I am not normal, I am Magic...!

As I begin to pen this down, there is a barrage of memories that seem to engulf me all over. I was not normal, yes, I was not. I was born an albino- a human being who is congenitally deficient in pigment and usually has a milky or translucent skin. Usually albinos also have poor eyesight, so did I. The situation was worsened due to our family living in a small town where there were lots of superstitions & myths existed in those days, they still do.

My tryst with these challenges became more and more frequent and vehement when I started going to school. It was an all-boys school and in those days your worth was directly proportional to the marks you got in your examinations. It is largely still the same, but things are improving.

I had learning disabilities and I could not understand much of what was taught in the class, which was coupled with my inability to see things written on the blackboard, even though I used to sit separately from other kids, in front. This arrangement, however, was not because they wanted me to read things clearly from the blackboard, but because many parents did not want their sons to sit close to me as they might had contracted the disease, which it was not.

My parents consulted the best ophthalmologists to help improve my reading abilities, however, the glasses I was prescribed, used to hurt my eyes badly and I used to have excruciating pain. Even though I was not considered normal by many, the treatment I received at school was equal to those who were probably more abled than I was and thus I could never match up to their performance, largely studies. On the other hand, I used to be very happy at home because nobody discriminated me there, they loved me and cared for me more than my siblings.

My woes continued and because I was always looked down upon by my classmates, teachers and generally by people for my looks, inability to see properly, etc. which over a period made me stubbornly ignorant. I was losing myself, every rejection, disappointment, non-acceptance was pushing to become a loner- that I ultimately became.

It was then, when MAGIC happened, or I should say, a series of Magics started to happen. Since I hardly had friends at school & I could not play cricket as I was not able to see the ball properly, I spent a large amount of my recess time in the school library. As I was usually alone there, I had no inhibition in reading the books from extremely close, for which, I was always laughed at in the class.

My life took a 360 degree turn around, everything that was a hindrance in my life, I was able to distract my attention from those. As the law of attraction says, “energy flows, where attention goes”, I got the guiding voice tell me to shift focus, the result was:

I could not play cricket as I was unable to sight the ball, I started playing football and in 3 years, I was the center forward of the team.

I had difficulties reading and understanding from the blackboard, I developed my listening skills and started retaining everything that the teachers said in the class and I scored 64% in tenth board. It might not sound big for many, but my father was so proud that day, it was the first time I had secured first division.

I didn’t have many friends, because I read many books in the school library, I started participating in all literary events, elocutions, writing competitions, debates, etc. and earned popularity like nobody else could, not only in my school, but more importantly in the major all-girls schools.

I was often cussed at for my looks, I grew long hair as I entered Junior College, spoke in English with a twang & almost 2/3 of the college wanted to be friends with me. I represented my college at many inter-university cultural competitions and won many awards in dramatics, creative writing and more.

The series of Magics continued and at the Masters examination, I scored the highest in my batch.

There are hundreds of such big and small incidents in life that are magical, that I can compile a book about.

My next role was to return the magic to the universe and again Magic chose me to be a mentor guiding the younger generation realize their career goals. I was the first from among all siblings to move to a metropolitan city, found a job, brought my siblings over & helped them settle down in their lives. The universe conspired for me on numerous occasions, whether it was to be a People’s Manager for my team and support them in everything they did or it was that I could do whatever was possible for my parents in their last years.

The fact that I am able to put these thoughts, although random, is magic in the sense to have the ability to share my feelings with all of you wonderful, extremely talented people. If I were to conclude it in one statement, I would say, “I am not normal, I am MAGIC in flesh and blood”.