A RELAXING HOBBY

NOTE: This story is mildly religious, so if you do not agree with the idea of God or worship, then please leave this page. Thank you for reading - enjoy!

It was the third week of my summer vacation. I had completed all my homework. I was bored and had nothing to do when it hit me. Like, literally, HIT me.

I was out on our veranda, at the front of my house, sipping on a glass of orange juice. My sister came to me and said, ‘Hey, hey! I want to do something, yet not to do something at the same time. Something relaxing! Tell me!’ I said that I had no idea of any such activity, or do you think I would be here outside? She got angry, and said that I should tell her anything or else… As I am extremely foolish, I said what else? And no sooner did I realize what else. She hit me with a crumpled piece of paper. It didn’t hurt, but as an older sibling, though I was just three minutes older and we were in the same class, I had much right to beat her. The paper was torn off her school diary, with a teacher-signed homework note:

Dear Parents,

Your child is assigned to figure out one activity or hobby that is relaxing to them, and write three points about it. Questions will be asked at the start of August Semester.

(Sign)

‘Hey! Teacher didn’t give us this task!’ I marched off to her room.

‘She did,’ my sister sighed. Sometimes I believed she had more brains than me despite the age difference. ‘You were talking to Eloise when she told us.’

‘Oh,’ I absentmindedly shrugged my shoulders.

Well then, I decided to start on an idea. I searched my online best friend, Wikipedia (don’t ask why - it helps me for research - mind your own business) and it said that ‘Art is a great way of expressing oneself, thus it is a very relaxing procedure. Abstract art and painting have proved themselves the best pastimes.’

So, I bought a canvas, a sketchpad, acrylic paints and a 2B and 4B pencil. I started to paint. I decided to go with a rainy scene. I took the thickest brush I had, and painted the sky a light grey; but alas, I ended up with a dark black coat of paint smiling at me. Angered, I blobbed out quite a lot of white paint and voila! The sky was a disgusting shade of…greyish black? Blackish grey? Whitish black? I don’t know what to call it. I started with a pine tree. It was the most painful process of my life. The brush was too thin, and the tree looked like it had several plastic surgeries along with a deforming disease. The stream I painted…when I showed my mom, she smiled and said, ‘Wow! What a wonderful painting! Drawing all these streaks and dots! Uh, I’d like to know what is that? Oh, a river. And…that? That is a TREE? Oh, wow!’ I tried again. Oh, what can I tell you? The brush fibres were sticking to the fabric. The brushes were too thin or too thick. After numerous failures, the paint colours still did not match after mixing the way I intended them to. Hopeless, I discarded my artwork.

I said to myself,’ When life gives you lemons---you make lemonade. Let’s try a different approach to Art.’ So, I scooped out my sketchbook, my pencils and my eraser. I spent half an hour searching for the best (and easiest) sketch I could draw. Finally, I settled for a simple cherry drawing labelled ‘For beginners - Easy to follow’. Everything went well until I placed my pencil on the paper.

‘5B is too dark’, ‘HB will ruin the shades,’ ‘Kneaded erasers or mechanical erasers will help you give it a shine,’ and ‘Now that the rough sketch is complete, I’ll do just a bit of off-camera touch ups,’ and then the artist coming back with a print-like masterpiece.

Then I believed that a kitten sketch must be an easier tutorial to follow. My love for them may also make it easier. My first attempt left me all sweaty and tired, the second left me with a headache and a paining wrist (from the amount of rubbing the eraser forward and backward). The first one looked like the cat had been starved for years, and its head was shaved, and the second one straight up looked like the demon from my nightmares or some haunted creature, taking in account its eyes and fur. The fur, the eyes, the tail, the nose and the whiskers were the hardest part.

Surely the person who said ‘Art is relaxing’ must have not been in their right minds, or either have been heavily drunk.

Then, after a brief search, I found out that cooking is also ‘a relaxing hobby to pick up’. So, I decided to make some Chinese for tonight. ‘Ooh, Chinese, cupcakes, marshmallow ice cream and cheese fries—how hard could it be? Looks like it’s going to be amazing tonight. But a meal isn’t a meal alone—I’ll call Saira and Fariha too!’ I began to count the chickens before they hatched… But I can’t deny that this is the reason my friends call me ‘the one who lives in the air castle’. First, I looked up a recipe to make the perfect, spicy, mouth watering Chinese. First, I cut up some vegetables. The amount of anxiety I faced when cutting them to prevent a bleeding finger was unforgettable. I actually didn't think that cooking would be so stressful! Anyways I cut up all the vegetables and then I put the rice in water to cook. Then I searched the cupboards for soy sauce, but couldn't find any. Then I had to venture to the market and come back home to find out that it was on the counter top, waiting for me. Then I open the fridge to find the meat I had marinated earlier. In 3 hours, I had readied the meal, aka the Chinese I had arranged for tonight's dinner. Then I moved on to the next level: the cupcakes. After making the assumed sponge soft cup cake base, I decided to make the cream for the frosting. It was the most difficult task to decide what colour to choose for the frosting. After an entire 2-hour session of frosting, mixing, layering and finalizing, I finally decided that it was time to bake. Before baking it was the dream cupcake I had wanted for tonight. But unfortunately, after baking the once soft, sweet and creamy hazel chocolate coloured cupcakes transformed into rock hard, disgustingly and surprisingly sour, ivory black mounds of sheer disappointment. Sobbing, I retreated from the kitchen and quietly disposed of tonight's dinner's spotlight dessert. Then I moved on to the Marshmallow ice cream idea. After greasing the inside of a 250 ml Olper's milk box with cooking oil I filled it with 15 regular marshmallows, as per the instructions of the video. Then I put it inside the microwave for 1 minute. In the meantime, I took the ice-creams out of the freezer. After the microwave beeped, indicating that the one-minute timer had come to an end, I ran very excitedly to see the results. I believe you have seen the elephant toothpaste videos, in which you can clearly see how the formula erupts like a volcano. That is the exact definition of what I found inside the microwave. It was covered in gooey marshmallow disaster. Quickly, so that mom doesn't see this heart-attack disaster, I cleaned up the microwave and tentatively picked up the milk box and discarded it into the trash can, hiding it like a criminal trying to cover up a crime scene. 'Another idea flopped,' I sighed. 'Maybe I can't have dessert tonight. Anyways, how hard can cheese fries be? Cut up potatoes, fry them, and melt them in cheese. Easy peasy!' Well that was only limited to saying; everything went well until I entered the kitchen.

When I was cutting the potatoes I accidentally cut my hand which was not unexpected and I could predict that it was right round the corner. Then I poured a lot of oil into mom's favourite cooking pot. I intended to turn it up to medium flame, but accidentally turned it to high flame, motivating some burning oil to pop up and scald my hand. I yelled in pain, but to keep the fact that I am cooking a secret, I quickly quieted up and applied toothpaste on the burns to soothe the pain. Then, one by one, I put each potato in the pot very carefully. I watched idly as the deformed potato slices or so-called ‘fries’ swam about in dark yellow water, emitting the only wonderful smell in the kitchen. I decided that I should begin melting the cheese while the fries were getting ready. I took out an entire mozzarella block; don’t ask me, I didn’t know that I should’ve used shredded cheese. So, I took it and put it in a glass bowl. I used a spoon to check how much the block was frozen. Then I put it in the microwave.

Seconds later Mom came by and said ‘What are you making?’ she sniffed the air.

‘It’s a surprise! Although please keep an eye on the cheese in the microwave for me,’ I said absent-mindedly as I was scrolling down my phone, telling my friends how wonderful and ‘delectable’ the food would be tonight. ‘When it’s done, use the spoon I put in the bowl to see if it’s of the de- ‘

‘Wait, WHAT?’ Mom screamed. ‘You put the spoon in the bowl, and the bowl is in the microwave?’

‘Yeah,’ I said normally, surprised by her reaction. Mom glared at me like I was stupid. She shrieked and told me to stop the microwave. I complied, unsure about my mistake. Oh, how I wish I could write down what happened in the next five minutes, but I am afraid of the responses.

Then, after a 23 minutes and 14 seconds lecture about accidents regarding ‘spoons in the microwave’, I suddenly remembered that I had fries in the fryer. ‘Mum!’ I cried, ‘there are fries in the fryer!’ And I rushed, and - oh the series of emotions, a roller coaster of feelings that captured my heart-okay that’s too much, but - the perfectly yellow and cotton soft fries were now as black as void and burnt to a crisp. I cannot explain more. All I can say is that I ordered pizza rolls, cheese fries, garlic bread and brownies for dinner that night.

Then I read that exercise is relaxing, but photography is too - after ‘eeny meeny miny moe’, I picked exercise.

Due to lots of suggestions and positive reviews, I tried Chloe Ting’s two week shred challenge, paired with Pamela Reif, Oppserve and other fitness influencers’ routines and workouts. I began with the beginner’s workout, but oh my God! The stretches tore my legs, the running gave me joint pain every night and the planks made every minutes feel like hell. Crunches, high knees, what not … I resigned to dieting, and lo and behold - the diet made my bones grow out of me. Instead of making me skinnier, it made me retain more fat.

I decided to choose photography. I got a second-hand camera, then went off to the park with a photogenic friend. Honestly, it didn’t look that bad at first. I even wondered what could go wrong? Then, I took my camera, walked towards a large bushy hedge with beautiful white and purple flowers where the sky looked so gorgeously gradient that I could only gaze at it. I said to my friend, who I had nicknamed ‘Aphrodite’ for her looks, ‘Eloise, stand over there.’ She stood there, but the photo looked ordinary. ‘Can you…pose a bit?’ I said impatiently. ‘But I don’t know how to!’ she nervously shrugged her shoulders. ‘Okay, turn a bit to the right, look up and - please stop fiddling with your scarf - ok, and smile - oh, a more graceful one please.’ I was getting angrier and frustrated as the time grew by, and in the end, I told her to pose in any style she wanted. She posed so horribly, and when I asked why, she replied that they were trending on TikTok. I grimaced and she immediately changed her pose. When the sky darkened, she was still posing, when suddenly she made a strikingly beautiful pose. ‘Stop! Don’t move!’ I said, overjoyed. ‘It’s the best pose ever!’ I quickly focused my camera and the streetlights opened. Oh, what a lovely sight it was! But then, the screen went black. There was a sign that indicated ‘battery dead’. I screamed, and I wanted to cry. I told her that she could go, and when she did, I grabbed my hair furiously and started to rethink my life decisions. I grimly cycled my way home.

The next day I discussed my problem to my family. My brother suggested gaming. My sister said reading. My father then smiled and calmly said, ‘Dear, have you tried everything?’

‘Yes, everything!’ I sadly sighed.

‘The world has not ended yet,’ Baba soothed me. ‘You may have tried everything but not the most obvious one!’

I gasped in surprise. ‘But how, Baba! How could I not have noticed it?’

He put a hand on my shoulder and said, ‘Dear, have you tried remembering God on a daily basis?’

I felt ashamed and surprised at the same time. How could I have forgotten that? All this time, I had neglected the most evident choice. From that day onwards, I dedicated one hour for God and my goal to attain inner peace had been successfully achieved.

The bell rang, and a wave of excitement spread over the students of grade six. The teacher came in, and beamed at the class. After a small gossip about the places that the students had visited, the teacher finally asked about the homework she had assigned.

Rachel stood up and walked to the front. She said that art was most relaxing for her and said that Google said that too. I, of course, held an objection. ‘Look, Rachel,’ I began. ‘Just because it is said online doesn’t mean it is true.’ She tried defending her choice, but ended up giving in after listening to my experiences about art. Then Michael volunteered. He suggested cooking, because - once again - Wikipedia noted it. At last, everyone was tired of trying to find the actual real relaxing hobby. Suddenly Aster folded her arms and argued with me. ‘Oh, then,’ she frowned. ‘Please do tell us what you think because you have denied all our ideas. We’ll see how comforting yours is!’ The whole class started shouting and nodding in agreement. Girls sneered at me and boys mocked me. I said ‘Okay, that’s perfectly fine! I’m sure you’ll accept my concept.’ The whole class was nervous. What now?

I squared my shoulders with a not-so-smug smug face. I had written a poem so as to intrigue the entire class. I introduced my idea calmly, openly and honestly. I first stated all my other cases with the apparently famous options. Then, seeing that I had given the class a good mood with my hilarious fails, I began:

‘But then, I wondered,

What shall I do?

So many blunders

Have made me ask you.

But I know the answer

It’s perfect, undeniable

It’s not about dancers

Or theories unreliable.

It’s unlike the rest,

I’ll say it’s most gaily

My option is the best

Remembering God daily!’

None of the class was now in opposition of me. The teacher and even Aster were red and speechless. ‘You should clap for her,’ the teacher said. ‘You all had such similar and boring ideas. She has the best option, and I am proud to have such a student!’

Amidst the thunder of clapping I silently thanked God and felt 100-fold more grateful towards my family for their opinion.

Remember, never forget Him. He, who created us; He, who gave us life, and an opportunity to participate in this test.