EPISODE 7 PREETHI

Preethi is quite, smart and funny, maybe that’s why she didn’t have much of a friends circle. I didn’t want anyone other than Kriti to be in my life, I wanted to stay away from girls as much as possible, and I was scared that if I got closer to anyone I would forget about Kriti. It was better to live with the memories of Kriti than live with anyone else. But something, probably my instinct, told me to hang out with preethi more, something told that it was the right thing to do.

I trusted my instinct, I started to get along with Preethi, and we became pretty close in a short span. Preethi was fair, tall and slim, She wears Glasses that make her look like a nerd, Her hair was short, She always comes to college with a Pony tail, Others thought that she was weird, No one Spoke with her. She might have felt lonely, but I still don’t understand why would she randomly walk up to me and introduce herself on the very first day. Even if she felt lonely, why introduce herself to me first, Why not the other weird looking girls in the class? This thought swindled my mind again and again.

 Never the less, I still decided to hang out with her, I didn’t care what everyone in the class thought about her, She made my college days more fun. We sat together, we spoke a lot, we got caught talking in class, this is when I realized, Weird looking girls are not always weird. I hung out with her more than any of my other friends.

I was depressed about Kriti, but as days passed on with preethi I started forgetting about Kriti. She  too seemed happy when she was with me, or maybe it was the other way round, but whichever way it might be, we had fun together. She taught me Math, I taught her to socialize. We had some connection, we both knew that but still neither of us showed it.

As days passed in college, everyone started calling us weird Girl and lonely boy, People started addressing us as Weird girl and lonely boy. This didn’t affect me but it made Preethi feel bad. We met at her house one day, She said she would teach me about Trigonometry, But she didn’t seem alright, Her thoughts were somewhere else, I could see it clearly, So I looked up at her and asked,

“Preethi, what’s wrong? You don’t seem Right.”

-“Does it look so obvious on my face?” She asked.

“Obvious eh? Even a blind man would recognize that with your tone. What’s wrong” I asked again.

She gave me a smile and asked me back,

“Do we have control over everything in this world Kunal?”

It came as a surprise and confusion, I simply said,

“No. We can’t control everything, few things are meant to be that way”

-“Then why doesn’t everyone understand this. If those things that are not in our control go wrong,

who is to blame? Should we blame ourselves for not being able to control it or blame everyone else who doesn’t understand that everything cannot be controlled?”

She paused for a few seconds, Stood up and looked at the mirror and said ,

“ Is it my fault that I look Weird, I did not choose to be this way, Why does this society judge people based on their Looks and dressing style, Why don’t they understand that a Beggar can dress up as a rich person, A rich person might dress up like a beggar, But their internal identity never changes. This meaningless Judgement is what differentiates the rich and poor, Meaningless judgement form meaningless conclusions.”

These words took me aback, I didn't realize till now how she must have been suffering in school when people called her weird. I went to her and held her shoulder with both my hands turned her face towards me, wiped her tears with my fingers and said,

“Preethi, the world might judge you however they want to, but it is you who must decide whether to give importance to what the people around you think or ignore them and lead your life. It is your life, you must make your own choices, and No one should influence your choices .”

I said this and hugged her. She seemed a bit convinced. She then asked me,

“Who taught you to be this wise”

I replied Thinking about Kriti in my mind,

“A very Wise Person.”

The next day, We were all sitting in class, Then Preethi walked in, as she entered the class, the entire class looked at her in shock, and Boys dropped their jaws when they saw her. She was completely a different person now. She wore a Jean and a T-Shirt, Left her hair loose, Red Lipstick and wore contact lenses and a wrist band on her hands. Her eyes slapped everyone in the face who called her Weird. She came and sat next to me. It looked like my past was hitting me back again.

Everyone who called us Weird girl and lonely guy now started calling us hot girl and Lucky Boy. It is when both of us realized that Change is the only thing that never changes. Things started to change in our lives, I started developing a liking  for Preethi, I didn't know if it was the right thing to do, But I continued doing so, Didn't know how it was going to affect me till one day. The cultural day.  That day changed everything, My thoughts my life, Everything changed, it made me a better person.