Senior Among Us

This whole incident took place before I even decided to be a writer. Years passed by and today when I am actually pursuing my dream profession, I trust it is the right time to share it. This is the light version of the actual incident that I once witnessed. 

She covered her face with shame, filled her bag with embarrassment and her lunch box with sheer guilt. Everything was reminding her of just one thing. Only one sin that she committed. she failed. she failed herself. She failed the expectations of her parents, teachers, friends, relatives, and acquaintances. She failed in class 10. 

<Take a Deep breath>

<Twice>

At that point, nothing was as big as failing the board exam. It was the corresponding word for committing a crime. At least, this is what she felt after failing the board exam. 

The story began from the day she walked again in the same classroom. Her surroundings have changed. There were unfamiliar faces but that wasn’t the worst part. 

The teacher entered the classroom. Finally a familiar face. 

That was the worst part. 

...

Hello, Students. I am your new class Teacher. My name is Anika. I will also teach you History in class 10. So, let’s begin (The teacher glanced at her)with a brief introduction. 

When it was her turn, she, hesitantly, gave her introduction. For others, it was their identity, for her, it was a shame. I saw startled faces after her introduction. Some of them had already made assumptions about her previous life and her academics. Some even went to extent that she was under bad influenced and hence failed in board exams despite having a stronghold on studies earlier. I heard many renders of the story of her failing the exam. Anyway, that was the day when I first saw Anika. 

But this was neither the end nor the beginning. Every day she had to carry the same burden with her, wherever she went, whenever she went. The mere thoughts about her unworthiness started haunting her around the clock. 

Often epiphany begins with a small occurrence, it begins with the realization of one’s self-worthiness. She weighed herself all wrong. She needed to change her identity and she needed to prove herself. 

She had no choice left but to achieve the opposite of what she had at that time. That is what came to my mind after knowing her truth. 

Even she had similar thoughts. At that moment, she had just one purpose in life. She sacrificed her sleep and her food. She eliminated all her bad habits. She stopped her exposure to the world for a while just like Sun did in Svalbard and after studying day and night, she finally topped in the board exam in her second attempt. You can draw inspiration from her story. 

The Twist. 

It was supposed to happen the way I described it. But to your surprise, it didn’t. Because her surrounding did not let her do it. They kept reminding her every day that she was a failure, even her parents were very unsupportive at that time. She was swimming in the sea of self-loathing in search of a bank. 

It took her a mammoth amount of hard work every day to pass that year and class 10. It’s kinda strange? Reality is stranger than fiction. Maybe in near future, people will be driven away with their attention to something else. Maybe in near future, things will change as that is nature. Maybe in near future, she will be succeeded. But back then, she was having a war with herself and with others on every front, each day. 

At first, even I had made the wrong assumption about her. Even I treated her like others did. Even I leveled her as a senior among us.