NihshabdBlog

Category: Real life story

  • I Had No Seat… Until a Stranger Gave Me His✨

    I Had No Seat… Until a Stranger Gave Me His✨

    Describe a random encounter with a stranger that stuck out positively to you.

    To the strangers I never thanked… this is for you.

    I didn’t have a seat.
    Not even the “adjust a little” kind.

    Holiday rush. Train packed like everyone suddenly remembered they have a home.

    And me?
    Standing there with my bag… and the consequences of my last-minute confidence.

    There was a group on the side lower berth.
    I stood nearby, pretending I was fine…
    while mentally negotiating with the universe for 2 inches of space.

    One of them noticed.

    No speech. No drama.
    Just “Sit.”

    That small space felt like an achievement.

    And then, later that night…
    they did something I didn’t expect.

    They gave up their seat so I could sleep.
    And one of them spent the night near the door.

    No introductions.
    No “remember us.”
    Nothing.

    Just help… given like it was normal.

    And the strange part?
    I didn’t even say thank you.

    But then I thought
    this wasn’t the only time.

    There have been so many strangers
    who showed up quietly, helped without asking,
    and disappeared before I could even process it.

    So this is for all of them.

    Not the loud ones.
    The quiet ones.

    The ones who make space…
    without making it a big deal.

    I hope
    you never need help like that.

    But if you ever do,
    I hope someone shows up for you
    the way you did for me.

    Without thinking twice.

    .

    A crowded train compartment with a backpack on a seat and a note reading “Thank you, stranger,” under a handwritten title about a stranger offering their seat.
    A seat I didn’t have… and a kindness I won’t forget.

    —Rajeshwari 🧿💕

    © Nihshabd by Rajeshwari. All Rights Reserved

  • We Thought We Were Coping… How We Adapted Without Even Realizing It

    We Thought We Were Coping… How We Adapted Without Even Realizing It

    How have you adapted to the changes brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic?

    .

    Covid didn’t just test my patience…

    it quietly turned me into a full-time everything manager 😄

    .

    Suddenly, I wasn’t just “mom” anymore —

    I was a teacher (online classes 📚),

    an IT support system (“Mummaaa, the internet is gone again!”),

    a chef on 24×7 demand (“Can we eat something different today?”),

    and somehow… still expected to function like a normal human.

    .

    And the kids were little.

    So there was no shortcut, no “manage on your own”…

    it was hands-on, all day, every day.

    .

    Mornings began with logins and confusion,

    switching between apps, classes, and tiny voices calling my name.

    Afternoons melted into a loop of meals, snacks, and “just something different.”

    Evenings were half work, half chaos…

    and by night, I didn’t even know what day it was.

    .

    It wasn’t structured.

    It wasn’t perfect.

    It was… real.

    .

    And along with all this… there was also a quiet, constant fear.

    The fear of losing our loved ones.

    The pain of not being able to be there in someone’s hardest moments.

    The distance, the helplessness…

    a kind of ache that words can never fully explain.

    .

    There were moments of complete exhaustion —

    when everything felt like too much.

    Too many roles, too much noise,

    and not a single pause.

    .

    But somewhere in between all this…

    something beautiful started happening.

    .

    We stopped trying to do everything “right”…

    and started doing everything together.

    .

    Classes had background interruptions,

    the kitchen had experiments (and a few disasters 🤭),

    routine had no fixed shape…

    but the house slowly filled with something warmer than perfection —

    belonging.

    .

    We didn’t sit and say “let’s cope.”

    We just… showed up for each other.

    .

    Helped where we could,

    adjusted where we had to,

    laughed when things went wrong,

    and figured it out — one messy day at a time.

    .

    And slowly, without even realizing…

    this is how we adapted.

    .

    Not by controlling everything,

    but by holding on to each other.

    .

    And maybe that’s the real twist

    we thought we were just managing a difficult phase…

    .

    but actually,

    we were building a kind of togetherness

    that normal life never gives you time for.

    .

    Because coping isn’t about having everything under control.

    It’s about how you stand with your people when nothing is.

    .

    In my case, there was no perfect system,

    no perfect balance…

    just a lot of shared effort, small joys, and silent understanding.

    .

    And when I look back now…

    it doesn’t feel like just a hard time.

    .

    It feels like a phase where life was loud, messy, unpredictable…

    but also full of togetherness.

    .

    And somehow, in the middle of all that chaos…

    we didn’t just get through it

    .

    we grew through it,

    together 🙂

    .

    A young child mimicking work-from-home life, standing with a laptop and headphones during the Covid lockdown, reflecting how children observed and adapted to new routines at home.
    He wasn’t just playing… he was copying Papa learning work-from-home, his own way.

    —Rajeshwari 🧿💕

    © Nihshabd. All rights reserved.

    (This image and poem are original creations.)