Those Cherished Days.

Throughout the vicious life cycle, we traverse through many levels. We learn something new, something worth implementing in each of them. We obtain various life skills in each of them. Sometimes use them, sometimes misuse them but as they say it making mistakes are a part of learning. Success is how much you bounce when you reach the bottom. It is not defined by what position you are in rather it is defined by how well you maintain that position. The levels complicate, paths become treacherous and trodding on them without the valuable life skills becomes dangerous.  But in the midst of all these, you do not forget the basic trajectory of moving forward.

School, the very name rings bells of nostalgia, cuddling eye-watering memories, untold secrets, moments of achievement, moments when you have felt the world around you go black, mischief’s, group punishments, first friends, bench mates, classmates and all kinds of mates, recess and the list is endless. It is like the house of ants, you don’t know how many are inside but when one comes out, then all come one after the other. It is the base of our growth, a foundation stone of our existence in this world. The school life in any person’s life plays a very significant part in shaping his future. Not that everybody gets the all-happiness coated school life to grace himself with but nevertheless each and everybody’s school life teach him lessons most apt for him.

Starting a school life as a lonely girl has its achievements: you always have an aura of mystery around you and grudgingly you enjoy it. Children are skeptical about making friendship, they are prejudiced with their own simple give and take policies. You share a chocolate, you are a friend, the very next day you are no less than a stranger because you disagreed to share your favourite tiffin with her. This is the general rule of friendship for the first 3-4 years. Your bench mate is automatically your best friend for that year. In the midst of this you fall back on making your group of friends because you have chosen to remain quiet. Out of the blue as they put in “there’s always a way”, you are presented with an opportunity to form a group and you savour that moment and that friendship with all your heart and soul. The class monitor who happens to be your friend makes you run errands for her. You happily run them because you feel you get to be close to them, you make-believe a fantasy that you are her close friend. You don’t actually think of her as your friend, it’s just a consolation prize to your empty soul which till then no one has been able to capture.

But patience bears sweet fruit and there comes a girl in your path with whom you can be yourself. She happens to be a newcomer and you are made to sit with her to help her out. You form a bond with her, a special bond. Apart from just helping out, you teach each other the values of trust, forgiveness, sharing, apologies and fights. Pulling her hair out of fun you have your first ever fight and you come to know the value of friendship. You confide in her your likes, dislikes and she tells you of her life. You wonder about the different lifestyles and expectantly wait for the whole day just for that language class so that you can pour your thoughts to her and clear your mind. It feels strange but you don’t talk to her outside the language class despite being in the same class.

Then middle school comes running by and your language class friend extends her friendship to more than just being confined in the language class. Meanwhile your group friends also extend their friendship and you feel happy. But it takes a stone or two of insults to make you look through their sugar-coated smiles and words to see how misguided you have been. You tend to be on your guard and you finally after a series of repeated insults, betrayals become indifferent to their remarks and turn a deaf ear to it and your back to them. You miss them but the moment you show your humane nature, you are treated with the same feelings of disgust as if you were some street mongrel just fresh out of gutter. You tend to become more introvert, hibernate your saddened heart to infinite sleep. You concentrate on the remaining friendships you have and on your academic life.

He who opens a school door, closes a prison.

Studies have revealed, people who have an incredible social life fail in their private life. Keeping par with the statistics, you excel in them. Those early morning group studying almost every other day because your language teacher is very strict; those applying different tactics to escape being punished, sitting on the last bench with the open book in hand and while the whole class stands for failing to answer, you answer hideously looking into the book. Birthdays become a nightmare for the birthday bumps seem no less than atom bombs, giving code names to teachers is a norm. Slowly the time passes by and suddenly you realize that in a few months time you are going to appear in your first public exam. But wait, you have a very important lesson to learn before you complete the first significant level of your life. This introvert, timid girl has to stand up for herself. Misunderstandings have already crept into your life and you have been verbally abused in front of the class day in and day out. People have questioned your character and you still chose to be numb. But one single blow has changed everything. Your parents have been accused of not giving you enough food to eat, you are called a beggar and that inflames your blood, it gives a spark to all those years of being silent and trying to ignore every injustice hurled at you and you pour out all that you have in your heart.

You think of yourself as being cursed and unlucky but you were in a delusion then. It was through those injustices, through those not-so-good experiences that God prepared you and made you what you are today. Today, you are no longer influenced and affected by such trivial remarks, you laugh it off. You understand the motives of people, you are a better judge and you are practical enough to survive in this world. Now when you see other people in your shoes, you guide them and feel happy that at least someone was saved. Though the wounds are hard to heal and have left a scar you look forward to life because you know that it was a delusion. There is a greater world beyond it. With tears in your eyes, you now remember those moments of happiness which shall always be registered in your heart and with a smile in your face you are reminded of countless incidents.