I am a single child of my parents and to be honest I never got the feeling of having a brother or sister. My friends always talked about their siblings and about the fun they had. I never knew how close siblings would be to us or anything. I have not really got a lot of time to visit my village and I barely know my relatives. I have almost forgotten how my home there looks like. Of course I call my grandfather and other members time and again but I was never really that close so we just have basic conversations.
But now I finally know what it’s like to have a sister. Now you might think how I can be a single child but still have a lot of sisters well our school has such a system that they are our family and we have a lot of sisters. I finally know now what you share and definitely taught me that being older is not always bad. From the cousin’s side I am the oldest but I didn’t really spend a lot of time with them because being older had a lot of responsibilities and I never thought I was ready. But the school definitely taught me to be more responsible and a good sister. I was close to my mother’s youngest sister but never that much. I love being a sister now because I am very close to some of them. I help them and they love me and I spend a lot of time with them. I am grateful to the school for having this system.
When I joined my school in class five, I had guider didi and now I am in six and I have a guider baini. It is totally different from sharing things to your parents or cousins. We love to share stories of our scariest to the funniest times. Sometimes when we are talking about scary events we decide to prank someone and their reactions are the best. Now I am so close to them (guider didi & guider baini) that we walk together wherever we go.
I am always looking forward to going to school to meet them and share my adventures and I always love to hear about their adventures, too. We also sometimes plan out a surprise for one’s birthday and our specialty is the treasure hunt in which a lot of students assist and the fun afterward is usually held in their own room with a few people who participated. This helps the newcomers to adjust quickly and not miss their homes a lot on their birthdays.
To me, my school is more than a place of education, it’s a home. As a kid, love to spend time at school and have made happy memories within the four walls of my school. Some may find this attachment to my school absurd or unusual, but to me it’s a place where I feel comfortable. As a single daughter of working parents living in a nuclear family, I feel lonely at home.
In the morning, my parents are often busy getting ready for work and moreover, they are more focused on their work than spending time with me. Therefore staying in a hostel for over a year has been a new and enjoyable experience since I have found more companionship and joy where I have been able to chat and share experiences with new friends from Nepal. During my stay at home, when my parents are at work I am alone but at school, due to my friends and sisters, I feel at home. Love you all my sisters and friends.
(Ipkshita is a 6th grader studying at Budhanilkantha School)
(Nepalkhabar requests students to send in their articles on any issues of their interest. The article should be around 500 to 700 words in English and sent via [email protected]. We will select, edit and duly publish them in blog section.)
