TODAY ITS MY DAY

"Next please", Miss. Ananya Sehgal informed her peon. Ananya was conducting interviews since she needed more employees in her ever expanding business. Ananya was trying to take her business to the peak of excellence; she wanted to reach the zenith.

"May I come in maam", a tall handsome man was waiting at the door.

"Yes", Ananya replied and looked towards him and suddenly all memories of the past came rushing back.

*In the Past*

Ananya Sehgal, daughter of a journalist, had wanted to seek admission in N.C. Jindal School; but fate would never keep her company. Finally, after the 10th board results, she got admission in her school of choice and chose to pursue commerce. First day in new school gives jitters to everyone and Ananya was no different. She knew it was difficult for a person to adjust in a new environment, but she did not know the experience would end up being like this, constantly walking on the fire.

Her so called schoolmates left no opportunity to insult her, in school, in bus and all because of her darker skin tone. Raghav, Shubhi, Parul, Priyanka and other so called friends made it their daily routine to make fun of her. Ananya was not fair skinned but she had a good heart. She was not rich like the rest in the school, but she would always be ready to help a needy person. She would love the food made by her mother more than the canteen food, hence she would carry lunch and this made her the butt of all jokes. Ananya, a sweet simple girl would never complain she tried hard to fare well in studies and whenever she would ask a doubt to a teacher, they too would snub her. She had never encountered such situations where human beings turned so cruel. She did not own smart phones and tablets like rest of the students. Her parents could only afford a simple handset, given to her for her safety because they had never sent her little princess so far and Punjabi Bagh where the school was located was really far from their house.

Anaya never shared her feelings with anyone but she cried alone at nights, at recess time she would only shed tears sitting alone. She regretted her decision of taking admission in this school. She would give fake excuses to her parents for not going to school. It was already midterm and nothing had changed. They would behave with Ananya as if she was untouchable. The entire atmosphere affected her so much so that she slowly got weaker in studies and depression was getting the better of her. In school bus, when her classmate would tease her, juniors would also join them. It was like a never ending ragging. Ananya even tried to commit suicide.

Days passed and it was 11th class final examination. When the result came it was shocking. Ananya and her parents could not believe their eyes that Ananya When the results were declared, Ananya and her parents were shocked to see she had failed. Ananya detained. Her grief knew no bounds; she was having a hard time with the other school kids and to top it she fared badly in her exams too.

However, she was blessed with a set of wonderful parents who stood by her and convinced her that these testing times too shall pass by, she should not lose hope and ingrained in her the lost self esteem. Ananya on her part was not only grief stricken for all that had happened, but she also felt guilty for having wasted a large chunk of her father's income, which was spent on her education. Finally she mustered the courage and decided to repeat 11th grade once again. She discussed this with her parents and requested them to admit her to another school as she could not bear to face the same schoolmates again. Her father inquired the reason for such a decision, to which she burst into tears. She did not want to hide anything from her parents, not anymore and told them everything that had happened in the past one year. Her parents were speechless; they were clueless of the pain their little princess was going through. They hugged Ananya as if to take away all her pain and fill her with love, optimism and joy.

They got her admitted to a school which had students from varied background. She had lost all her interest in commerce so she decided to take up humanities. Her parents accepted her decision. Ananya regained her earlier self. She studied diligently and managed to top the class. She was so helpful and loving by nature that every teachers and children would love her. Neither anyone would have any complain against her nor anyone would make fun of her. She loved the new environment and moved on in life, but the incidents in N.C. Jindal's school, left a deep scar in her heart.

*Present day*

Ananya worked hard and was now the owner of Sehgal's Empire. "Maam" the man said. Ananya was back to present hearing his voice. Ananya conducted the interview, and the man performed rather well. Post the formal interview Ananya thought of asking if he remembered her. "Have you ever hurt anyone?" Ananya asked. The guy was surprised by the question. "Have you hurt anyone or made anyone cry? Are you the reason of someone tears Mr. Raghav Sharma ?" Ananya asked again. "Not that I know of" Raghav replied. Ananya was overcome with rage and said “You conveniently forgot Ananya Sehgal, the girl who was made fun of, because of her skin colour".

"That was only for fun and how do you know her?", he enquired.  "FUN! It was for fun. That girl was on the verge of committing suicide and it was fun for you. That girl failed because of all the humiliation she was made to go through. You people did not have a heart, I must tell you; and you want to know how I know her. I am Ananya Sehgal" she said. Things which Ananya had kept bolted in her heart for years were now finally out from heart. Raghav stood numb. He could not utter a word. He knew he will not get this job. "Well, it’s time to take sweet revenge, but I shall not do that; that's the difference between people like you and people like me. We must keep our personal and professional life separate. You can join in from tomorrow." Ananya said. Raghav almost wanted to pinch himself. He could not believe what just happened. He learnt his lesson and so did most of the other school mates of Ananya, who were now placed in different branches of the Sehgal Empire.

And thus goes the saying "Every dog has his day!"