Once upon a Time……..in Mumbai!!

Once upon a time in a faraway land, there was a girl who lived in……Well, all fairy tales starts with this line and ends with “ lived happily ever after”. Children of all age groups love to have a story involving fairies, prince, princess and a witch. But this is not a fairy tale. This is the story of a girl who has spent all her life in the city of dreams or the “Mayanagri” of her country….Aamchi Mumbai!!

So, let me continue with the story. Talking about this girl, she was born on 14th March, 1997 in one of the most prestigious hospitals of the city – The Jaslok Hospital. Being the only child of her parents, she was the most adored and prized possession of her family which involved her parents and her grandfather. She had never seen her grandmother who had passed away two years prior to her birth. But, these few people were her life. She loved them from all her heart. Her life started as a normal kid raised by loving parents living in Mumbai. Time flew by, and she became three years old- the right time to start the school life. But that became the biggest headache for her parents, as she never wanted to go to school. She cried for hours, on her first day in nursery school, vomited, slept and created nuisance for the teachers and the maids of the school. Vomiting became a regular routine. Every ‘bai’ of the school were annoyed and irritated with her. Some even hit her when alone, but she never complained. When she was in first standard, she was pierced by wood in one of her hands, by one of her classmates and blood seeped out of her hands. But this girl did not lose courage, and fought back equally. She even tried to insert a pencil in his eyes, when the teacher stopped them and called their parents. But that episode, made her mentally strong and she realized that, to live in this world one has to make himself strong enough to sustain the injuries inflicted by people. Soon, her father got transferred to Assam, the nature’s beauty. This girl decided to make herself strong and from second standard onwards, her crying and vomiting stopped. She had learnt a lesson in her life from her earlier school’s incident and decided to live her life to the fullest at the mere age of six years. She gave an admission test at the most reputed school of the state and got admission in that school. She was a consistent topper in her school life. Studies and video games were her passion.

Once, when she was in third standard, two mysterious boys of her class threw a bench at her feet. The bench was one of the most heaviest of its kind and it directly fell on her right leg. Blood seeped from her legs and she fainted. Next, she remembered that she was in the hospital and the doctors had plastered her legs. She had undergone an X-ray at the hospital and the results showed that her bones were broken. The two boys were suspended from the school. After a month, she resumed her school life, and so began her activities. Two years after that incident, her father’s transfer letter came and they shifted back to Mumbai- her city of dreams.

She took admission in the same school, resuming classes from fifth standard. Being an academically bright student, she was one of the toppers in her school till seventh standard. But in seventh standard, an incident occurred which changed her life forever. She disliked the subject – Marathi as it involved rot learning from the textbooks and her teacher did not give marks to the students who tried to write on their own. She started developing a hatred for that subject. She did not give attention to that subject. The clock started rotating in anti-clockwise direction and she received a ‘F’ grade at the end of half yearly exams. This started a series of discussions at her school, where the teachers became worried about the ‘bright child’s’ future. There were discussions, parent meetings and counseling sessions. For the first time in her life, she saw shame in her parent’s eyes. Some blamed her, some blamed her parents for the failure. But this girl was a fighter. Seeing her parents upset, she decided to shut the mouths of those people who were judging her parents by one failure. She studied hard day and night for that subject, and eventually topped her class in the final exams. Her parents were proud of her. But this incident was an eye opener for her. The clock started rotating clockwise, and she continued her school life smoothly. Then one of the most dreadful incident of her life occurred.

When she was in tenth standard, her grandfather was diagnosed with ‘Brain Tumor’. He was in Kolkata at that time, and was admitted in hospital. The doctors suggested that he should be taken to Mumbai, so that his treatment proceeded smoothly. He was admitted in MGM hospital, where he was operated for that deadly disease. These series of incidents happened during her tenth standard board exams. She was shattered to see her grandfather in that condition. But she did not lose hope. She prayed to god, along with her parents for her grandpa’s recovery, and the operation was successful. This incident had made her mentally strong. She received 93% in her tenth standard and 94% in her twelfth standard, becoming one of the toppers of her school.

Now, she is pursuing Computer Engineering from one of the most reputed colleges in Mumbai. She is nineteen years old, currently in third year of her Engineering. She has an awesome lot of friends who are there to support her at every stage of her life, awesome parents who support her at every decision and a fighter grandfather who will remain her role model forever. That girl is none other than me, who has understood that life is incomplete without family, friends and one has to work hard to achieve his dreams and in order to make his family proud.

So that was my story- the story of a girl who lives in Mumbai – the city of dreams!