My Story

 My college life began online amidst the global fight against COVID-19. My batch is often referred to as the "COVID batch" because of this. My entire first year was conducted online—no Freshers' Day, no ragging, nothing. It felt unfortunate, but I accepted it. As a History student, I expected my lectures to be delivered by older, perhaps less engaging, professors. To my surprise, both of my major subjects were taught by two young and charismatic professors, Jeevith and Hareesh. These "professor bros," as we called them, had studied together, graduated together, and even began their teaching careers together, handling the first-year students as a dynamic duo. Their energy was refreshing, and I was thrilled to have professors with whom we had a good understanding, given the minimal age difference. However, online classes were monotonous. Most students, myself included, only showed up for attendance. The entire first year felt like a lost cause due to the pandemic....

  This morning, I urgently needed to get to a place, so I boarded the 40H bus near my college to Egmore. When I opened my purse, I realized I only had a ₹200 note. It was early, with just a few passengers on the bus, and I wasn’t sure how the conductor would react. I handed him the ₹200 note, and he gave me a bewildered look. He opened his bag, revealing some coins, and said, “This is all I have. You expect change this early in the morning?” I offered to pay via GPay, but this seemed to upset him. He raised his voice and mocked me, saying, “He says he’ll GPay the fare.” His tone was sarcastic, and the other passengers began staring at me. It seemed as though the conductor was about to kick me off the bus. Thankfully, a middle-aged woman sitting nearby intervened. She told the conductor she would pay the fare for me, and I felt instant relief. I thanked her, but she insisted that I didn’t need to pay her back. After getting off the bus, another passenger approached me and said, “You...

 Today my friend asked me to tell me the first book I read. The first thing is always special to us. I read my first book when I was in 10th grade. I developed that habit very lately.  I mainly thank Gautham and Diljith. These two are responsible for giving me the spark to read a book. These 2 are bookworms. During 10th grade, I used to sit with them. Gautham was the all-rounder of the school and Diljith was the topper. Whenever I come to class, these two will be reading books. Gautham will be reading Rick Riordan’s, Percy Jackson. Once I tried to read that book, I didn’t understand anything. Diljith every day different books. I used to wonder how this guy read books so fast. Whenever I try to read books, I feel sleepy or bored. I tried many times but never got the spark. One day after reading a book, Gautham called me to the library. Librarian and Gautham were great friends. They started having a conversation. Suddenly my eyes fell on the new arrivals section. I got attracted...

 Samson sir who taught me Malayalam during my school days narrated one of his friend's experiences. His friends went to Bihar as part of training. There he went to a local barbershop. After having a normal haircut, he asked the barber how much. The barber said 5 rupees. He was shocked to hear that. Normally in our place, the price for a normal haircut will be 80 to 100 rupees. He gave him 50 rupees and said to keep it. The barber was very happy as if Ambani has appeared in front of him. There was always been an influx flow of Migrant workers to South India. These people mainly work in the construction sector. Here they get about 500-1000 Rupees per day. Back in their own state, these people are not getting enough money to survive. They see more employment opportunities in South India. Coming to that incident, happened in 2016. Many places in India are still left behind. They have never seen development. As a result, many people in Indian society live in poverty. (All thanks to dirt...

 When I was in 12th grade, my class teacher, Mrs. Nisha Thomas, was absent for three days in October. No one knew the reason for her absence, and during that time, my class became noisy and disruptive. Despite several teachers from nearby classes coming in to warn us, the noise continued. Word of this reached our class teacher, and she was deeply upset. She informed us that her husband had been unwell, and she had taken leave to care for him. I saw tears in her eyes as she shared this with us. Despite her emotional state, some students were inattentive and continued with their own activities. Hurt and insulted by this lack of respect, she left the classroom abruptly. Our class leaders went to the staff room to console her, but I could feel a heaviness in my heart, knowing that the situation was far from resolved. During the fourth period, Father Geevarghese entered our classroom and announced that he wanted to check our bags. He noticed one of the students trying to hide something,...

When I was in 11th grade, there was a guy in my tuition class who constantly mocked me because I struggled with physics and mathematics—subjects that were not my strong suit. He frequently called me an idiot and useless, which eventually led me to quit the tuition class. I didn’t want to endure criticism from teachers and others any longer. A year later, I participated in a quiz competition and was selected to represent my school. Since the quiz was organized by an engineering college, I expected the questions to be related to science. To my surprise, the topics were current affairs, history, politics, and other subjects in which I excelled. I noticed the same guy who had mocked me was also participating, representing his school. Although we didn’t speak, I could sense his presence. In the competition, my team performed exceptionally well, reaching the finals, while his school was disqualified in the first round. My school ended up as the runner-up, and I was elated. Not only was this ...

 Since today was a holiday, I decided to pay a visit to Semmozhi Poonga. It’s a botanical garden. After walking around the place I sat on a bench. I observed a girl and a father. I think the girl is about 7 years old. There was a leech on the floor. That man was about to stamp on it. The little girl pushed her father and said, ‘Appa don’t kill it, it is nature.’ ‘It will bite you, said the father. And the girl's reply stunned me. She said ‘Appa, if I pinch you, you will get hurt. Likewise, it will also get hurt.’ The girl took the leech on a leaf and placed it in a safe place. I was blown away. The girl is hardly 7 years old and her maturity level is amazing. Now I am very hopeful that the upcoming generation will make this world better. Education matters a lot. If we inculcate value-oriented education in kids, they will make this place a better place to live in. This little girl is a big example for us.