Annyeonghaseyo! Konnichiwa! Nihao!
I am Niveditha (AKA Robot!), guest-writing for this month. I am an extroverted person but an introverted poet and a storyteller (And an insane graphic designer).
Good friends are the grandest gifts time could ever offer. I often tell my dad that I envy him for having friends who stood by him through thick and thin for decades and still do so. In life, the journey in your youth is in a way such that you grow and mature. When you grow old, you reminisce about your youth and laugh.
This made me think about the efforts him and his friends made for the long run. I wondered how a thick friendship is formed through trials and testing times, which led me to this tale.
Read my story*
*This story is purely fictional
The mornings of school days were chaotically aligned with the discipline staff asking students to queue up. It was the first week of classes.
A short girl with curly hair and a sweet voice approached Jin-Ah.
"Hello! You're the classmate who spoke yesterday, right?" she asked.
"Yes. I am Jin-Ah."
"Nice to meet you. I am Ann-Tah." she said.
Jin-Ah was a continuing student, whereas Ann-Tah was a transfer student. After settling with the classes, Ann-Tah approached Jin-Ah to be her deskmate.
"Can I become your deskmate? I have a tough time adjusting front."
"Sure!" Jin-Ah said.
It was a smooth and sweet start, just like any other relationship. However, their personalities were contrasting. Jin-Ah was an eccentric and on – the - moment person, whereas Ann-Tah was the old, mature, and wise saint.
Jin-Ah loved cheating in the exams because she wanted to turn back and have no regrets about her teens. Ann-Tah never copied (also hid her answers!) because she felt cheating was a sin (!!).
Ann-Tah never lost composure and maintained a calm facade even to bullies. Jin-Ah bullied back the bullies. Overall, Ann-Tah was the more feminine one, Jin-Ah the more rambunctious one. Ann-Tah was of soft temperament when viewed from outside, whereas Jin-Ah was of the fierce temper. None knew the real personality.
Deep down, the soft one refused to admit imperfections, and the hard one refused to admit emotions. But somehow, they managed to get well on each other's pages.
Over the course of their time together (which spanned years), Jin-Ah felt something. Ann-Tah's perfection was not a natural one. It was more like a shield so that none can point a finger at her for any wrongdoing.
With the school reaching its end, Jin-Ah convinced Ann-Tah to have fun and be a little lively. Ann-Tah let go of the perfect tag (a litttttleeee.... real little), but still no cheating in exams :( Yet she had her own share of sneaking out to hang out with their friends and gossiping about the hottest couples, bull fights and cold wars of the batch.
They made a promise to stay in touch with each other on the last day of school.
School passed.
Exams crossed.
Results came in.
And this friendship found a distance of a few miles. Through different courses of study. They had their own sweet moments, as promised.
However, a month later, Ann-Tah got the same college as Jin-Ah, moving even closer. Jin-Ah was on cloud nine as she never got the dream she wanted but now got at least a company to kill her next four years of study.
But cloud nine disappeared within two months.
Jin-Ah felt lonely. Worse, her personality had a crackdown and she wanted support. She desperately tried calling Ann-Tah, only to be in vain.
For the first time, she felt worlds apart from someone who was actually a few classes away.
Jin-Ah called once a day.
Then Jin-Ah called once a few days.
Then Jin-Ah called once a month.
And her mobile turned silent.
Six months flew in a blink.
Months later, Jin-Ah was prepping up for her solo trip, and she was the happiest. She went to visit her guardians, and that night she got a message. It was from Ann-Tah.
"Hey." the text read.
Oh! Jin-Ah and her desperation!
She started replying in a hurry.
But all in vain.
Ann-Tah was calling her out for a cover under the pretext of a movie. The same film, Ann-Tah rejected, saying she wasn't interested days back. Ironically, Jin-Ah was scheduled to attend the next screening with their friends.
It felt pathetic and trampled for Jin-Ah to be used so easily, yet she agreed. Even if it meant double-crossing parents and guardians. The next day, Jin-Ah hurried faster to the theatre complex. But... on reaching, her face lost its colour.
It was a shock of a lifetime for Jin-Ah.
Ann-Tah and a guy.
Working the math, it was precisely Ann-Tah and her boyfriend. Math works differently in life. It can be qualitative, but not quantitative. It pointed to the relationship, but not how long.
Both Ann-Tah and her boyfriend were chirpy all the way back home. But Jin-Ah had the longest walk of her life.
Was the cover for the wrong reason or the wrong person? It was numbing her senses. A part of her was used to such betrayals. Yet, a part of her felt sad because it came from the unexpected side.
Reaching home, Ann-Tah's boyfriend left. She turned only to see a cold and expressionless Jin-Ah.
"Sorry.", she said. "I hid something for a long time."
Jin-Ah was silent. She already knew something big had come. Ann-Tah said, "He... I love him. It's been months."
Go on. Jin-Ah thought. Such scenarios were common for her.
"And that's why I cut contact with you."
 |
| to be continued |
(What made Ann-Tah hide a secret for so long? Niveditha would love to read your imaginations :)
Ah! What a story that was!
Welcome back, dear Readers!!!
First of all, from Parinaama, the Author and I would like to thank you all so very much for the patience you all have had with us over the last 2 months, and for having so sweetly returned to continue reading in our blog!!!
And when we’re coming back after a break, we should bring you something new!!! Here it is!
The very first article written by a guest writer!
Niveditha (@niv.eh) is an amazing soul who so sweetly agreed to guest write in the blog, and we couldn’t be happier! Such an enthralling story she’s written, that is certain to touch all of us. However, as fictional as it may seem, it does convey some deep, hidden messages that might really help us in our day to day lives.
The story describes the friendship of two young girls, who became friends at school. It goes on to describe the ups and downs that are bound to happen in such a friendship, and leaves us on the edge with a huge cliff-hanger (don’t worry, we’ll reveal part 2 soon!)
But it makes us wonder…. Can ‘friendship’ deteriorate because of another ‘relationship’?
Hey! Wait a minute! Isn’t friendship also a type of relationship?! (I humbly request readers to go back to the original meaning of relationship that we were taught as kids, not the usage that is more common among youth to denote a romantic one).
Of course, it is!!! Then, how can a stable relationship cause instability in another?
This clearly shows us one thing. A stable relationship cannot be a hindrance to another, and since each Ann-Tah’s relationships with her friend and boyfriend are causing one to be at loggerheads with the other, we can conveniently come to a conclusion that one of her relationships is UNSTABLE.
Which is that UNSTABLE relation?
Is it the one that has been of a longer duration, or one that’s true, or both?
Now, if I answer this question right away, I don’t think our guest writer would spare me (and I value my life)
So, until you find out the answer to this question,
Happy Reading!
Subrahmanyam B R (The Editor)