‘So how is life?’ she asked.
‘Not as good as it used to be,’ I said.
We smiled. She knew what I meant.
***
I could see my responsibilities – some willingly assumed and some being thrust upon me – manifesting on her face and she could read on mine that I’ve been betrayed, taken for granted and misled. But who were we to blame someone else? I remember listening with rapt attention to dad narrate the story of Snow White, a princess misled into the forest where she slips into a deep slumber only to be awakened by her true love. A happy ending! The next evening it was Cinderella, ill treated by her family, only to escape in time to a bash after which the prince sought her out and married her. Another happy ending!
***
Rapunzel was next in line. Well, the only problem she had was a mane that stretched to eternity which obviously got sorted when a prince fell in love with her and helped her escape from a tower where she was locked away. Happy ending again!
Dad read these stories most nights to lull me to sleep, mom and I would watch the same on TV and I was induced into reading the same. I read them. Every night.
***
And every time I read them I believed that ‘bad’ doesn’t last long but ‘good’ does, that the evil are weeded out and the kind- hearted ones can never be betrayed. In short ‘And they lived happily ever after’ always happened in real life. She believed them too. Just like me. And in the years that we grew up together, we dreamt that some day over a cup of tea served in a dainty tea set, we would discuss how well manicured our lawns were, how tough it is to match the lip colour with the nail colour and of course how all the best friends we had then would still remain our 2:am friends. Happy. Carefree. Life.
***
But nobody told us that fairy tales belonged to the books alone and that l wouldn’t find my prince charming just by acting dead, wandering in the woods or by stepping out at midnight and leaving one of my shoes at a party. No one told us that life wasn’t always fair. That the word ‘priority’ would either fetch us accolades or beat us down to pulp with criticism.
***
No one ever mentioned that ‘money’ would play a very important role in our lives. So much so that some relationships would be defined by the riches and the goods that we have. Or don’t. And no one ever told us that not everybody who we meet has a kind heart. That many would lie to us, mislead us and betray us. No one told us about the scars such people would gift us with.
***
Someday I will have children and I will read out the same stories to lull them to sleep. But the day when they are ready to listen to life’s story I shall tell them this: Fairy tales and life have nothing in common. Life is more beautiful. You only have to learn how to keep its beauty intact. When surrounded by roses, don’t get carried away by just the fragrance or turn a blind eye to the thorns that come with the petals. Life has its share of ups and downs and certainly the good and the bad. Learn to accept them both. It creates a balance.
***
Money is something of course but not everything. Never trade your emotions for a few crisp notes. They can’t buy you back your lost emotions, you see. And last but not the least; you are bound to meet a lot of people in life. Your gang of best friends will reduce from 25 in school to one by the time you are 30. The decline in the number doesn’t mean that you are unpopular. It shows that only one person was worth sharing your joys and sorrows with. Just one person was worth all your time and that one person will be there no matter what and will stand by your side whenever you face the rotten eggs.
***
Because it is life. Not a fairy tale that lasts just 10 pages.
***
A Libran, Rashmi Ramachandra dotes on her morning cup of coffee. The family’s official juke box, Rashmi is a trained classical singer, an MBA in Marketing and HR who very soon found out that radio was her actual calling as it kept her close to the one thing that she loves the most – Music. A huge Harry Potter fan, she is trying to create a broomless version of the quidditch. ‘Life is too precious to complicate’ is what she lives by.
