"It is easy for you to say that I should believe in myself and all the other crap. But when you see your achievements as a kid are regarded useless while your brother gets compliments for small things, it destroys your confidence bit by bit. You know, I had come first in my class and had gotten compliments from my teachers. I was good at sports and I used to participate in debates and dances and all cultural programs as well; I was an all rounder. But none of that mattered at home. I never received appreciation or encouragement from my parents. But when my younger brother started going to the school, he would get praised for small things like finishing homework on time or getting average marks in exams. I love my brother and I agree that he is a good student. But I am also not that bad right? Then why am I treated like this?" Shradha spoke with pain in her voice. She was looking at Nishant and he could feel her disappointment.
They sat in silence; Nishant was lost in thoughts and he did not know what to say. Shradha was trying to compose herself. She had never let anyone see her inner emotions so far, but somehow she had said everything she was keeping locked inside her. After few minutes, Shradha started speaking again. "I know you have said some good things about me. It could be out of pity or to make me feel good, but you have to know; one good thing coming from one person will not change the impact of 100 negative things I hear about myself daily. It.." Nishant spoke cutting off her words in between, "Listen to me carefully. It does not matter how many good things or how many bad things you hear about yourself. You should always believe in the positive words someone says about you and ignore all the negativity. Look at me " Nishant held Shradha's shoulders and turned her to face him. Shradha stared at his black eyes which were shining with determination. Nishant continued, "In the short span of time that I have known you, I can confidently say that you are not an ordinary girl. You are talented and if you put your mind to it, you can achieve anything.I think it is time for you to give yourself some credit and trust your abilities. I believe in you. " Shradha could not take her eyes off of Nishant. She could feel his genuine emotions and his eyes were in sync with words coming out of his mouth. At that moment Shradha truly believed in Nishant's words. She told herself that she might not be able to trust her abilities yet, but she should trust Nishant's judgement. She could try to ignore the noise created by the world as long as she could remember Nishant's words. Shradha slowly nodded and Nishant understood that she was agreed with him. He was relieved to see tiny ray of hope in her eyes.
There is a popular saying - "For a person who is drowning, even a tiny stick can become a huge support". What Nishant did was offering a tiny ray of hope to a drowning person. He did not know if his help would save the person or not; but he surely could not sit and watch the scene. This small action, caused chaos in Shradha's mind. She now had one person who believed in her and was expecting her to gather all the broken pieces of her life and rebuild a new one. In that one day, both of them felt that they had learnt a very good lesson. Nishant understood the privileges he had and Shradha realised that she still had time to fix her broken life and maybe her broken self.
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