Yes, I’m going to be all Konkona Sen from Wake Up Sid and give this title.
No, I haven’t found myself a Sid yet.
But, I’d like to think that my life is no less than a Bollywood movie!
I spent the last 2 months of school life amidst books - day and night. I kept telling myself that once I get that 95+, I’ll make it to the college of my dreams in my city and life will go uphill. But Life, I realized, does not go uphill or downhill as per our convenience. It took its own course and I ended up in a completely different city at the opposite end of the country. Moving to Bangalore was a major change in my life and this is where a new chapter or perhaps, a new edition of my book of experiences begins.
Change is something that never came easily to me. Unlike the other people I met in college, I had never shifted cities or even a school. My life has been a series of constants and these past 18 years were a habit. You know how they say too much of everything is bad? It was time to break this habit.
My academic year started off relatively early as compared to all the other colleges. While all my batchmates from school were living up their lives, I was here. In a new city. Trying to figure out the roads, the language and the people. None of which I was good at, at least for the first 3 months. At the moment, I cursed my state of affairs. But now that I look back, it was I who was having the time of her life.
There is something about being in a new city. I can’t really put my finger on it, but there is something that makes you grow as a person. You become more patient because you realize sooner or later that your initial months or weeks will be a series of failures. Failing to wake up on time. Failing to make new friends. Failing to keep up with old friends. Failing to fit in. Failing to iron your own clothes. My failures were indicators that I could not afford to be the same lazy person I had been all my life.
I spent my first month counting the number of days left for us to break for our first vacation. 3 months passed by and I found myself between people who I slowly started becoming really fond of. I started going out more, alone. I learnt the importance of my own company before I appreciated anybody else’s. Everything slowly started making sense and once I made new friends, 85% attendance suddenly didn’t seem like a problem anymore. And gradually, the pessimist in me started converting into an optimist.
Being away from home was a big challenge. But this city has grown on me. I learnt that Home is a subjective entity. The distance got me closer to my parents and my bond with my sibling only grew stronger. I measure my growth in little things. I no longer flinch at crossing roads. I can now iron my clothes without roasting my hand. I no longer fear to be alone. I can now manage to get up on stage and am completely okay with making a fool out of myself as long as I learn something when I get off it. This city has seen me going from a girl who came in as an 18-year-old cranky teenager, to one who is now leaving for summer break as a young adult.
Since I was a child, people told me that it was a big bad world out there. The truth is that you can’t learn anything about the big bad world out there till you leave your little bubble of a world. Comfort zones exist to be broken and Change, I learnt, is that best friend who you initially hate, but later, value the most.
Deah Gulwani
.
March 12, 2018
March 12, 2018
Comments (0)
*Some Comments would not be shown if marked as Spam