I still remember the first day I moved to Hyderabad, for the first time in my life I was going to live on my own. Being away from my home and family was a new challenge for me and I was actually excited about this.
I was all set to start a new journey with huge hopes in my mind. I had booked a room in a PG that my college friend had recommended. Being a single child from a nuclear family, sharing a room was a big change for me. I was eager to meet my roommate but to my disappointment I found out that she had gone home, when I reached the PG.
So for the initial few days, I had to live all alone. In the whole excitement about living on my own I had forgotten about the responsibilities that come with it. While my mom had taught me all the household chores, having to do all of it was something I was not prepared for. I was constantly busy doing one chore or another and it had started to get to me.
One morning, while I was having breakfast on my bed, the door opened and a girl came in… She was my roommate. The first sentence she uttered was, “This is my bed.” I was a bit taken aback and we both didn’t have a good first impression of each other. I found her a bit rude.
I simply shifted to the other bed and then got ready and left for office. I got a little worried to think that living with this girl would not be easy and it was on my mind for the whole day. But then I thought we don’t get everything we want and I chose to take up a job in a different city, so I should adjust to whatever issues it would bring in my life. I made up my mind to adjust with this girl.
Also read: #MyStory: I Saw My Bestie’s Boyfriend Kissing Another Girl…
I came to know that she’s from Gujarat – a place where I had lived for five years. I had a very good time while living there and I felt a special connection to that place. This made me relax a little bit.
However, one day when I returned from office, I noticed that she had moved her bed a little away from mine… There was a bigger gap between our beds now. After that I lost all interest in trying to get acquainted with her. I thought that if she wanted space and wasn’t interested in knowing me then I was also not going to bother her. So, we just stuck to formal greetings when we saw each other and that’s it.
I wanted to move to some other place, where people were friendly. Staying away from home for the first time was hard enough, so I didn’t want to be around rude and aloof people like my roommate. But then suddenly, my roomie initiated things – she started sharing her food. Also, whenever she bought food such as chocolates, she started getting two…one for me.
Slowly, I could see that she started caring for me. I also reciprocated her efforts and we started talking often. Gradually, I came to know that she was not rude, she just took her time to mix up with people. She was actually someone who genuinely cared about others and it was something that I got to learn from her.
We started enjoying each other’s company. And somewhere along the way, we became good friends and now..we are inseparable.
The whole episode with my roommate taught me that first impression is not always an accurate reflection of a person’s personality. I no longer believe that first impression is the last impression. The girl who I thought was rude and inconsiderate is now someone I can talk to about anything and everything. I wonder if I could have survived in this city without her.
Also read: #MyStory: Why I’m Happily *Unmarried* Even In My Late 20s
And yes…the gap between our beds is now filled with lifelong friendship.
Few days back, she told me that she’s planning to go abroad for further studies. I was sad to hear that as I seriously couldn’t wrap my head around the idea that this place would not feel like home after the person who made it possible in the first place will no longer be by my side. But then I know that we can’t always be in this place together, we have to pursue our goals in life. So for now, keeping all these thoughts aside, we are busy spending quality times with each other and creating memories. The memories that will help us cherish our friendship forever.
Images: Shutterstock
Have a story you’d like to share? Just drop us an email here with your story – don’t forget to put #MyStory in the subject line. We’ll get back to you about whether we can feature it.
