The girls were sitting on the
grass,laughing their hearts out.it was a sight to behold.the lone boy among the group of hysterical girls sat clueless,with a tiny smile playing on his
lips.the tallest
and the most imposing among the girls was actually rolling on the grass, face full
of mirth. Two others were leaning on to each other,gasping for breath. another
had hidden her face in the boy's jacket...
the boy
viewed the spectacle unfolding around him. he saw pure joy in every face. he
knew he would be teased if he started laughing too,(for he had no idea what had
set off the girls in the first place..)but he could barely hold back his
laughter. he didn't have much laughter in his life before.
before.
what was
before this?
was there
even a "before"?
because that
"before" seemed millions of light years away now.
there is
always a "before" and "after" in everyone's life.. a life changing event tilts
the axis of one's life. just like Christ's birth forever divided the historical timeline into B.C and
A.D, the birth of something new in the journey of life forever demarcates the
timeline of life into a before and after.
The boy had a
perfect "before" life. Perfect home, perfect schooling, loveliest
parents in the world, plenty of cousins, dozens of playmates, perfect behavior,
perfect grades. Life was beautiful. (Or not?)
Because, if you asked him if he was happy, he’d
probably take time to answer that.
Then
the great depression came like a thunderbolt out of nowhere. But the boy was strong, he kept quiet. Surely people would think he
was mad if he told them he was depressed, that too for no apparent reason. so he remained silent. no one noticed anything amiss.
Then came the
beginning of "after".
For
him, the axis tilting event was something as mundane as
"attending a college".
one may wonder, what was so special about college? Some
people actually dread going to college!!Not that he had an effortless start to his college life. It had bumps and hiccups too, just like the others. But the environment and the people-both were different. He would remember the first semester of his college life as the most magical couple of weeks. He found love, he became friends with his classmates, this time for real. He finally got the taste of strong companionship. After years, he knew, he was actually happy. His friends treated him with love and affection, something that he had no idea of back in the school days.
But the ugly monster had to raise its head right in the
middle of his continuing state of happiness. Unknown fears gripped him,
rendering him paralyzed and breathless with fear. He had no known words to
describe what the depression monster was doing to him.
Again he remained silent.
But the monster wouldn't stay quiet; it started a full scale
rebellion inside his head.
The boy could finally take no more. He succumbed.
Little did the boy
know what his friends and family would do for him.
yes he got help.
yes, his parents gave their all for his betterment.
yes his friends called him twice a day to chat him up and make him forget about his demons.
yes, his love became his true guardian angel.
most important of all, they didn't give up on him.
the monster went crazy.
the
monster got alarmed. it wouldn't go so fast. but what match was it against an
army of love and compassion?
the
monster bothered him less ever since. it didn't depart fully, but it was manageable for him.
now
as he looked at the crazed out girls, he
wondered how lucky he was to be a part of this
madness.
to him, they were family too.
a
crooked ,uncertain smile broke across his face.
"এই এই না বুঝে হাসছিস যে?"
"তোদের দেখে হাসি পেল তাই হাসছি ! "
"কি যাতা !"
his love rested her head on his shoulder. his sister-the tall one- poked him good-naturally. all was well and fine.
he wouldn't give up this moments of random craziness for anything.
smugly,he made a mental note,
"take that, ugly monster!"
