Everything happens for a reason!

Disclaimer - This is a work of fiction. Characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are the products of my imagination and used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to the actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Behind every successful girl, there is a jerk who once broke her heart. SO true. My first boyfriend, let’s call him X, was sort of a genius. School vice Prefect, teachers’ pet, IIT coaching at age 14; everybody admired him; he was almost like a child prodigy or something. He dumped me and I was stupid enough to believe him and his excuses for dumping me and was under the delusion that he still loved me. The academic year ended, his father got transferred and he was gone, for good.

The next year was amazing for me. I still hadn’t gotten over him and the pain was excruciating. But I was free. I could study with no distractions; I could spend my entire free time with my best friends; I didn’t have to lie to my parents (In India, having a boyfriend is illegal, really) and most importantly I could be ME!
I topped school that year, won hundreds of competitions, got a scholarship to study in The States and I was honoured The Student of The Year.
When he was around, I was very conscious. I was scared to even answer questions in the class, let alone debate on stage! I hid my talent. It was almost like my true potential was unknown to me. Buried somewhere so deep inside that it wouldn’t even come out because it was scared of how my so-called better-half would think of me. I was scared of getting embarrassed.  For those four months, I was blind. Blindly in love? I don’t know.
So, it all began in 9^th grade. New class, new classmates, new teachers and of course new syllabus. I entered the class and there he was, standing and staring right back at me. Then came the love-at- first-sight cliché - The whole world around me turned black and white. As explained in Three Idiots – Thandi hawa chalne lagi... slow motion mein dupatta udne laga and everything. It was just me and him in the entire world.
 After the awkward staring for a few seconds, I turned away. But I was in love. Or at least I thought I was.  For the next couple of weeks, I worshipped him. We started talking and I was the happiest person on earth.
One fine day, he asked me to be his girlfriend. I’m not sure if the word “Propose” fits into this situation but anyway, I said yes right away.
X was now my boyfriend. I couldn’t believe it. My life couldn’t get any better. My crush was now my guy. I was one of the toppers and my group of friends were simply amazing.
The next four months was fun. First two weeks was awkward. We were so shy that we didn’t even talk. Third week, we started off by saying Hi and Bye before and after school respectively. After a month, we started talking in free periods standing 1 km apart.  After almost 2 months we used to sit together. Let me tell you that sitting together required guts. We used to do our home works together. He would teach me extra science and math stuff that he world learn at his coaching centre. We would play basketball, football together. Everything was perfect.
Fourth month was extra-curricular month. We got busy with our own stuff. He went away for ten days for some inter-school competition. And after that I went to Mumbai for science exhibition. Twenty days of no talking.  (14 year kids weren’t allowed to have cell phones that time).
After I returned from Mumbai, we didn’t talk to each other. He ignored me for two straight days and I didn’t know why. I couldn’t take it anymore and one day after school, I stopped him and demanded an answer for his strange behaviour. He said it was over. It was over! I never got any plausible explanation for the abrupt break-up. I kept demanding him for an answer but all I got was lame excuses.
The down fall began. I was depressed, I lost my appetite, I wouldn’t talk to people and I cried for everything. I was distracted and it could all be seen on my report card. Jumped right away from A+ to B.
I somehow managed to get an A in the end.
He went away making me feel more vulnerable.

The next year was amazing for me. I was healing and I sure had changed a lot. I understood life better. I had a bigger circle of friends. And the success was all mine.
I don’t know whether the hunger to become awesome came after he dumped me and whether I worked hard to prove myself to him. All I know is that if at all our paths cross each other in the future and he asks me to get back with him, my answer is going to be “I’m too good for you, find someone who matches your standards”.

I called him last week and I thanked him for dumping me. My exact words were, “X, thanks for breaking up with me that day. Hadn’t you done so, I wouldn’t be this amazing. I’ve realised my true potential and I couldn’t have done it without your help. Being your girlfriend was good, but being your Ex was the best thing that has ever happened to me. I own you one!”

Legends say that everything happens for a reason. Now I have a better understanding of this sentence.