To add to this, I may not say this very often, possibly because words can never express how grateful I am to my teachers, the heads of the schools, the director and my parents who have always guided me with unconditional support. I thank, congratulate and wish all the best to my friends who will definitely be the brightest lamps in any future walks down the memory-lane.
I would end with the words of Napoleon Hill,’ Cherish your vision and your dreams as they are the children of your soul; the blueprints of your ultimate achievements.’
What to Write?
The planning and arrangement of the story was still going on in my mind. Finally I made it up perfectly, just with a topic that was missing. At last I had decided what my topic would be. Ooops! There was another problem: now that I had made up my topic, I forgot the rest of the story. Let’s see, first you have to write an introduction, right? It sounds very easy, but it is really hard when you are about to write one; especially on a topic like “I Ate the Tiger”; we had to write on topics related to nature, and plants and animals for the yearbook, you see. How about, “I was very hungry and…” May be not. Well, check out this one, “One day I was going on a family trip by plane, when it suddenly caught fire.” This seems to be a little better, doesn’t it?
As I had written it down, there would be no problem if I had lost it from the mind folder. So I started making the main body, “As the front half of it glided through the ocean, we landed safely on an island inside with its back half. None of the passengers got scared hoping that they were going to be rescued as soon as possible. But three whole days passed, no one had come. Some people got sick while others were starving. No one had enough energy to create any sort of a noise or chaos. Everyone was lying down while I noticed a hill pretty far away from us. I knew that we could find something to eat if we had managed to reach it. We walked for a few metres and sat down to rest. Suddenly a big tiger appeared and chased us to the hill. Then, no one couldn’t really walk any further.”
So, how is it going? Pretty good, ha? But the conclusion was still left. At least I didn’t forget to write it. Here it goes, “As I was trailing behind everyone tiredly, the tiger caught me first. It was just about to eat me when my tummy rumbled. I was so hungry that I ate the tiger instead of it eating me.” I think that it is not that bad, is it? But now I feel that I could have written it in a better way. Aaw! What else is there to write?
Two Lives
As an inquisitive teenager my answers came from the other side of the wall. Without any friends or any guidance from an adult, life seemed a disorganised jumble of orphans all around me. Germany had long recovered from the Second World War and I remembered very little of my parents’ appearance. I often went and asked the Wall: Why did my parents abandon me? At the orphanage, History classes were still as boring as ever with the Matron drooling about a man called ‘Hitler’. After four weeks of studying that single chapter, I finally took the trouble to read the textbook. What I learnt made me hate ‘Second World War’ all the more. Again I went and stood before the great wall to get the answers to my questions, as I did not understand ‘war’. At all times, the wall would make me understand.
Oh! I haven’t yet explained who or what is the Wall! Life for the 300 orphans at Matron Moritt’s orphanage started and ended within those few square feet. We had not ever seen a glimpse of the outer world except during a picnic in the park behind. The Wall was sort of my idol whom I worshipped, a mother whom I loved and it was also the boundary of the orphanage. I pleaded it to tell me, what it saw on the other side of it. Yet it wouldn’t do so. I was curious to go out in the world and explore, make friends.
Now, if you called me indifferent or a selfish person, then yes, I was one. As I was not satisfied to be tied in one place like a prisoner. I had been forever curious until the thought struck me…
I was reading ‘Tom Sawyer’ when the idea of running away occurred to me. That night I took a few of my best Sunday clothes and a stolen gold chain, and used my legs as fast as I could. It was dark and excitement bubbled in my veins. Tears of joy had already started welling up in my eyes. On that smoky night nothing seemed clear. I wasn’t even able to see the bulky figure ahead. I ran into Matron…
Fear paralyzed my senses and the thought of the consequences I was going to meet made my body numb. Yet for some reason I kept on running. AAAAAAaaaa!!I woke up. Sweating and panting, realizing that I was still in my well decorated bedroom. I was terrified and wondered that: Had I just visited somebody’s mind?
What a peculiar dream?
Or was it a serious case of re-incarnation?
No, never, that only happens in stories.
I was glad that I had parents, a beautiful home and friends in dozens. Just to assure myself that I had not stepped into the twentieth century, I tiptoed to my parent’s room and saw them sleeping soundly.
I was in India, not Germany! Huh! What a relief. To gratify that questioning sensation in my heart I even went to my irksome sister’s room. So what if we bickered all the while and she constantly teased me, she was actually very loving and fond of me. When I saw her sleeping there an EVIL thought occurred to me. I hadn’t used my paints for a long time. Alas! I was back to my mischievous self . . . Admiring me handiwork, I went and prepared to go back to bed. After all I had school the next day and I needed to sleep.
