Introduction:
Meet a teen girl named 'Lily', who lives with her parents and a couple of siblings. She lives with her middle-class family, having a couple of siblings, in a small town in Assam with the same typical dominating yet cool parents. This story is about her life, her journey — the journey of how being in a middle-class family and under the so-called hyped younger child life looks like
How is she dealing with her academics, her grades, the socially accepted way of mental trauma — comparison, rejection, more precisely re-rejection, and many more?
THE JOURNEY BEGINS — 1st ACADEMIC BOMB
When she was in grade 10, with less than zero interest in studies, she somehow managed to pass the exam because this insight — "marks don't matter anymore" — suits aesthetic books only. Because in reality, our neighbors... ahhh ignore them, but our parents want marks, and yes, you can't ignore them. So after pondering all these bullsh*t points, she gave the exam with not-so-high but an average hope that matched one's worth. She believed that she would secure decent marks, up to 85%.
Got marked down real bad — all thanks to my oh-so-threatening attitude — and ended up in the glorious 70s.
And then the bombardment — umm, nah nah, not from parents (they are cool, right?) — from my eyes. A shower of tears because the murmuring voice of "iska toh usse bhi kam aaya hai, itna paisa lagaya tha, mehnat toh karti thi," came to her ears. Not their fault, it's me, who might not have written well, not prepared properly, or I don't know why — but that was the first time she felt she was not enough. It's gonna be tougher again, and after.
Thoughts like I failed, I didn't — although the marks were not that bad, it's decent, though — but the environment she had been raised in made her feel like she was ZERO in front of others. She lost her confidence. She avoided gatherings. And all this was happening just because of the 10th marks.
But as we all know, time heals, but actually no, by the time we get habituated to the situation, we kind of accept it. so yes after accepting all those shit of backdays she moved with giggling mood, soft smile teary eyes, small face, dying hopes, but motivation percentage- 75%.
She was a very strong, positive girl because deep down she knew how to say, all the family who to complain to, she accepted that she made the mistake of not fulfilling the demands of their parents for not securing good marks. But with a positive approach, she decided she would prove herself next time and moved on with a heavy-hearted, less valued smile and the OG Parents' contribution of "It's okay, beta. Do better next time. Life isn't over, right? You're talented, hardworking — we know that. Who cares what others say… even though on result day, that 'who cares' clearly turned into dead silence"