Once upon a time, there was this calm, soft and a shy girl I had met during her college days. The memory of my first sight of hers is still fresh in my heart and mind. I joined as a Training Officer in the college where she was one of my students. The innocence in her face, the shine in her eyes and the radiance in her smile made me fall in love with her the very first moment. You all might think what is so special about these characteristics as most of the girls have these characteristics. That is absolutely true. It is said that the curious mind never stops questioning and curious eyes never stop exploring. I am sure you would surely agree if I say, though our eyes keep exploring many things around us, they do stop at someone or something which cannot be ignored. For me, she was that spark. I knew nothing about her till then but the thought in my mind that there is something about her and I want to explore her deep never left my mind. Gradually, I started interacting with her and started my trials in understanding her as a person.

As and when I started observing the deep nature of this girl, I always realized her to be quiet, introspective and deep in thought. I could not categorize her as an introvert though, but may be she was shy or I always felt there was something inside her which is probably stopping her to bring out the best version of herself. The curiosity inside me got more and more strong and I started observing every minute thing about her in the process. She had drew a circle around her and there were very few people inside that circle with whom she used to spend most of her time. But one question never left my mind was whether she was being completely honest and sincere in being herself with those few people at least? Her actions and her eyes always gave me a puzzled answers to that. Sometimes, the sixth sense of a person works so strong that your mind denies to accept what your eyes see. The same was my experience with her. Officially, I was their trainer and mentor during their engineering and used to help the students with their trainings & placements. But, I decided to mentor her specially and personally. I felt she was like an iceberg, showing just a part of her abilities and keeping the rest hidden from the world.

Gradually, she became quite close to me and used to share her feelings and emotions with me. This was quite an improvement in my project. I remember one day the students were practicing for their annual celebrations in the college. I was there with her seeing her actively participating in a group dance practice. There was a glow on her face and the happiness I could see and feel inside her that day was amazing. As and when I got to know her better than before, I started loving this girl more and more. It was then I started realizing that she had a great influence of the thoughts of few people around her. She always used to try to be as they expected her to be and not be herself anytime. She had literally buried all her likes, feelings and emotions inside her and had covered all of those with the likes and emotions of those influenced people. She was literally living their life rather than living her own life. Finally, I understood this but when I tried to discuss the same with her, she always used to convince me saying that she likes being that way. But her answer never could convince me completely and the confusion inside me kept on disturbing me for very long. I never stopped my trials of counselling her and making her realize that being oneself is the utmost happiness in the world and she needs to change her perspective towards life. I was never sure of her thinking towards it but whenever I tried to talk to her about these things, she just used to divert the topic by giving a lovely smile and trust me her smile is a killer one, and I used to get carried away with that. But the thought that she was hiding too many secrets behind that lovely smile never left my mind.

With these continuous efforts in understanding her and helping her come out of that circle, time just passed too quickly. I had moved out from that job and later she finished her graduation and was ready to take up a decent job. But, we continued to talk regularly and meet whenever possible. She, along with a group of few more friends used to visit my place and many a times, I used to go and meet them. So there was never a gap felt between us in our bonding. She joined a job in an organization and I was working with Novartis at that time. While talking to her about the job, I realized that may be she is not that comfortable with it and I thought it would be great if she could be with me all the time so that I can protect her from all the negative vibes around her. I am not sure if it was my attachment with her or my over-protective nature which made me think that she should always be with me so that I can make sure she is fine and safe from all the negativity around in the world. That was the time when I approached my colleagues for her job in Novartis and she got through the same. Believe me, that was one of the best moments of joy for me. By then, knowing this girl for so many years, there was a very special bond with her. I have no idea of what to name that relation with her, but the kind of affection and attachment I have with her is undoubtedly one of the best. It is said that we should always trust our intuition, because it never lies. I don’t know if it was my possessiveness towards her or a hint from my gut feeling that I got her into Novartis with me, but I still believe and feel it was one of the best decisions I had taken in my life.

That was the time when we used to enjoy each others company every single day. We used to spend so much of time together talking about every damn thing in this world. We gathered so many memories together that we can cherish them for lifetime. All the gossips, the parties, dance performances, outings, secrets and many more such crazy memories with her doubles my happiness in life. She is one such person in my life who knows every bit of my life, be it my past, my present or my future plans. She understands every bit of me as a person and believe me, she has been a victim of my mood swings and crankiness many times but she never complained it anytime. Sometimes, I wonder that how we both get along each other so well and understand each other immensely irrespective of the age difference we have. But our relation has yet again proved that “Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter”. For us, age never mattered and we were just the best versions of ourselves when next to each other. Many people used to ask me what is my relation with her. Shall I say she is a student, a friend, a sister or a daughter? The name just never mattered for us. When the bond is so strong, when we understand each other’s feelings without even talking to each other, when we compliment each other in the best possible way, why should anything else matter? In the midst of those happy and joyful days, there was a storm which just blew away all the happiness in our lives. Something unexpected happened in her life and she was devastated. Few incidents and few people for whom she has given the half of life completely had put her down and she was in the worst phase of her life. It was like people could not see her happiness and tried to knock her down by hurting her very badly. Though I was with her as a rock standing next to her but to take all that and accept the bitter facts of life was the biggest challenge. I was worried that how would she take all that as she was a very sensitive girl, she not only showed up the courage to face that situation but also knock it down with such a great confidence. She had proved that no matter what, the comeback is far greater than a setback. Finally, I could see my girl breaking out all the barriers of her circle and walking out of it with her head high. That was the best ever feeling for me as a mentor and well wisher for her.

When a ‘setback’ brings a ‘comeback’, that’s grace in action!

The way she handled herself in that situation and turned the biggest nightmare of her life into a learning lesson and moved on made me so proud of her. I always had loads of love for her but the way she fought with her weaknesses and brought out the best version of herself made me respect her to a great extent. Not only did she handled herself in such difficult times but since then she has been a greatest support for me in all difficult times. There have been instances in my life when I felt low and could not handle myself. She was the one who handled me and made me realize my self worth once again. It was a biggest surprise for me to see her motivating me and making me fight with circumstances. A feeling that when did that shy little girl had turned into a positive and confident woman surprised me. What else can a teacher expect from her student? She has surpassed me in many ways and that makes me so proud and the most happiest person in the world. I left Novartis few years ago but she continued her journey with the company for almost 7 years and now she is ready to take the next challenge of her career. I am sure she will do wonders wherever she would go. Not only career, but she also has proved that if you have a strong will, anything is possible in life. Life is all about accepting every situation, face it, fight with it and win over it to achieve the utmost happiness.

This has been my long pending wish to pen down my emotions and feelings for her. I wanted to dedicate this to one of the most and dearest persons in my life as she is in the phase of starting a new chapter of her career. I always wish she gets everything she wishes for in her life. May she reach to greater heights in her career and achieve utmost success and happiness both in her professional and personal life. There is only one thing I can tell her that I love her to the moon and back and no matter what, she will always find me next to her in every step of her life.

“A smile can open a heart faster than a key can open a door… So brighten the world with your smile.”

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“There are certain people who make the world a better place just by being in it. You are definitely one of those people My Angel. Loads of love and blessings always.”