was lost in her thoughts. Caught between the pages of memories of her life.

She accepted her present life with her daughter, Pritha. At least she had a companion, someone she could talk to. As Reena reminisced over her bitter sweet past, Pritha entered the dining room. She greeted her mother with a quick 'good morning' and sat at the table, balancing her mobile phone and earphones in one hand and a cup of tea in the other.

Reena's eyes wandered over to Pritha, who had her earphones on, humming softly to herself while scrolling through instagram. "Why do you waste so much time on that?" Reena asked. Pritha did not stir. Nothing could get her out of the reverie of the latest reel on how a cat does a balancing act at the edge of a table. "Can you hear me? Did you listen to what I said?" Reena raised her voice, as if it could pierce through the music the reel was set to-Anthem For Lazy Cats.

Reena needed to do more to get her daughter's attention. She got up, went up to Pritha, and softly touched her head. Pritha turned to her mother, with the same sheepish look as the cat after it was caught in the act by her pet parent. "What is it, Ma?' she asked. "It's a Sunday, let me do what I want." Reena scoffed. "It could be any day of the week, but you will spend hours on social media. How do you get any work done?"

Pritha sighed: "Ma, the best way to understand something is to experience it. Why don't you sign up for Instagram? You'll love it. You won't even know how time flies. You won't be sitting forlorn in a corner, hoping for someone to ask how you are doing."

The words stung Reena. Pritha quickly felt embarrassed about her thoughtless comment. Her mother used to always warn her, a word spoken is like a spent arrow, you can never retrieve it, and so it was the case now. Her mother did everything to mask her pain, always being strong for the sake of her child. Pritha could only cast her eyes downwards, staring at her cup of tea, not daring to look at her mother.

Sumit had passed away four years ago, and ever since, grief became Reena's constant companion. She stopped getting invited to parties. She didn't have any relevance among Sumit's group of friends, old men who still bonded over their heydays. You either had to be a rich man or a wife of an influential man to be considered. Her devotion to her husband meant she didn't make time to meet her friends. Now, they live in different parts of the world and have lives of their own. Reena tried to connect with people on Facebook. React and comment on posts, even if she found it inane. At least it was a connection of some sort.

Pritha saw her mother's eyes brimming over. "Mom, I'm sorry. It's not like I have too many friends myself. Social media gives the illusion of connection, but we don't even want to meet each other. We are exhausted after work and find no time for ourselves. I could have 1,000 followers, but I barely have three close friends." Pritha's voice trailed off. Reena shook her head and spoke half seriously, as if the previous moment didn't even happen. "In that case, I don't know how you even like these apps if it's taking you away from what makes you feel alive."

Pritha sighed. She didn't quite know how to explain to her mother that Instagram reels did give her relief. That the pressure of work and deadlines left her exhausted and cat videos were one of the best ways to feel better, instantly. But she didn't want to make that point. She wanted to say something desperately to make up for what she had earlier said. "Ma, at least you had Papa you could pour your heart out to. And you knew him for 40 years. And here I am at 45, still wondering if my match on bumble will even respond to my message."

Reena had given up on her daughter's matrimonial search. Arguments, pleas, tantrums, and threats of breaking all ties with her mother if her parents dared to arrange her marriage led to years being lost. But love can happen at any age, and Reena was hopeful that Pritha would find a companion some day.

Reena's mobile phone rang. "Who could be calling at this time? No one does. Ah! It's most probably some spam call to sell an insurance or some such," Reena half spoke to herself. Reena picked up the phone. "Hello," she said. "Hello, Reena. Did you get the news?" "I haven't as yet, but could you tell me who you are?". "Reena, I am Azaad...I thought you would remember me..." And with that, time came to a standstill.