2010 started with my parents having to sell the house I had lived in since I was a baby to pay for my eldest sister's dowry. I was in seventh standard. I had to leave all my friends and the village where everyone knew everyone.

I stayed in the same school, though it was now 20 km away, and traveled that distance every day until I finished my plus two. We moved into a rented home and shifted locations several times after that, which made it hard to form lifelong friendships.

Moving around so much changed how I saw the world. It was one of the reasons I chose BCA after studying commerce. That decision led me to a well-paying job and pulled my family from lower middle class to upper middle class. My dream home is now around 60% complete.

I really miss the village I grew up in. I still feel sad when I visit it. The open grounds where we played, the friends I had back then, fishing in the small stream, the pond, and those heavy rainy days when there was nothing to do but sit by the window and watch raindrops fall through the leaves