VANITY
I was a kid when I first met her, in a very massive crowd she was the most simply dressed one, yet so flamboyant. She was wearing a very beautiful, effortless smile which people termed as smirk. Her plain, simple attire was termed as showy by most of them. Her gait was smoother than that of a cat. Her phlegmatic and charming face captured all the attention and sneers. I was completed befuddled as to why people despised her. To me she appeared to be an archetype of perfection.Dad introduced me to her; I asked her to be my friend. She held my little hands and without letting that calm smile vanish explained to me that being her friend would cost me on my social life. Although by now I had complete idea of what people think of her, but I was thoroughly enticed by her charm and succumbed to her iconoclasm; I wanted her to be my janitor; I wanted to be like her. Without giving a second thought I started venturing out with her.As I grew, I kept learning from her a lot. She taught me how to keep my pride without being irreverent towards others. She helped me to be free from all those shackles that were abstaining from success. She helped me learn autonomy. She made me love myself.Till now I was walking with her by my side, and then came a diversion. The decision was to be taken between the two paths; she explained both of them to me, one of them was the one taken by most of them; this was the path which had a predefined destination; the path where your speed is in control, so this path had no risks involved with it. The other path was the less traveled one, where you will be the only one to help yourself, where you will have to explore things, where you decide the pace; this path has not defined its distances but the milestones have the names of the most successful inscribed on them. She asked me to take the decision, I took the second path, from that day she doesn't walk beside me, but she resides in my soul… Vanity my best pal.