A girl called me a depressed maniac and another tried effortlessly to turn me into an optimist. Little do they know that I am entitled to whatever I am.
I know this one girl in my class who deliberately sits alone in the corner of the main lobby. I fail to decipher her expressions. Her classmates don’t bother her anymore because they believe she is an introvert and yet a good observer.
I don’t want to believe that because that is not the story behind her eyes filled with despair. She is scarred from inside and yet she manages to smile at me each time she finds me looking at her. She incentivizes me, not the people who talk about brands all day long and cry because their boyfriends are ignoring them. I value each and every word of hers not because she is wrecked from inside but because she is wiser than most people who only ask me about what brand they should go for. The irony being I still wear BATA shoes to my university.
The night before the first day of university, I was in bed with my face buried between my two favourite stuffed toys crouching and bringing myself together. It was hard to get up in the morning and get ready to be around so many new faces. I was scared. So scared that one would call me a coward. Eventually things got better and nobody got to know about the loser that resides inside my head when it comes to making friends.
Time flew and I managed to get along with everyone. Meanwhile, I forgot one thing. These are not my people. They won’t and they can’t handle my bullshit. Stepping out of the little bubble I live in, I realized that everyone has a different story and most of the people are judgemental which is totally acceptable because life has taught them nothing which I believe is a blessing. Thus I gave up. I quit trying to be one of them and decided to build a wall around me that only a few people could cross.
People told me that I am crazy about water when they saw me running away from them but they Don’t know why I love the sea so much. I was dying to seek comfort since a long time in what they believe is just water for me. It was not just water, it was my best friend through thick and thin. I took the first decision of my life sitting on the jetty with the sea by my side.
I noticed my steps getting faster when walking towards the shore and then cringe a little before taking the final step into the cold water of the sea and letting the sand slip from beneath my feet. I did not look back to watch them wave at me. I just stared at the far end of the sea where I saw nothing but the sun finally giving up on me. I felt weak but i knew the sea had my back like it did long time ago. It was the sound of the waves, the solacity and the people around me that left me baffeled. I felt lost so I took a few more steps deeper into the sea till it was neck high. I let the salt seep into my vulnerable body. I flipped open my hair and let the water adore my body and then turned my face towards the sky and wondered how far I have reached in life since the last time I held the water so close to me. I swam along the shore with my face buried into the water wishing that my life could have been as calm as the sea or maybe that is how I saw it and as soon as I came back to the reality to catch whatever was left of my breath, I look at all the shadows fading slowly. I knew I needed to go back to the shore and let the reality hit me across my face once again but the waves stopped me and I gave up. I wanted this all along. The closure you seek at times lies in the place where it all started. You just need to be brave enough to face it and then give up.
Give up not because you can’t win anymore but because you know you have lost too many times so it’s okay to lose once for your benefit to start over again and maybe this time the game is going to be in your hand.
