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First of all, sorry for missing the blog deadline last week. I had exams and it was extremely hectic. As a symbol of apology, I want to change the way I write the blog (shoutout to my friend for the idea) so that you all don’t get bored of me.

Usually, it’s just me preaching about emotions and stuff. So, this edition of Pranav’s day out will be a story instead. I hope you all like it.

Readers, when this story unfolded, I used to live in Mumbai. To be even more specific, I lived in Thane. And, while I love Mumbai, it is not the safest city in the world, so keep this information in your mind before continuing.

I was in 6^th grade and in love with Pokémon. Watched every episode of the anime and watched all the movies.  Naturally, I bought a shit ton of Pokémon cards. But, my mom wasn’t giving me infinite money and I wanted infinite Pokémon cards. So, I did what any normal eleven-year-old would do: I stole some money from the safe and well, started building my card collection. I was smart, I never stole more than 40 Rupees. I played it safe and my card collection kept growing. I knew I would never be caught. I justified my actions by saying that I’ll pay them back when I have a job. I used to buy the cards from a mall opposite my school. One day, after buying the cards when I started walking back to school, to board my bus when I met my friend who offered to buy me burgers. I, being eleven, obviously went with the guy and enjoyed the burgers, I have forgotten the name of the place but I do remember that their burgers were bussin’. Anyway, by the time I was done with my burgers, my bus had left. So here I was, with no way to go back home. I had spent all my money on cards so I couldn’t take an auto.  I had around 2 ½ hours before my mom would be home. I couldn’t waste my time, so I started walking, without thinking about the consequences. My only objective was to reach home before mom. My house was around 7-8 Km from my school, so walking wasn’t that bad of an idea. I don’t remember much from the walk because it was rather simple without any problems. When I got close to my home, I realized that I had only 15 minutes before my mom would be home. So, I started jumping walls to save some time. I reached like 5 minutes before my mom and thought that I had gotten away with it.

However, as soon as I reached home, I made a fatal mistake. At that time, we had a maid who lived with us around the clock to help. At this point, she had been with us for like 2-3 years, so I trusted her. I told her that I had walked to the house, expecting her to be impressed. She was not. I also told her not to tell my mom. I forgot one small thing though; my mom paid her salary. The second my mom entered the house, she snitched. I still haven’t forgiven her for betraying me. My mom is extremely protective of me, she couldn’t believe that her dear son had just walked through the dangerous streets of Mumbai alone and started scolding me immediately. She then said, she’ll wait for my dad and continue the yelling when he got home.

Another thing to keep in mind: I didn’t tell my mom the truth and instead told her some made-up story.  My dad got home and he saw through my bullshit immediately. His great instinct told him to check my bag and when he opened the zipper, he did not find drugs or porn. What he found was even more horrifying. He found a shitload of Pokémon cards in his son’s bag. I didn’t get pocket money at the time, so the only way I could’ve gotten the cards was if I had stolen the money. I felt like a murder suspect watching the CCTV footage of himself stabbing someone and laughing maniacally. I confessed immediately and started to cry and plead for mercy. Spoiler alert, it did not work. I got one of the most memorable beatings of my life that day. The worst part, however, was that he had thrown my dear cards in the bin. I would like to add that not a single day goes by without me crying over my dear cards. Through some great heavenly miracle though, my old cards were spared. From that day onwards, while I can’t say I have stopped lying completely, I definitely lie lesser than the average human being. My old Pokémon collection got stolen when we moved to Coimbatore, btw. A fitting end to my tryst with Pokémon.

Since it is physically impossible for me to not preach: here goes, it took me nearly a week to think about something interesting about myself. I had serious doubts that I was a boring person. But then I started to remember that while I may not have glorious adventure tales, I have some stories that’ll at least make one person smile. Making other people smile or laugh gives me happiness. And isn’t that what truly matters? Our happiness.

So, no matter how boring you think you are.

If your existence causes people to smile, if your life gives you happiness, you are interesting. Even if your life doesn’t give you happiness, your very existence is proof that you are really interesting.

See you all next week.

Still preaching,

Pranav.

Here's a Pikachu, because why the fuck not?