…

Life went on as I continued working part-time without a pay, at the small studio. Every other day I was home, I got an earful from my mother about how I was doing nothing in my life. I was a failure. ‘Your father has retired and you’re at home, and don’t seem interested in getting an actual job’. It was always about comparison. The others had a proper education, I hadn’t cleared completed my graduation yet.…

It was the 10th of April, 2004, the morning after the Good Friday midnight mass. Good Friday is a day of mourning for Christians and is meant to mark the sacrificing of Jesus on the cross, before he is resurrected three days later, on Easter Sunday. I’ve had friends of other faiths wish me a Very Happy Good Friday through most of my childhood and I have never quite got why they wish me like that.…

I lost my strand of hope of a livelihood, and two days later, at around 8 in the evening, we watched live footage of the World Trade Center attack. A few minutes, when the second plane collided in front of my eyes, everything turned surreal. The next few days were a blur with the depression of no work, no education and the news channels bombarding images and stories from the scene.…

Education failed me or more accurately, I failed at it. I had to choose between a degree in commerce or arts, both of which I had no interest in. It was perhaps, my state of mind at the time that led me to not take things as seriously. My only distant idea of an education was long gone – I wasn’t going to study to be an engineer. The rains had arrived, and I travelled to some colleges to apply for Arts and Commerce seats.…