My Last Day Alive

                                            My Last Day Alive                            by Nandhini Ravichandran

Chapter 1

I don't know how many of you will recognize and accept your last day on this planet. Maybe once you do recognize it, you will have no choice but to accept & face it. I can't say which will be the end result of it, but I can surely tell you how I saw it. Before I do that, a prelude into my life seems fit so that you understand me.

 I come from a beautiful family, the first born of two wonderful people. My parents Priya and Ram are two very simple and down to earth people. My two siblings are beautiful and interesting people. Like any other parents, they too had a lot of dreams associated with me, I would grow to be a doctor, or a singer, or a pilot, and the dreams were endless. I was a shock to everyone who knew my parents. Unlike the charming Priya & Ram, I was plain faced with extremely short, spiky hair and painfully skinny. No one I met ever called me pretty or charming. I could have been a piece of furniture or carpet in the house. My greatest fear was that if I left, no one might realize I was gone for days. I wasn't an extrovert & didn’t have many friends. I led pretty much a depressing life for eighteen years of my life until I spoke to my role model. She was my class mate from school, Rupa. She was the most beautiful person I ever met. Everyone loved being around her, talking to her. She had the most perfect face, beautiful straight long hair and beautiful figure. Every time I saw her, it would remind me of how ugly I was. I am not sure what she really liked in me or what actually made her talk to her. I later found that she only spoke to me was because she recognized only me in college when she walked in. I didn’t consider myself worth an acknowledgement from a goddess like her. You might wonder why it is that I haven’t mentioned who I am till now. Until I met Rupa or rather until Rupa found it worthwhile talking and spending time with me, it dint occur to me that I was worth anything.

I am Shuba, B.Com I year student from St. Thomas College for women. I was diagnosed with T-cell prolymphocytic leukemia four months ten days back. The doctor called my parents first. I watched my mom come out of the room with teary eyes. Then it was my dad who came out, he looked like a truck had run over him. I had never seen him so tense or angry ever. It was my turn next. The doctor asked me to come in for a chat. Thinking about it now, I should have known its cancer. After all, we have seen such scenes in a million movies. But then, I was just blank. I didn’t expect that this could happen to me. The moment I reached home, I ran to my computer to Google it. What the hell did I have! What I saw confirmed my thoughts and I couldn't ask for something better. I was a bore and an utter waste of time not worth living in this beautiful exciting world. Even God thought I was a waste on this planet. 

It was my first day in college and I reached at one in the afternoon. There she was looking so pretty and confident. The moment she saw me, she quickly rushed to my side and said, 'Hi Shuba, what’s up with you? It’s so nice seeing you here. Are you also in B.Com? I hope we are in the same class.' I was in shock, Rupa was talking to me and telling me she is excited seeing me. Wow, this was my day. There it began; the most popular girl in class became my friend.