The End of The Beginning

By Riya Sheth

As the aircraft prepared for departure, the air hostess appeared, ready to deliver the pre-flight safety briefing. "Welcome to the journey of adulthood. I trust you enjoyed the ride through Shishukunj International School, as we anticipate encountering various turbulence on our way to the destination called 'future.' Kindly secure your seatbelts. Emotional baggage should be stowed in the overhead compartments, while childhood memories can be retrieved at carousel number 2. In case you feel overwhelmed, oxygen masks, designed to breathe in the good old days, are conveniently located in front of your seats. Laid out on the tray tables are magazines filled with your families' expectations and loosely woven commitments of "of course main school khatam hone ke baad bhi roz call lagungi." I hope you enjoy the flight." I popped in my headphones and pressed the play button fearing I might not make it if I looked back." Kabhi kabhi kuch yaade humare kamre ki itni kidhkiya khol deti hain ki hum dang reh jaate hain. Bohot khubsurat hain yeh yaado ki duniya, humare jeevan ke chote chote tukde humari inn yaado main humesha mehfuz rehte hain. Yaade mithai ki dabbe ke tarah hoti hain ek baar khula toh sirf ek tukda nahi kha paoge."

This is the second time I broke my leg this year, I am sitting in the school golf cart, as I find myself gradually distancing from the building that has encapsulated my last 15 years—a building I once made a habit of evading. The handkerchiefs pinned on my uniform turned to the vice head girl badge, the white shirt to a blue one, from holding a pen to breaking the gavel, from anchoring the farewell to standing before you now, I am overwhelmed with emotion as I say my goodbye.

But just for a minute, keeping the emotional part aside, who likes to snooze an alarm 12 times just to hear "agli baar bus chuti toh ghar par he baithe rehena" These 15 years went from " best student of the class to potential toh bohot hain bas padhti nahi hain", "from tying those annoying threads of your answer scripts to tying the graduation robes" from walking in the hallways during a short break to taking a walk down the memory lane on graduation, from senior wing orientation to graduation etiquette presentation" "from "uh uh uh main hu ek udhta robot doreamon to give me another chance I want to grow up once again" We all grew up. "Takleef hui lekin iss baat ki khushi bhi thi ki apne sath yaado ka ek badha suitcase lekar jaari thi. Woh din, woh e2s, woh practicals files, woh hasi, class ki masti aur woh dosti main kabhi nahi bhul paaungi.

Brushing past those class photographs from adorning two braids to experimenting with bangs and finally letting my hair cascade freely, from colouring books to crafting my college essay, and the evolution from stealthily borrowing my mother's chunni for a makeshift saree to eventually acquiring a genuine one for my farewell, time passed by but I forgot to take a moment to let it all sink in. So this is it, a moment for all those people, places and memories I finally pack them in my luggage to a new destination.

"Thank you for flying with Nostalgia Airlines I hope you had a safe flight and we hope that you travel with us soon." My headphones in my ear, I pick my luggage from carousel number 2 and head for the future even though my heart is begging me to stay at the Shishukunj International terminal "Agar main ruk gayi abhi toh jaa nah paaungi kabhi yahi kahoge tum sadha ki dil abhi nahi bhara. Joh khatam ho kisi jagah yeh aesa silsila nahi."

By Riya Sheth