I woke up every single day
for a whole year, looking up at the ceiling and cocking my ears for the
familiar sound of M.S singing her famous Vishnu sahasranamam, mom yelling along
with the C.D. player, dad yelling over the racket that M.S. was creating,
Pooja’s deep breathing. I hear nothing. There is dead silence. I look around me
and then realize that the scenario is far from what I had wanted it to be. Two
beds, next to mine, cramped together, and two people on the bed, sound asleep
was what I saw. I sat up, rubbing my eyes and it all came to me. I was in
hostel. I was alone. There was no mom to wake me up. There was no dad to yell
at me for tying my lace wrong. There was no sister to fight with me when I
fought for the last dosa. There was no M.S. noise to make me want to throw
stuff and punch people out of the way (well, I guess I have told you enough
about my burning passion for her voice!).
I moved to the common
bathroom and saw my reflection on the mirror. My hair was red and bushy and my
eyes were bulged up like that of a frog’s. I was somebody else totally. I
couldn’t remember the girl I used to be a year back. I couldn’t imagine being
the girl I was a year back. I was timid, with oily hair and never cared about
anything but my books. Everything had changed in the past year. I found
friends, I lost many. But finally, the people who made me strong are the people
who are with me and who will be with me for ever.
Parvathya, a long haired girl
with bright shiny face and the cutest dimple I had ever seen looked at me, the
second day of college a year back. I looked back at her. She looked elusive and
mysterious. She never talked much except for a few sentences here and there.
She looked like somebody who had so much grief inside her and yet smiled. I
liked her instantly. She said “I like the way you mix match with printed pants
and plain kurtas”. I knew then that she knew nothing about how disgusting I
dressed and how illogical and dumb my clothes looked. (I kept this fact to
myself and parted with a courteous thank you) She became somebody without whom
I cannot imagine a life. She became a part of who I am, a very vital part which
will never leave me. I say “hello” on the phone like her, I over use the words
“thrilled”, “dumb” and “bye” just to prove that I got it from her. I brutally
insult her, I snap at her, I know I have hurt her, many a times. Sometimes I
feel like I don’t deserve someone like her, but eventually I realized that I
was there when she needed me and she was there when I needed her and I knew
that no matter what, she would always be there for me, now and for ever. She
squishes my ears like it’s her birth right, she bites it like that is her
greatest ambition. There are innumerable movies that we have watched together,
most of them out of sheer inability to listen to her go on about what a boring
person I am and how I waste my life! I don’t even remember how many times we
have gone on the purple scooty and how many times were so close to getting
called up by the cops. Every day is an adventure with her and though I am kind
of used to it, she surprises me every day. Her face is a sun, shining its best,
for ever. She can make even the saddest day happy, what with her infectious
grin. I asked her one day, “What would you do if I were being punched to death
by a group of thugs?” what she said touched me. She said “I will protect you
till my last breath. I will shield you.” Though I laughed it off, what she said
was something any human would want another person to say. What she said would
have made any person jealous. I will hold on tight to it, for ever. And this is
for the number of people who have called you clingy and boring and what not.
“You have lost one of the
sweetest and most amazing person on earth. You have lost the most caring and
most selfless person I have ever known. You have lost a loyal and faithful
being. I pity you. I pity your existence. You were given a chance to know her.
You threw it away. You chose it, but you will never get someone even close to
her again.”
Nidheya, a wild girl, who I
never noticed, even two months into college, was a surprise package. A
voracious reader, she was one of a kind. She had wild ideas and a creative
brain and struck me as someone different and ingenious. She talked and talked
and talked and never felt bored. She can make conversation even in the middle
of the night. She can talk about anything from books to T.V. shows to movies.
She introduced me to some amazing series and made me read like a maniac. She
never left it at that, she called me up in the wee hours of the night to talk
to me about it. We slowly got to know each other. There was something
definitely unique about her. She wanted to color her hair purple, wanted to get
high only with people whom she could trust and she wanted to talk. Yes, so you
get the point. Addicted to Harry Potter, and many other book series and T.V.
shows, she made me want to read and watch them as well. I never really got to
know her when I was with the people who I actually thought were friends. When I
did get to know her, I somehow always think that she was the person who brought
me out of the shyness and made me a strong person. We have gone on innumerable
photography expeditions, have spent hours at a time talking about characters in
a book, have spent hours at a time, skimming books in land mark.
“Oie you are getting late for
college! What are you doing, staring at yourself in the mirror?” I started and
looked around and saw my room mate, eyeing me warily. I brushed past her,
muttering something about no freedom and no time to get lost in thoughts.
I am at my grand mom’s house.
My mom is here, to do everything she can to reduce my grand mom’s burden during
my stay here for my internship. She wakes me up every morning. She even fed me
dosa today. The familiar sense of being looked after crept over me and I smiled
to myself. I touched my mom’s cheek and she looked at me, quizzically. I just
waved and left the house. She came running after me, to say bye. She waited at
the front door, waving at me, till I went out of sight. I remember standing on
my toes to wave one last time before the red car swept her away from my view. I
walked towards my goal, content that I have people who have made me who I am. I
walk, happy that I am wanted. I walk across, feeling immensely up beat, content
about how my life has turned out.
Cheers,
Aishu
