The Realisation

[Present day,

Burberry Fashion Pvt. Ltd.]

Sarim was standing at the opposite side of the street outside Burberry fashion company main headquarter, Mumbai. Nostalgically observing his QnQ watch as it ticked. " I wish… " said Sarim, emotionally. He felt the pain of failure clutching his heart harder and harder with every passing minute. Remembering the past incidents that culminated to the situation he was in today. Days of his school life flashed before his eyes.

[8 Years ago, Indore.]

Sarim was average in academics, liked sports but couldn't excel, had supporting friends and his parents wanted him to crack the

IIT exam. His best-friends included Muraj, prakshay, Anulika, and Kriti. Muraj and Prakshay were of commerce section, Anulika herself was preparing for IIT and Kriti was going to switch in commerce field in college. And in between all of them, stood Sarim who was following a dream which he never dreamed of. "How is your preparation going?" asked Anulika to a zoned out Sarim. "Preparation of what?" said Sarim, confusedly. "Of IIT of course" said Anulika. Sarim said, "Yeah pretty good", just to console himself. At home his mother daily enquired about the odds in favor of his selection in an elite engineering college. He told his parents about his interest in fashion designing but they ignored it so he didn't tell them about his internship which he was doing at a fashion firm since last 2 months. But one unlucky day, Sarim's family invited few relatives for dinner on Sarim's birthday. And then one of his older cousin started praising Sarim's hard work and the way he is following his passion by doing internship, thinking this was a well discussed topic at his home. "What internship?" asked Sarim's father. "The one where he is working for past two months, at Murcops Fashion, which else?" said the cousin. Sarim's face turned pale. Sarim had told him about his internship but forgot to tell him not to spill the beans in front of his parents. Sarim's father was very strict and so he abhorred it. "Being a duffer wasn't enough for you? Now you're going to invest your rest of the time in this nuisance? At this rate you'll end up being A FAILURE IN LIFE" he said angrily. His father's words hit him hard. He ran towards his room and locked himself up. And then the tension in Sarim's house somehow attenuated by his IIT exam result a week later, which he passed.

The day Sarim apprehended for two years was approaching. "Is it too late now? Can I still say no to engineering and pursuit fashion designing?" asked Sarim to himself. Sarim was about to conclude when his mother came in his room and congratulated him. "But for what?" asked Sarim. "Your father paid the

₹50,000 admission fees today, now you're officially in a college" said his mother. Sarim fell on his knees, he knew he couldn't fight his father now. But then the doorbell rang, when Sarim opened the door his jaw fell after seeing who the guest was.

TO BE CONTINUED...