A Friend Who Never Forgets

Optimism, for me, is a way of life- a way that is greatly influenced by the surroundings. A few cool drops of rain in the scorching summer heat carries optimism. The first leaf in a new born plant carries optimism. The first sign of improvement in one’s pathetic health condition carries optimism.

Optimism, in a nutshell, is when one looks at the brighter side of life. It is something backed by hope. So, whenever there is a ray of hope- be it anywhere, there is presence of optimism.

To me, optimism is that friend who doesn’t come every day, but also doesn’t forget visiting forever. According to a proverb in Hindi, God may delay your fortune/ wish, but won’t keep you deprived of it as well. I have seen this proverb work on me to a great extent, and whenever I found a ray of hope sitting in the dark room of despair, I found optimism. When I was very young, a comment like ‘good’ brought me optimism. When I solved a sum from the hardest chapter in Maths, and made it correct, I found optimism. When I found my first paper go very well in my exam, it brought me a lot of optimism which helped me in the other papers to a great extent. I have been knocking the doors of publishing houses for considering my debut book for quite a long time. There was a time when I just lost hope and felt I never would supposedly be published. And then, an offer from a publisher to give my story a place in his anthology came as a big amount of optimism for me. My dead hopes seemed to take a rebirth. Today, all I can say is the day is not far when my book shall be found in print.

Since my birth, I had been living on rent. We never had a house of our own and I was quite sick of following the rules and regulations fixed by the landlords. Three years back, we had been visiting a large number of apartments in search of a suitable flat at a reasonable price. But everywhere, we found some or other issue. And then one day, my dad phoned me informing that he had found an awesome flat at Raiganj at a comparatively low price. There was an air of optimism. We went forward with it without giving a second thought. Today, we own that flat. We don’t have to count monthly rent anymore.

I have found optimism in several things. But my favourite story of optimism is hidden in the town where I have spent my entire childhood. I remember the days when I used to study using oil lamps and lanterns. I was sick of the unmetalled roads and cart-tracks. We used to spend days without electricity in case there was a fault in the transformer or some electric pole (which was very frequent in stormy or windy days). The break-and-fall of the wires of electric poles has taken so many lives. And then, one fine day we found developments tale place. It began with the roads turn metalled. With each lane’s road turning metalled, everyone around was filled with optimism. ‘Our lane also shall be the same one day,’ was the common thought. After the roads developed, came the turn of electricity. The power-cuts became shorter and the necessary wires were replaced with new and quality ones. Apart from this, the construction of park has given a room for recreation as well as employment opportunities to many. Development has been seen in other fields as well. Today, my town carries the aim to stand parallel to any other fully developed town. Optimism is the key that is keeping its determination alive and constant.