The story which you are going to read now has the potential to make an indelible opinion about the situations. OK, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but try not to develop any strong opinions.
I was in my 11th class, happily cleared my board exams and enjoying the sweetest days of my teens. What is the best life of a teen you could imagine? Put me in that picture. Good with grades, amazing friends, pampering family and a good looking crush being a constant motivation to attend school. Until one fine evening when I came back home after my routine basketball game with my friends (Mostly males). As soon as I enter the house, I see my mom crying and dad sitting extremely angry. To my wonders I see one of my closest friend’s parents also sitting in the hall and crying. I try to greet them, but instead get bashed by my mother. My friend got pregnant. To defend herself she happened to tell her parents that I use to accompany her every time. It must be hard for anyone to believe but I did not have any idea about any of these happenings. You must be thinking why am I say it's hard to believe? Because I told this exact same thing to my parents repeatedly and they chose not to believe me every single time.
I was shifted to a new school, in a new city, in the middle of my 11th standard. Suddenly I was full of insecurity, anger, loneliness and feeling helpless about the situation I was put in. My father had stopped talking to me and I was deprived of friends. It affected me to an extent that I ended up scoring very poorly in my 11th standard. My family chose to blame me again and I could totally understand the reasons behind it. The hope of getting back my parents love and trust, kept me going . I scored decent in my 12th class and decided to opt for an under graduation program my parents chose for me. Yes I decided to pursue Btech. Now that I think about it, I guess I took that decision only for a reason.
Didn’t I mention about a good looking crush of mine from school? Guess what? I finally got a chance to meet him. My college was in Delhi and he was in IMA, Dehradun. somehow we met in the airport and kept meeting after that every now and then, which eventually made us like each other so much we ended up dating each other. I dated him for 5 years before I decided to tell my parents about him. I would miss onto a very important detail if I don't mention he was the best thing that happened to me so far.
I was working in Pune and he was posted in Bhatinda. Eventually in all these years my relations with my father had improved to an extent that I could express about my choices openly to him. Both of us told our parents about each other and to your surprise our parents happily accepted us without any drama. My life could have not been better, until one day he stopped calling. He did not call for the next 3 days and then his dad called me up and said “He is gone.” When I spoke to him the last time, we were discussing about the guest list for our engagement ceremony and now he was gone.
I think I was also gone for a really long time after this incident. My family and my office was really supportive. I was hardly productive and spent most of my time crying or visiting doctors. Suddenly I felt I had slipped into the same old position I was in few years back. I decided to quit my job and stay with my parents for a while.
I took a train and was heading back home. Train stopped at a station. I don’t remember which station it was, but there was another train standing on the other side of the platform too. I saw an old couple climbing down the bridge to catch the train standing on the other side of the platform. The train started moving while they were still climbing down the bridge and shouting “Please help! Someone stop the train” but the station was too busy to notice them. I don’t know what rush I felt inside me that I came running outside my train, rushed towards their train, went inside one of the bogies and pulled the chain. The train stopped, and the couple managed to enter the train. They noticed what I did and waved at me saying “God bless you, live long!”.
I went back to my train, locked myself in the washroom and cried for a very long time. When I came outside the washroom, I have no idea why but I was feeling good and relieved after a really long time. Suddenly I knew the feeling which I got after waving back to that old couple was the feeling I want to live for.
I never looked back after that. It was difficult but I chose to work on myself, and I still am doing that every single day. The only thing I want to convey from my story is some days end good and some days are just horribly bad, but one thing remains constant and that is no matter what we keep moving on. Life is full of challenges, and all of us are fighting our own every single day till the end of our days. Just keep reminding yourself how far you have come and what strength you have gained in the process. Remember what doesn’t kill you, it makes you stronger, and all of us are yet to discover our true potentials. So be brave and know that you are rare. You are precious.