The best days of my life - Part 1

The best days of my life - Part 1

The six best things that I cherish in my Life are Love, litle kids, learning, relationships, language and arts. Happiness has been an integral part of my life. The first child at home, I was born and brought up like a princess. Pampered and spoilt brat are two terms which could be easily associated with me. Right from the start of the day, the only activities I ws concerned with was my own personal hygiene, playing and sleeping. I had to depend on my mom, dad and even my younger cousins for feeding me in the morning, combing my hair and all. I was entirely oblivious to the happenings at home. Life was blissful; so I thought.

During my 11th grade, I got an opportunity to attend a camp, conducted by National Service Scheme (NSS). Ten students were selected to attend the camp. We were to go to an orphanage in a remote area, by name Sevalaya. That was my first venture away from home. I was all excited about the whole tour. Little did I know the hardships that were involved in it. "D- Day" came and we were taken to the orphanage. The moment we got down we were welcomed by a lot of kids. The best moments of my life started from then. December 22, 2004- December 31, 2004,I can say was the turning point in my life.

Right from the youngest, who was just 3 years old, to the oldest (who was just 12 years old), I had wads to learn from them. An otherwise late riser, I got up punctually at 5 in the morning and took yoga classes. For a person who is not accustomed to daily chores, washing clothes was the first obstacle. When I took out bucket to the washing area, there were tiny tots washing their clothes too. I was hit by a wave of ignominy. At the age of 15, I could not take care of myself. I sat there to observe those kids and followed suit!!! That was how ignorant I was. The second task for the day was tree plantation. Being the tough and hyper type I was, I wanted to do this one well. I took all the garden equipments and chose a place to dig. I chose that place, because there were no plants in that particular patch. I took the long rod and shovel and began to dig a hole. The process was sternous and it took me 25 odd minutes to make a hole big enough to plant the sapling. The soil was dry and full o frocks, making the process more tedious. I put the sapling inside and filled the hole. There! I had planted a sapling. I was so proud of myself and beaming with joy. There was this kid who was watching the whole fiasco through her sparkling eyes. I walked to her and gave her a pat on her cheek. She asked me,"Akka, Why have you planted the sapling there? The soil is too dry and does not support plant growth. Only thorny shrubs and weeds grow here". Strike two. The head strong git, who was so obsessed with her logically reasoning mind, had her first blow. I was so engrossed in proving a point and doing things right that I overlooked the state of the soil and the vegetation it supported. That was the first time that my Big Ego crashed to the ground. Later, that little angel showed me another place, and also showed me how to plant trees. Speechless and thwarted, I learnt the art of gardening from her. And to think that she was not even as tall as the rod, let alone the shovel!!

Assignment three was to help out the people at the old age home. I have this knack of winning people over with my mannerisms, talking style and humor. After a few hours there, I felt a pang in my heart. After bearing a lot of hurt, disappointment and betrayal from their own children and family, they still had tons of affection to shower on me. What was I in front of that unconditional love? A phony jabbering hollow words.. Within a couple of days, they made me realize the true meaning of Love. I learnt how to conquer hearts with Love, and better, learnt what Love was and how true Love would feel. Hit by waves of realization, I returned back to the orphanage (I would prefer calling it heaven from now on) after a tiny cricket match. I sat down to play with the children and interact with them. I was keeping them engrossed and amused with little stories, until I saw a girl with burn injuries all over her body. I could not suppress my curiosity and shamelessly asked her how such a fate befell her. That eight year girl, keeping all her emotions under control, narrated how her mother attempted a suicide and she, out of sheer helplessness and an urge to save her mother, went and hugged her to stop the flames from eating through her mom!! This big a tragedy and not the slightest falter in her voice. Her mom was long gone. Enough for the day!! I ran into the bathroom, opened all the taps,knelt on the floor and cried out loud. The whole learning process was too taxing for me. I was hit by turmoil of emotions. I felt disgusted with myself. God had given me everything and yet how I cribbed and complained about trivial issues. What ruckus I used to create. My life was perfect, but what value did I have for it? What justice have I done with it? I decided to take a break, and reconsider a lot of things in life, right a lot of wrongs. I went to the balcony and sat on the wall, gazing at the trees beyond, lost in thoughts.

When I came back to my senses, I realized that it was too dark and midst of the night. And i am afraid of the dark! what the hell? How do I walk back to my room now? I then steadied myself,looked around me and thought to myself,"What was there to get afraid of the dark. Look at this place. You are in heaven..and there are almost 50 little angels sleeping peacefully". I decided to take a stroll around the place, and felt tranquility. At that moment, I was trying to recollect what was that that made me feel so scared of the dark. And the entire notion seemed so ludicrous. I felt silly for being frightened all these years. Exhausted by the days' work and drained off due to my own conflict with emotions and myself, I retired to sleep.

I don't know if one would believe that people could turn into a new leaf overnight, but I had this light feeling in the morning. I had slept late, but felt so full of energy and eager to start off the day. I met the great founder of that place, and he narrated how a tiny poem of the great revolutionary Tamil poet,Bharathiar, had led him to tart this heaven. Life went on and every second was a learning experience for me. I am almost 21, stay in a hostel now, and its been almost four years since I moved out of home. I still feel lorn of being at home and speak to all for over an hour a day. During those ten days, I hardly once felt the urge to call my parents. This was not because I did not care, but I did not feel like a fish out of the pond.