How difficult is it to let go of everything you have ever known? When you have spent your whole life in one place and consider it your world, the prospect of ever having to leave grips you with fear. This is the story of a teenager who went through the exact same scenario. On the evening of her sixteenth birthday she pranced into her living room, calling over her shoulder “Ma! I’m going out with my friends.” “Okay”, her mother replied, “but be back soon. Your father and I have something to discuss with you.” “Must be my birthday gift”, she thought to herself with glee. “You got it!” she said before taking off at full speed to spend the day with her friends whom she had known all her life. As usual the evening was full of fun and games, laughter and teasing, leg-pulling and warm hugs.
Later that night when she got back home exhausted and content, she immediately remembered her mother’s words. She ran to her father and squealed “Hi Papa! Tell me what surprise have you planned for me!” Her father’s smile did not quite reach his eyes. He could totally sense the reaction he was about to get from his only daughter. “We are moving to Mumbai. In a month.” A deafening silence followed the announcement. Slowly she retraced her steps, trying to process what she had just heard. The days passed swiftly and finally the time had come to leave her friends and her beloved city behind. Turning around in her seat to wave at the tear stricken faces of her friends, she vowed to herself to never let any other place get close to her heart.
Putting on a brave face for the sake of her parents, she fought not to cry as the flight landed in the City of Dreams. Upon reaching her new house she quietly went to her room. Looking out at the city lights through the fancy French windows of her 19th floor apartment she couldn’t hold it in any longer. Slowly all the pent up sadness flooded her eyes as she broke down completely. That was the first night of the rest of her life.
The next day her uncle came over to take the family out for a drive. Cruising, more like crawling through the Mumbai traffic, she got more and more dejected as she noticed the stark differences of the big city from her beloved hometown. Glancing at her forlorn face, her uncle remarked, “Let me show you something awesome.” He then proceeded to take a detour and they finally arrived at their destination. “Wow! What is that?” she asked, suddenly excited and impressed. “
The Bandra-Worli Sea Link”, came the reply. Unable to take her eyes off the beauty that was the sea link, she forgot all about her woes, scrambling to take it all in and capture what her eyes saw. She was mesmerized and that’s when her uncle knew, his job was done. She began to see the city in a new light, eventually growing to fall in love with it. That day she learnt that life indeed goes on and one must always be open to new experiences.
So thank you, Aditya Birla Group, for contributing to that teenager’s life in the way you did. I am sharing this story with all of you here today because, you guessed it, that teenager was me. I am eternally grateful for my experience at that time which transformed me into the person I am today. As Matt Bevin said, “While it may seem small, the ripple effects of small things is extraordinary.”
#ABGWooMe #IIMUdaipur