The Introspective Chronicles

A Warrior's Smile: Remembering My Friend High school. Those years are a blur of classrooms, awkward moments, and the slow unfolding of who we were becoming. I met her then, during higher secondary. We shared the same school, her class right next to mine, yet she was a peripheral figure until an awards function brought her into sharper focus. Later, we found ourselves in the same class, she sitting in front of my group. We were among the few who didn't attend tuition classes, forging a unique bond, a "friendship of situation-ship," as I like to call it. Until 10th grade, academics came easily. I learned by listening in class, reflecting on the bus ride home, and applying concepts to the world around me. I embraced mistakes as learning opportunities, a stark contrast to the rote memorisation favoured by others. Consistently ranking above average, I never consciously set academic goals; it all just happened. Everything changed in higher secondary. The medium of instructi...