When you make someone feel special, they make you feel even more special by letting you know that you were able to make that person feel special. I have always believed that the real happiness lies in seeing others happy because of you and this was the reason why I planned to give a surprise birthday party to my one month old room-mate-cum-friend.
In the one month spent with her, she told me about thousand of her unfulfilled desires and to-be fulfilled aspirations, I used to keep looking for the one I could fulfill because she was special for me, she was the second room-mate of my life and she wasn’t bad to me like the first one. So I wanted her to know what she means to me.
One day she told me that she has always wanted to be given surprises on her birthday but because she is from a small-town, birthdays had been a mere reason to pray to God and arrange a proper puja at home. But her wishes were to feel special, to maybe get a big card with a lot of things written for her inside it, get to cut the birthday cake, etc.
I never let her feel that I might even think of fulfilling it and I actually didn’t until the day before her birthday when I totally went restless wondering how could I let go her birthday just like that, when I know what she wants and I am capable of fulfilling it. If not anyone else in the hostel, being her room-mate I do have to do something special for her.
That day itself, I went out to arrange the surprise although I had already got a gift for her, which was one of her pictures framed in a large size. That day in the evening she was out for shopping, so I utilized the opportunity and got the necessary things for the treat. I got her a big card, one baked cake, some yellow roses, candles, balloons, 3 birthday caps – one for her, one for me and one for my other closest friend in our hostel.
By the time she was to arrive, I had decorated the room, called in all the other girls, lit the candles and switched off the lights.
The very other moment, she opened the door and got totally stunned. The surprise treat was a great success, especially because it happened a day before which made it totally unexpected. She dropped me a SMS later saying that I touched her heart. I got too elated.
Later at night, I was cleaning my room. She was busy on her phone and my other closest friend was helping me out. When I went out to use the dustbin, I overheard the bunch of other girls gossiping about the event, when I heard one girl saying – ‘Nobody does so much for a month-old-friend, Saumya did it just to show off her wealth.' At first, I wanted to laugh, laugh out hard at those silly girls because I am really not that wealthy but then I realized I had tears in my eyes. I got a feeling that whatever I did with all the love I had for my friend was rejected. Appreciation was not what I wanted, because for appreciating an effort in making the other person feel special, the other person’s smile is more than enough. I just didn’t want to be misunderstood.
I was disturbed for a very long time. I know I was silly in not taking that criticism sportingly. I used to keep thinking I really shouldn’t have done it. Who the hell was I to take care of her birthday? I stopped sitting in the gossip sessions of the girls. I actually started avoiding them.
Then one day in the evening I went up to my neighbor room, and hopped in between the two of my best buddies in my hostel. My roomie was busy in filling up someone’s slam book, and I was peeping into it to read her entries, unaware that peeping into it will only make me glad.
What my eyes got fixated on was the answer to the ‘fill in the blank’ question – “the best day of your life _______” to which she answered – ‘My 18th Birthday, when I was given a surprise treat by my room-mate.’
Getting to know that, that was the best day of her life, what else could I have asked for from God to make me get over the gossip girls. I realized, I was overlooking the sole objective behind my efforts and that it was fulfilled. Who cares about what other thinks!
No comments:
Post a Comment