I wasn’t the brightest student at school, always kept to myself and barely spoke. I had a couple of friends though (two friends to be exact!) and they were my world. Well, eventually one of my friends moved out-of-town and the other left the school we were in and joined another school. Drenched in my loneliness I made it my life’s mission to join the same school she was in. Finally, after a long wait and many efforts, I succeeded in my attempts to convince my dad and got admitted to that school. I was on cloud 9…! My innocent self, assumed that I am sorted for life with my best friend on my side. Well, as the fate had planned it for me, it dint happen so!

One day while having lunch with my friends in order to indulge in conversation with them, I innocently said “I cutted my hair yesterday” (English-speaking skills were a disaster back then…) All of a sudden everyone started laughing and repeated the word “Cutted” after me. My first thought was “Wow Keerthi… You made them laugh, they do like you!”.

Well, it was just a start and later on it got worse! Only then I came to know that I am just a laughingstock to them (Well, better a laughing stock than nothing I guess!). They never corrected me or told me what was wrong. It was only after a year I came to know what was wrong (I know! Am a lazy learner). The person I believed to be my one true friend didn’t look up to me as a friend and rather felt ashamed to be on my side. I lost my confidence and slowly drifted away from her and literally stopped talking to everyone at school and interactions with my family also started to decline. Shattered and broke, I was sinking into the darkness I created around me without a way-out.

As it happens, my cousin arrived bearing a gift for me! As if the angels had shown me a way-out to get rid of the self-pity I was burying myself in. He brought a set of 3 books for me (first 3 books of the Harry Potter series). That gift turned my life upside down. I developed an interest in reading. With the help of my English teacher, I improved a lot and started taking part in Elocution and Essay competitions at my school. Years passed and books became my dearest friends. Eventually, I understood that good friends are hard to find like good books; but once found, they are a treasure for life.

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My love for books is such that if I happen to lend a book, I can’t be at peace and devoid of worries until I get my precious book back safe and sound! I know it sounds silly, but this is a strange habit I developed over the years… I learned lessons for life from each book I ever read. They taught me values which I will hold on to forever. So, if there’s something I consider a treasure for life, that will undoubtedly be my books; my precious treasure!

I am taking part in The Write Tribe Festival of Words #6This is my post for Day 1. Today’s prompt is: Write about a treasure you have.


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