Was it the first time that I ever had the courage to ride a bicycle on my own? Or it is the time when I won the bet with my cousin on coming round the house while the power was off? Or was it at the very moment when my crush looked at me right into the eyes when we were at the chemistry tuition; was it that bloody “butterfly moment” that’s going to cling to my memory? Well absolutely not. I was probably going to write about my encounter with my crush but I have had better memories to cherish. I’ve longed for many days and months and years together to win something, to prove the world that I’m capable of something, that I’m worthy of something. But, it didn’t turn out to be real until I realised my purpose that came with a huge wake up call. It was in the kinder garden when I had won my first ever prize and after that, I didn’t face any ‘luck’, as many said. No matter how much I was interested in sports, ‘wheezing’ troubled me for even running round the yard. So, throughout the schooldays, I had to forget the idea of participating in any competitions. Then came the college days and Clotho wanted me to pursue English Literature while I had MBBS in my mind and to hell with the NEET exams, I had no choice. All praise to the English Bible and Justin Bieber, I was pretty good in both written and spoken English. I started writing essays for various competitions and none turned out to be fruitful. I was more and more driven into writing because I had no obstacles and it was my long lost hobby. And it soon turned to be a puny-passion. Soon, “Shakespeare” Examination’s circular came in; a state level competitive examination. I gave my name on seeing the cash prize they had mentioned, it was 50,000 INR.
Soon, exam date was announced and everyone indulged in strict preparation and to my goodness, I LOST THE BOOK, I had no material to prepare for the examination. I was devastated and was in despair. Having no choice, I asked my friend, Suvetha to send me the pictures in Whatsapp. If not for Suvetha I wouldn’t have got the material and I wouldn’t have studied. My eyes eventually hurt because I was straining to read through the phone but I was determined. The next day, exam was held and I did my best. We wrote the test in September and the results were to be announced in January, or so I heard. On a fine morning, when I was wearing the ‘Pink salwar’ which everyone used to adore for no particular reason, me and my partner in crime Shobika went to the department to take up the attendance register as we were the representatives. We took the register and were walking out of the department, “S H I L P A”, screamed my Class In-charge mam and I was genuinely frightened. She shouted something out of astonishment but I couldn’t hear it and so couldn’t Shobi. We went back to the department and she told me that I had won State First in the Shakespeare Examination. I was on cloud nine. I was almost in tears when they gave me the gold medal. It was my first medal. That day, I found my purpose that is ‘Writing’ and above all I made my parents proud which was and still is, indeed a euphoric moment to cherish forever.
One of my Prize-won pieces, hope this was worth reading.
With a blanket all cosied-up,
And so much ‘want’ to write…
Veera’s Pen…
perception21 