Reserved For You (Shivika Version)

Homeless

Annika

Have you ever felt homeless? I'm not talking about being homeless, but feeling homeless. Everyone around you are your family, friends and well-wishers, but you just don't belong with them. Have you felt that? If you have, then you might be able to understand my plight. But if you have never been in my shoes, then I envy you. I envy you for having everything that I have ever wanted in my life; to feel that I belonged somewhere.

My name is Annika Arora and I'm a doctor. People say that I'm lucky to be born to my parents who are both very renowned in the medical field. They own a hospital together, The Arora Medical Centre. We have a few branches all over India and we intend to expand our business further. Business? Yes, business. Our hospitals are nothing but business to my parents. You can ask anyone in the city, and they would point towards The Arora Medical Centre as the best hospital in town. And, if you ask them why, their answer would be just one, it's expensive, so it's good. If you ask me, I would plainly deny it and call it marketing. The Arora Medical Centre is a brand and we, the doctors, the faces of it are the marketing officers of the hospital. Well, at least my parents and my brother are. I'm not.

Every family has a black spot, a failure, a disappointment in it. In my family, I'm the one. The outcast. The unworthy of the family name. So, now, you tell me, am I lucky to be born to my parents?

Even before I was born, my fate was sealed. I was to be a doctor and nothing else. In fact, I was raised in a hospital where I watched and learned countless things about being a doctor that I didn't even had to study or prepare much for the NEET exams. I had managed to score exactly by the borderline of the cut off and gained a medical seat. Any other parents would have rejoiced the victory of their child, but not my parents. I was an embarrassment to them. Why? My brother had ranked 1st in the Neet exams during his year and so did both my parents. They had plainly dismissed the fact that I had managed to get a seat and focused more on how to improve my grades and I had worked super hard, really hard to prove myself throughout my MBBS, but I could never meet their expectations. No matter how hard I work, I was always at the bottom. It's like I was cursed or something. Cursed to be the disappointment of the family.

However, I never gave up. I don't know from where I harvest the energy to keep going on, but I'm glad that I always had it. Maybe it's the hope that I would finally belong with them or somewhere at least.

Just like how I'm a curse to the Arora family, likewise, the Arora family name is a curse on me. I've never had a true friend because of this. Those who are genuine would never approach me while those who do usually do it because of my last name. There are perks of being acquainted with the Arora family's girl. Some people do say that they don't care what my family name is, but in reality, as time passes by, their actions speaks louder than their word. Somewhat this made me very insecure and I found myself being unable to trust anyone anymore.

I don't hate my life, but, I'm exhausted of it. I'm tired of the endless loop of trial and error. It's just the same all over again despite me adopting a different approach towards the problem. Have you seen Dr. Strange? Do you remember the climax scene where Dr. Strange goes to bargain with Dormamu, and he dies infinite amount of time? Well, Dr. Ishani is somewhat in the same kind of situation. My Dormamu is my father, Dr. Harsh Arora. Right now, I'm waiting outside his office while my brother, Dr. Aman Arora are having a conversation about the mistake I did today. The mistake of being brutally honest to a patient about his chance of not surviving a surgical procedure.

"Anu, Dad is calling you in" My elder brother called out to me, breaking my train of thought. I quickly stood up and rushed in.

"Dr. Annika, how many times must I remind you of the professional ethics in The Arora Medical Centre?" Dad maintained a stoical face as he reprimanded me.