When I realised

This is the story of a young girl name Celia. She was turning fourteen soon. Currently in Class VII, she was thinking of her life so far. This may seem like an odd thought for a young schoolgirl of her age but she felt otherwise. She was thinking how she lost her friends in Class III, how she survived alone till Class VII and now, she had finally made friends, the foremost amongst them being Rowan and Eudora. They were not in Class VII but she didn’t mind that. Her only friend in her classroom was Briana. She was a new girl, being manipulated by a cunning girl, Ira.

It was today, that she sat thinking of all that she had been feeling. She started doubting herself, whether she is a good person or not. Her mother came into the room and asked, “What is my little peanut thinking?” Celia voiced her thoughts. Her mother thought about it for a few minutes. She put herself in Celia’s shoes and understood how she was feeling. Although Celia hid her feelings very well her mother understood her feelings like no one else.

She said, “Peanut, I know you might be feeling forlorn and unhappy in your class. I think tea break must be the best time for you. I understand your feelings very well. Peanut, you know mama has lots of friends, right?”

“Yes mama.”

“Now let me tell you my story, when I was younger. I was your age, going through the same time as you, thinking of these things, but unlike you, my mother couldn’t understand my feelings. She laughed it off when I told her about it. So, I had no emotional support from my parents, but still, I made it through. When I was fifteen, I was very intelligent, just like you. I used to top the class. Soon, my classmates started asking me for homework and notes all the time. That’s when I realised, you are the one who achieves your goals in life. Your friends can just encourage you. I decided to become independent. I never missed a day of school, sick or not. I always shared my work with my classmates. They became dependent on me and suddenly one day, I didn’t share my work.

They were all a mess. They were all calling me up for the notes. I realised another thing. You don’t need to go after people, people will come running to you to be your friends. You know Ishita. We are school friends. I worked upon myself and she would always endcourage me. Although, once she also asked me for work, but I knew that she was a nice person. We started talking and soon we became the best of friends. This is how I made friends. Some from my school and others from college. So this is your lesson to today-work on yourself, improve yourself and love yourself. People will love you, only if you love yourself.”

“That was touching, mama. I think you are amazing. I’ll write this down in my notebook right now. But mama, if I try to make friends like this, isn’t there a chance that I am not successful?,” questioned little Celia.

“Peanut, remove that thought. Observe your classmates. See which one of them is alone most of the time or seems to feel lonely. You know how it feels so, make that person feel included. Make that girl or boy your friend. Anyone would be lucky to have such a wonderful little sweetheart like you in their life.”

“You have a way with words mumma. You just pulled me out of a quicksand . Thank you, mumma. I love you.”

“I love you more princess.”

Naysa Gupta, Class VIII,

Yadavindra Public School, Patiala