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A long time ago when I was still in my teens I met someone who told me that life happens very differently than we imagine. I wasn't very sure what to make of it but I decided then that there must be a modicum of truth to it as my life wasn't easy after my father's passing. I somehow struggled my way through school, but collage was fun. I went to the best collage in our small town in southern India. It was a girl's college, oh yeah we still have colleges exculsively for girls.
Being a quiet person who loved to hide in the background I suddenly had the good fortune of making friends with a rich, beautiful and very popular girl in collage. It was not as if I sought that friendship actively, it just happened organically. I guess this connection brought me loads of attention, much more than I had ever been capable of attracting. I was popular on the sidelines if that was possible. Life was amazing, I was noticed and my opinion was sought after by many of my classmates as I was more approachable than my rich and famous friend.
I became the unqualified and unpaid counselor to many of my peers and carried the burden of old age on my young shoulders. Never for a moment did I think of it as a burden, I was just happy to help. One sunny March morning I rode the bus to collage as usual, dreaming happily as only a teenager could about the time I would spend with my friend that day.
These were our special moments when we shared with each other our well guarded secrets. I didn't have much in the way of secrets or even a eventful life then, it was mostly my friend Sonia who would tell me about her exploits with her boyfriend. I was always amazed by how she could escape the eagle eyes of her parents, the driver who dropped her in collage and waited for her summons during the day and still did the things she did.
Let me explain our background a little bit here to help you understand our culture. We lived in a small town called Trichy in South India. It was buried under an orthodox tradition and culture perhaps from the eighteenth century. We as girls were expected to walk looking down so our gaze would never fall on a man. We needed to be demure ladies who never expressed our desires and were not expected to have desires of our own. I say 'our culture' more because this was the norm in the70's for southern girls.
However, Sonia came from a community which was super strict. Sending their daughter/s to college was only for the privileged class. Having a boyfriend was not just taboo but it could even end in suspension of all rights and privileges, even coming to college could stop permenantly. Sonia's driver was actually a spy employed by her super rich parents. Coming from a Christian background I didn't face such restrictions or even understand such restraints.
As I got off the bus and walked into college that morning enjoying the spring of youth in my steps, I noticed that there was this air of confusion and turmoil in the campus. I was met by the staff and nuns right at the gate and whisked away to the principal's office immediately on arrival. There I was questioned for hours about my friend's escapades. After about three hours I was allowed to have my lunch but it was only with the staff. I wasn't allowed to go to class or speak to my other friends.
Sonia had eloped with her boyfriend that morning and my life changed that very instant. She had never mentioned eloping though she often spoke about marriage to her boyfriend who studied in the neighboring college. From being a popular girl on the sidelines I became the most detested girl in college that fateful morning.
A year passed by and I was still avoided by teachers and students alike. I could hear giggles behind my back and I knew I was mocked. I made use of the friendless time to do more research and read more books sitting in the library. As a part of our assignments I had submitted a paper on "The Twelfth Night" a critical review. We waited in absolute fear and trembling for the verdict from our professor. She was caustic in her remarks if we had fallen below her expectations. She usually read out the lousiest papers first and did not mince her words.
Ms. Fernandez, our English professor entered the class and as she picked up a paper she called out my name. I think I peed my pants. Did I write such a crappy paper I asked myself? I had to time to think further, "Come here." She said in her usual cryptic voice. I walked all the way up to the front wondering what did I do wrong now.
There were giggles and snorts along the way. Finally I reached her desk, "Read this," she said handing me my paper and pointing to some sections she had marked in red. I read my voice trembling,I was barely audible. She took the paper and read it herself. "Brilliant" she said without pausing for breath, "you cannot light a lamp and hide it under a bushel, can you?" I wasn't sure if I heard that right. Life changed once again for the better. Students sought my help, but this time around I just helped them find the right reading material. Suddenly it felt as if a veil had been lifted and I came into my own.
I went on to bag many laurels in my educational journey. Later I got a job with a top notch organization in a city far from my home town and life sailed smoothly like a dream. For the first time in my life I was independent, living by myself and doing my own thing with no one to tell me what I should or shouldn't do. I should say I enjoyed every moment of this young adult life. My best friend in the office proposed to me around that time. There was nothing more I wanted from life at that point. I was the happiest person alive.
A few months later my fiance brought a letter written by someone very close to me. I recognized the handwriting right away. The letter accused me of being a cheater and a woman of poor morals. I was broken. It was my moment of epiphany, I understood immediately why the men who proposed to me earlier broke off without an explanation. My then fiance tore the letter in front of me and throwing it into the bin he said that he loved and trusted me.
Life took a different turn at that moment. Right when I expected the worst to happen life turned for the better. Life happens in ways you don't even imagine. Yet, I believe everything happens for a reason and from every life event good or bad you have something very important to learn.
This is my entry to the Ink Well Community's weekly creative non-fiction challenge #14. The prompt is Two truths and a lie.
Did you figure out which one was the lie? It was the first incident I describe here. Tell me how many of you got it right in the comments.