Ode to My Tainted Dreams

There are some moments in life that seem so far away, you doubt that they will ever arrive. As a young child in primary school, I can remember watching the older kids all going to various upper schools across town and thinking that I would never ever be that old, and would never ever leave my school behind. But life has a habit of creeping up on you; in what seems in retrospect to be a very short few years, I’ve completely finished school and am now looking into different universities. I mention this because the amazing meeting of last week, when I finally met the amazing Nussaïbah, was one of those events that initially seemed so far away that the notion of it actually happening became something of a fantastical concept.

Many, many moons ago, I was in the middle of tearing my hair out before a major geography exam. Despite desperately seeking to gain the best grade possible, I was spending way too much time online; on that night, anything could distract me away from conservation strategies in the Galapagos Islands, which despite being a fascinating subject, loses its appeal very quickly when you have to write about it under exam conditions. One of the messages posted on the Internet that night was a wish of good luck from a friend to a classmate and me ahead of the test the next day; a message that would lead to a new friendship being built with someone from across the globe.

After several hours of writing my heart out in a series of unending essays, I was feeling over the Moon, enjoying that feeling of raw happiness one gets after finishing a complex piece of work. Checking back over the Internet that evening, I was charmed to discover that someone else had also joined my friend on the topic of wishing us well, and upon investigating this person’s profile, was amazed to discover that they were from Mauritius, just over six thousand miles away. The sheer scale and size of the Internet is revealed through such moments, and I can remember taking a few minutes just to visualise that extent of that distance. Continue reading →

I woke up to the feeling that everything was moving beneath me. My first thoughts were of panic and horror as I went through the worst possible scenarios as to why my home was shaking as it was. An earthquake was out of question, though back in a corner on my mind, my little brain was working hard to try and remember my earthquake survival lessons my father gave me when I was little. I took a deep breath and tried to clear my head, telling myself that this was just a nightmare, but even that seemed impossible; seconds ago, I had been dreaming of that beautiful girl again, the one I saw long ago in my old home and from who I was cruelly separated by those heartless humans who are now supposed to be my masters.

As I lamented silently in my corner, I felt three pairs of eyes on me, watching my every movement. I smelled the sweet scent of my unexpected visitors, and suddenly, life wasn’t so bad after all; females were all around me AND at the same time, interested in me. I rarely had female company and the change was welcome. Of course, there is my ‘master’, but I doubt I’ll ever be able to see her in any other way than that of the person because of whom I was separated from loved ones. Anyway, the two other faces were new to me and they didn’t really seem that mean.
But little did I know of the whimsical nature of the fair sex for my experience was only limited to my sisters and their friends who had never been that interested in me. Some experience wouldn’t hurt, I thought to myself as I tried to remember the tips my older brothers gave me. Continue reading →

Back to reality, Sayuka and I should probably go to, but the past two days were so dream-like that one feels that real life is in fact dull sometimes.”Let’s have a sleep over,” we decided back in February when we received our results. Among all the things we wanted to do, this had been top on our lists for some one or two years now, without ever receiving permission for it. Thing’s weren’t that easy, with our overprotective mothers who weren’t not that willing to let their girls go somewhere else to spend the night, not that we haven’t done it before… But I think going to someone’s home rather than a bungalow near the beach or a seminar organized by the school is way different.

Knowing that a full-proof plan was needed, for, of course, we were going to be bombarded with questions about the why and stuff. The best strategy needed to be adapted to get past the barriers our supermoms created, and after dropping clever hints for months and crafting the perfect reasons, we decided to present our cases to our mothers. We almost jumped in joy when we heard the oh-so-awaited “yes” uttered by our mothers! We had wanted this for a long time, but somehow everything was rushed. The previous week, I told the girls that they could come whenever they want, and suddenly, Wednesday arrived, with me hurrying to go meet them. Continue reading →