Stories

                                The girl who lit the lamp

             I was in tenth grade then, as far as I can recollect.Back then I was pretty much a nerd and nothing in the world would interest me beside text books and encyclopedias.Needless to say,I had made absolutely no friends in my class.The neighborhood guys used to make fun of my thick,round glasses and I didn't have the guts or confidence to protest back.I had a very boring life and never knew what was meant by 'sharing your feelings'.However,I was gentle and polite.May be,that's what got Ananya attracted towards me.

             No,you're probably guessing this wrong.I am a girl,too.And I am now shades better than whom I used to be,only because of the girl I just named.She was and is my angel!I am in second year college now with my specialization in Microbiology.The college is the same one that Ananya had joined with me,a year back.

             I can see the cute little photo-frame,which I had gifted her on her nineteenth birthday- now kept on the side-table.And the picture in it is a little piece of heaven-a perfect snapshot that two soul-sisters can ever have!She was wearing a gorgeous white fluffy dress and looking like a cute fairy and I was in my best jeans.Well actually,the way she posed in that frame is making me laugh because I had to poke her in the tummy thrice to make her giggle!She wasn't in the best of her moods that day.And given that someone like her-so young and jovial-had just been informed about her risks in a very short life-span,that's quite natural!

             The snap was taken on 23rd July.On her birth day.And that was the very day that test reports confirmed that her body was carrying a malignant tumor- that Ananya was,a new member in the large group of people bearing the world's most feared disease- CANCER.  

              Consequences were quite naturally disastrous.Any girl of that age would fall flat on the floor and wail.But Ananya had no complains.She had no reaction at first.But when it gradually got registered in her mind, she seemed to be in her own world since that day.She had lost quite a lot of hair in a few months but that didn't make her loose hope.Her eyes looked hollower day by day and her voice went feebler.Her frail body allowed only two chemotherapy sessions before the obvious happened.

               And after 365 days,finally its 23rd of July again!I've got all the balloons and paper-streamers beautifully decorated all over her brightly colored room walls.I'll turn on the speakers and tune in to PowerFM in a short while,where I have dedicated her favorite Miley Cyrus song to her in this special day.But that's not happening unless Kuhu auntie stops moaning.

               I really wish I could regain those days when in the 12th Biology lab I would mess up with the practical assignments and she would be covering it up for me.Or, those run-races arranged during recess in the vast concrete school playground.I always used to be the runner-up. Ananya was a tennis champion and had won many trophies during inter-house competitions and inter-state tournaments.With her amiable and chirpy nature she would make any one a friend- quick as a wink!I wonder how many likes she would have got if she had posted all her snaps on Facebook!On our Fresher's Welcome too,quite naturally,she was a head-turner,even though she had started loosing hair by that time. Ananya was quite strong a personality with a heart of gold for her friends' circle.She treated me like her own sister and always encouraged me and lifted up my mood in my tough times.

                 I remember,I was sitting in the first bench.It was the very beginning of our eleventh standard classes in the science department. Ananya was a new comer in our school but within weeks,she was made the class monitor owing to her remarkable leadership qualities!I used to sit on the bench before her and I thought she was like the other typical 'attitude queens' of our class.But one day,just before the summer holidays began,I discovered an amazing person in her and I felt ashamed of myself for figuring her out wrong all those months!

                Mrs.M.Sinha was our class-teacher and she used to teach us Maths.It used to be one of my favorite subjects unless she came to teach us.And I don't know the particular reason behind it, but she used to be very partial towards me.No matter how much I struggled,she would always create her own issues and manage to humiliate me in-front of the class.It was a Tuesday.I was packing my stuffs and suddenly Ananya rushed inside and said,"Hey be there near the staff room within fifteen minutes, Mrs.Sinha has called for you."I knew I was going to receive trouble for another unknown cause.

                I was humiliated in-front of all the teachers by my Maths teacher for writing the incorrect role number by mistake.She called me a cheater and scratched the whole paper with a red pen.I cried the whole way down the corridor and banged my forehead on the desk after running into the classroom.I spotted no one inside and it was twenty minutes past the final school bell.I did not want to go home and worry my mother unnecessarily because back then,she was the only person I shared the deepest of my feelings with.I cried so much that I could almost feel the saliva come out of my mouth.I was letting my brain think of all the dark possibilities of discovering easier and effortless methods of committing suicide when suddenly a hand gripped my shoulders gently from behind.I felt a twitch in the stomach and shakily turned around to see Ananya staring at me with a pair of caring eyes.I was hesitant at first to share my problems because I was a very shy person.She offered me her unfinished tiffin- a strawberry pastry and I couldn’t refuse it the fourth time when she insisted and I ate it delightfully with a glee.

-“There!Finally I’m seeing you smile!Oh,lucky me!”She teased.

               Friendship with her thus began.It was a blessing from God to get a companion like her.The next few months in high school life,I changed into a social butterfly gradually.She taught me about the world of lip-gloss and sun-screen- a world that was all Greek to me until then.She was my personal fashion instructor and would always pamper me with gifts for little-nothing-occasions like when I got highest in Maths,when she got a pet cat,when I learnt a new dance step from a Salsa video on the TV and the likes.

                Again there was that sleepover night in first year when I was crying in the middle of the night because my boyfriend had ditched me for a bitch(Oops!Can’t speak any good about that!)and Ananya switched on the bedside lamp,folded her arm around me, patted me,pressed her head slightly tilted,against mine and listened to all my complains the whole night till the birds chirped in the dawn and we snored back on the bed for another five hours.We shared the same pillow!

                I can’t hold back the tears anymore.I’ll certainly burst into a cry if I recall any other sweet memories spent together in just a span of three and a half years and doing that will make me brake the promise I made to her beside her deathbed at Apollo,Delhi.

-“Zara,promise me you’ll never cry because of me.I’ll be watching you all the time like a CCTV-mark my words!”

-“I promise.”I sobbed.

-“And a promise once made,is NEVR meant to be broken!Right?”She hugged me.

-“Right..Right..Right”I nodded as I stammered and streams of teardrops went rolling down my cheeks.

And people associate true love only with couples!

Nothing on Earth can tear us apart Ananya, I can imagine you looking the best with the fluffy white angel-wings! I wish to join you soon !