It feels funny to realize that all the people I once grew up with are forever going to be world’s apart from me. I wish it was just the physical distance. But in reality they are a world of opportunities away, possibilities, lifestyles and choices away.
I’ll never grow up to think like them again. I’ll never see the world through their perspective. I’ll never walk the same path as them. Even if I end up in the same room, I would still be different. They would only be responsible for their happiness. But people here rely on me for their happiness. Their responsibility is to study, dream and accomplish something in life. My responsibility is to earn for my education, dream only within my abilities and keep swimming until I sink. I hope to reach stability before I sink. They get to be only twenty. I am already twenty and sometimes it’s hard to catch the irony.
There are times I am so jealous of them; there are times I am so proud of myself. And then there are these times when I stop to compare myself to them. Just because we started at the same place, doesn’t mean we will end up that way. So I close my eyes and pray that someday these differences be worth nothing.
Amar Shobdo 