Beacon of hope and strength – Meghna Bagchi, IIM Udaipur

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.