"THE" day

Early morning, which she considered barely morning, Naina was excited about being 1094 miles away from home to pursue engineering. She got up from the mattress on the floor, which she forcefully put a night before to sleep with her parents. She had a little separation anxiety but not as much that it could make that 18 years old sentimental. She was wholeheartedly ignoring the roller coaster of emotions, she sure wasn't clueless enough. She exited the shower with the towel wrapped in her hair and whispered to her mom, "Mamma, please make my butter and bread before I leave.". She loves having her first meal as bread with melted butter on it, spread to the edges. It's her comfort food.

Her mom gets up right away and heads toward the kitchen. Naina looks at her father and asks for help, "Pappa did you see my pink shoes?". The brand-new ones she would wear on this special day of hers were nowhere to be found. They tried searching for half an hour or so but all in vain. Indeed, they were going to be late for their flight but who knew there are things which are way worse than that are laughing and mocking them from the corner of the room.

Yes, they were late. They were very late. So late that security was sending them off.

Naina somehow convinced them and entered the queue at the check-in counter. The machine stopped. Her bag was in there. They reversed it and asked her to put laptops and chargers in separate trays. Does that even make sense? She already has a lot of anger issues but was patient. She was running with the suitcase in the direction of the voice, "final call for Chennai passengers".She forgot that she had to reach there with her father who has the main suitcase with him. Naina found her father begging the lady on the counter to allow them as they planned a lot for this trip and it can't just go bad like this. She was staring at her father closely. She saw his urge, to make her reach where she is meant to be, no matter what it takes. At the same time, she was very angry with him for begging for her. Naina can never see her father begging someone, be it for anything. Her father had a very soft spot in her heart, though they fight a lot.

Naina got permission to board the plane but not her father. She asked for assistance and found her seat. She sat and little did she know, the first thing she did was shed a teardrop. In her mind, she could see her mom bidding her farewell. Naina didn't say bye to her because she could not. How can she accept the fact that she is just going to see them once in four to five months? Maybe festivals will become a reason to return home. Sometimes not even festivals, but she had all of her worst fears in the back of her mind for straight ten minutes. 

She thought if she is going to travel alone, she is getting into some huge trouble on the way. 

She rested her head on the seat in the front and was looking at her small suitcase and thinking about her father. Naina has never been on a huge three hours flight all by herself. She was not regretting her life decisions, but she still was thinking that, once she reaches her destination things might become easy for her.

There she saw the sight that gave her the most relief she has ever gotten in her entire lifetime. She saw Pappa. She saw her FATHER, asking the guy sitting on the outermost seat to get up and let him sit in. He told her that her luggage is safe in the front. All Naina was thinking since the very moment she entered the airport once the guards told them they were late was, "I'm sorry I just came so far that I can't just turn around now.". Her father was sweating like he just ran a million kilometers marathons. He was so out of breath that his eyes were hardly open. He pats Naina's head and said, "We'll be there soon.". Naina was so emotionally unstable in that situation with so many things happening at once that she could do nothing but cry. Her father asks, "Were you crying even before? Hey don't cry we'll be there.". 

Little did he know, it wasn't just about being "there".

It was more about, leaving home, that hit her hard once she already has left. A girl who has never cooked for herself, never done her laundry on her own, and never got the habit of making her bed once she gets up is going 1760 km far from her comfort zone. It was about being so far from the place you were in your entire life and the people you have been with, leaving everything behind for a degree is so hard. 

Naina has two siblings. Kartik, who is 4, and Jahnvi, who is 10. They both got reflected in front of her eyes. Everyone says that to get something you need to sacrifice some things in your life. But for students like  Naina, you need to sacrifice seeing your family, sacrifice your luxury, sacrifice the pampering you get once you get hurt, because no one will be there to pick you up and wipe your wound. The distance kills you. People make stories and movies about a hero saving people who are stuck, two people who fall in love, and sometimes about some great people who did wonders. My friend, why not start from the very basics? No one talks about the struggle a toddler does when it starts walking. No one talks about how a girl who gets bullied in school for getting a period stain on her skirt. No one talks about how you leave home at the age of 18. No one talks about how many nights you cried there, still can't call home because you don't want your parents to cry or get worried. No one talks about how you get bullied in your hostel and rumors about you start running in the corridors. 

No one.