Disclaimer:All the characters and places mentioned in this novel are fictional. No such places and people exist in real life.
Aster was a second year IT student in Mount college. She was a genius in developing software applications and websites. She was the topper of her class. But her qualities faded away as soon as someone saw her face. Aster's face was half-burned, the area of her left cheek to the neck had ugly burnt marks making everyone feel disgusted when they saw her face.
But nature had not been completely unfair to her. Nature had given her long and black wavy hair which, whenever opened, fell in flowing ringlets over her shoulders and back, and her deep sparkling eyes which were as black as a moonless night. But there were not many who could see her beauty.
Only philocalists ( meaning, a lover of beauty, who finds and appreciate beauty in all things) in her life were- her mother, her father, her younger brother Arnit and her pet dog- Richie.
It was an ordinary day for Aster. She was sitting on her usual table in the canteen all by herself. Her beautiful hair was open and she was wearing a pinafore dress of denim with a yellow t-shirt underneath. She was having vegetable salad and her favourite milk tea without any flavour.
A beautiful girl walked up to her table and sat beside her. She was Roshni, the representative of her class. After looking at her poker face for a while, Aster took the initiative to speak.
''I am pretty sure you didn't sit here to chat with me. We are not that close. Looks like you want to talk about something really important.'' she asked in a low voice while sipping her drink.
''Umm, yes, I want to talk to you about.... I don't know how to say it."
Roshni was hesitating.
''As far as I can tell, you want to say something offensive.''
Aster gave a sad smile.
''You won't be the first one to say cruel things to me. I am used to such things.''she added.
Roshni seemed shocked to hear this, may be she felt bad too, but if she did, she didn't say anything about it. She mustered up her courage and said,
''Aster, our class teacher is very impressed with your project. We all know, you are a genius when it comes to computers but you know, your face.... I don't want to insult you but...''
She felt so embarrassed that she could not complete her sentence, so again her face became expressionless.
"Its okay. Say whatever you want to say. I am used to these kinds of words.''
There was a feeling of bitterness in her voice.
''See, you know, this project is very important for our college. We all are aware that you worked very hard for this project. But it is true that what appears is sold. And our cruel eyes only want to see beauty.''
Roshni softly put her right hand over Aster's hand which she had placed on the table.
''I know this is harsh but this is the reality of our society. But I assure you that that you will get full credit and money if it gets selected by Cherry Blossom Modelling Enterprises. It is important to all of us so please let Nina represent it.''
Roshni's words were piercing Aster's heart and giving her a pain equal to thousands of stabs. Poor Aster, she had to face discrimination just because of her scars.
''I have to go'', said Aster as she stood up.
Her face clearly expressing her despair and pain. She picked up her black bag and started walking away without giving a second look to Roshni. Roshni tried to stop her by holding her hand but she immediately freed her hand and ran away leaving Roshni staring at her until she was out of sight.
Roshni let out a sigh. She took out her phone and called someone.
''She is not agreeing and I am not going to convince her anymore. Please ask someone else to do this '' she said to the person on the phone.
She had a feeling of resentment in her voice.
''Only you can do this. I trust your capability and skills.'' the person on the other line replied in a strict and commanding voice.
''But this is unfair to her.''
''We are not here to talk about fair and unfair. Just do your work and let others do theirs.''
After saying this, that person disconnected the phone without giving Roshni any chance to refuse.
''Apparently, I have to try one more time'' she said to herself. She picked up her bag and walked out of the canteen.
Aster was running without any destination. By looking at her face, it was clear that she was deeply hurt by Roshni's words. It didn't take long for her pain to make its way from her heart to her eyes.
Her eyes became watery and in an instance, tears were running from her eyes to her cheeks. She was running without giving as much as a glance to her surrounding.
Then, she tripped over a stone and fell down. Her hands were on the floor and her whole body was trembling. She was crying silently but years of pain and sufferings were visible in her eyes.
A man who was nearby saw her on the ground came to her and said, "Are you all right, miss? Do you need any help?''
''No, I don't.. don't ... need any help. You can go..go.. now.'' Her voice was shaking.
''But miss....''
Aster gathered her strength and held both her fists and stood up. She arranged her hair by placing them behind her ears making her ugly scars clearly visible and as soon as the man looked at them, he wrinkled his nose bridge and raised his cheeks. It was obvious by the changes in his facial expressions that he felt repulsed by her looks.
It didn't take Aster any time to understand the meaning of his expressions as she had seen this look many times. She gave a fake and painful smile.
''It's okay, I am okay, you should go now.''
The man hesitated to leave her at first but then he went away. He was helpful only until he saw her face.
''Ah, I know what he feels by looking at my face. I am used to these kinds of things.''
Aster laughed in a painful way.
''I am fed up. I am really fed up.'' Aster decided to go home.
She took a bus. She was going straight to her home in order to rest so the wounds of that day would heal and she could get ready for a new day, new wounds and new pain because that's what life was for her. She had to face many people's taunts and rejections in her daily life because this is what people do to someone who is different from them, someone who doesn't fit into their definition of beauty.
Questions for readers:
1. What do you think about this kind of discrimination?
2.Have you ever behaved with someone like this?
3.Why was Roshni doing this?
4.Who as the other person on the phone? Did she have any bad intentions towards Aster? If so, why?
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