The Untold Stories

People always say that a college trip is one of the most important journey of your life, at least in college. They say it either brings people closer or breaks bonds you thought would last forever. For me, it did the first. It brought us together. Before the trip, I had friends in my class. A few girls I talked to, did assignments with, and went shopping at college stalls. We were friendly, comfortable, but that was all. We were friends, yes but more like companions. Nothing deep. Nothing that felt like my people. But this trip changed everything. Somewhere between long bus rides, shared rooms, and tired laughter, we became a girls’ gang. And that’s something I had always wanted from the very first day of my college life. I dreamed of it for so long. Sadly, it happened only at the end, when we have just four months left together.  During the trip, I felt something I had never felt before in college. Belonging. The late-night talks that went on forever. The UNO games whe...

Today my friend came over, and we did what friends always do: Gossip, life updates, silly jokes, the kind of conversations that jump from one topic to another. At some point, I started telling her about my recent college trip, how it went, the moments that upset me, the ones that made me laugh, and all the small memories in between. Then she suddenly asked, “Do you think this friendship will last after college?” I paused. I didn’t have a ready answer. I just told her, “I don’t know… but if they need me, I’ll be there.” She nodded, and the conversation moved on. But after she left, that question stayed behind. It kept circling in my head. I’ve spent almost three years with these people. Three whole years is a long time. College honestly wasn’t perfect for me, I had both good days and bad days. But these friends became a big part of that journey. We shared notes before exams, complained about assignments, laughed at the smallest things, and somehow survived all the chaos toge...

I had heard about the term post-trip depression before, but I never believed it was real. I always thought trips are just moments we enjoy for a while, and coming back to normal life is something we all have to do. It felt unavoidable. But here I am now, after going on two trips back to back, a trip to Kodaikanal in December and a trip to Coorg in January, and I finally understand what that term really means. Ever since coming back, I haven’t been able to move on from those days. My mind keeps thinking about where to go next, what place I should visit, what new trip I can plan. Even though I know I’m just a college student and I can’t afford to keep traveling like that, and I don’t even have the time because my final year is the most important phase of my life but I still can’t seem to stop thinking about it. I keep traveling back in my memories, thinking about everything we did on those trips: the late-night gossip, the fun we had, the games we played, the places we explor...

Almost from the day we start schooling, the first thing most elders tell us is to have an ambition. It could be our parents, teachers, or family members, almost everyone says the same thing. They ask us what we want to become, what we want to achieve, or how we plan to be “successful” in life. But throughout my life, I could never clearly figure that out. As a child, I said I wanted to be a teacher. Then a doctor. Then a scientist. Like most of us, I said these things just for the sake of having an answer. Not because I truly understood what they meant. Now, I’m no longer a kid. I’m in my final year, the most crucial phase of my life where I’m expected to choose a path and decide what I’m going to do next. But even now, I still don’t know what I want to become or which direction I should walk toward. This confusion slowly pushed me into a deep hole. A place where I constantly question myself, "Where do I go? What career should I choose?" And Coming from a backgrou...

Trauma is something that lives with us for a very long time. It does not matter whether the incident was big or small. What matters is that it stays. It stays with you, sometimes for years, sometimes for a lifetime. It haunts you, and often, there feels like no escape. Especially for women. I see so many women carrying trauma in silence. It hurts to know that many girls never get the chance to speak about it honestly. There is always fear. Fear of judgment. Fear of questions. What will they think of me? What will happen if I tell them? Will something bad happen to me? These thoughts control them. They lock them in a room they cannot leave, like a dark hole that slowly changes their life. I have heard many stories like this. From my friends, my cousins, and people I know. Almost every woman I know has faced some form of harassment or abuse in her life. That is heartbreaking. Even more painful is knowing that some of them were just children. At an age when they did not even u...

  Funny how life works. You spend years wanting to escape something, only to find yourself wishing you could go back. I spent ten years in an Anglo-Indian girls’ school, and then just like that, I was moved to a co-educational high school. I was upset, to say the least. My new school was the complete opposite of my old one. It was strict, with endless rules to follow, and the worst part was having to eat lunch in the classroom under the watchful eye of our class teacher. No fun. No privacy. Just study, study, study. Back then, I counted the days until it would all be over. I couldn’t wait for school life to end. But little did I know, one day I’d miss it. Recently, our school hosted a food festival. All my high school friends planned to go, and I decided to join. Best decision ever. Seeing them after years felt like a tight hug to my heart. We met our teachers, laughed over the silly memories and shared stories about those days we once wanted to escape. Afte...