Disclaimer: This story happened 13 years ago. Characters are not fictional, but they’re probably quite different today.
Her name was Lily. She was blond, was slightly taller than me and had the most remarkable lips that I’ve ever come across. She was stubborn, creative and energetic. She was not the girl that all the bad guys wanted, but she wasn’t exactly the teacher’s pet either. She always had a sparkle in her light blue eyes that that quaintly reminded me of all the good things in life.
Me, on the other hand; I was the class nerd. I spent most of my time daydreaming about being a great man but never-the-less got beaten up by the class bullies on a daily basis.
Even though I used to pick up flowers and flick the petals to see whether she loves me or loves me not, it wasn’t exactly love at first sight. Rather it was a progression of admiration and fondness that grew in my heart for a steady 12 months.
She was undeniably creative. Once we had a lesson in digital art (back then it was DOS based and we had to enter the coordinates to draw a simple line) and while I was trying hard to draw a complete square, she had drawn a portion of the Australian flag flawlessly.
She played the recorder, and was a great artist and painter too.
But most of all, she was a care free girl, who skipped through life and stood up for what she thought was right. I was profoundly moved when she stood up for me when Jacob was teasing my poor self for not knowing the word ‘plantain’. She broke up into a big fight, which I watched silently but with beaming pride.
We were good friends, and because of that I was too afraid to express my feelings towards her. Even when one of her friends made a suggestion, I refused it bluntly and ended the conversation rather forcefully before she came into hearing proximity.
But somehow, when time forced us to separate, I gathered all my courage and left her a letter. Four months later she replied, but at that time my courage was nowhere to be found.
13 years later, I still wonder what would’ve happened if we were not separated…..
But most of all, I wonder whether I could muster the innocence to love a woman to the same extent today.
Ending note: Love is truly beautiful when combined with innocence. I’m kind of sad that most kids in SL don’t get the chance to experience it. What our benevolent adults fail to comprehend is that education (like life) is a journey, not a destination.
14 comments:
Dude you should have asked her.Never hesitate to express your feelings merely because she's a good friend of u. Express your feelings but make sure that you will keep the frienship intact. If u read my blog u will understand my situation..
Education is a journey - I'm with you on that...:-) It's also a battle now..
Maxxa, I should've done many things..:-) But I guess it just didn't happen.
LD,
Most think that education is the only edge they have and compete with others unnecessarily. Eng undergrads today do CIM or CIMA (and sometimes both). Sad really. Our generation is over-educated, over-qualified and empty.
Hey R, I fully agree with what u have said to LD. Our generation is over educated, but they do not understand the realities of this world. The dilemma we need to solve is to teach pragmatism to these over educated heads
Hey man the main problem with your story is you haven't given your definition of love, what we feel when we are teenagers is just simple attraction and not love. Did you ever for a moment why Srilankan parents don't let their children to go on so independently, it is because the parents haven't evolved with the children, they still living in the 20th century. In your case I think you just felt a want to be with her, but still you should have asked her.
Definition of love?
I don't think, I'll ever be wise enough to figure that one out.. :-D
wht worries me alot is that our parents and teachers in lanka focus more on education in the most theoretical way possible...life isnt about being knowing all the theory...life is about experience..and that they fail to teach us in lanka...the more u experience life in its all dimensions like love pain disgrace humiliation...the more better perosn you become
My ex-CEO once said to consider engineers with management qualifications (ether CIMA or PG in Bus) it's always wise to have eggs in different baskets but some would follow the trend and become wasted. There is less bargaining power in most of the power distance cultures and less choices.
Parthi, agree with you wholeheartedly. Bt go a little soft on your parents; they're trying to do the best they can in the way that they know best I suppose...
Manju,
I think the power distance culture is slowly moving away. Now CEOs directly talk with young engineers and there are places I know that they even play basket ball together.
But this hasn't really crept to the public education system yet. And the power distance between teachers /students and parents/teachers are still much the same.
Ado I wonder even your best friends at school(Harsha, Sanka) know this story. If they get to know this now, I'm sure they will scold you.
It's good that the buggers don't read much. :-)
hmm young love,infact very young love.The way you have defined her physique and behaviour,i'm sure at that time you wouldn't have explained it this way (if my math is right,which i'm really bad at).
And i'm sure the for the buggers "chandrien" had mentioned you would have been a great inspiration being one of their best friends.
At that time I didn't have much of a vocabulary. Thus my feelings were undefinable and more intense. :-)
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