Prologue and Author's Note

A N I K A

Pronunciation:

ah-NEE-ka and not AH-nika

Meaning:

Grace, favour in Hebrew and Latin;

Apricot from Nara in Japanese; and

army, face, brilliance, form and Goddess Durga in Sanskrit.

***

P R O L O G U E

"Look, Dia Mirza is sitting next to Principal," Shivani pointed.

I looked at Dia Mirza. For that one moment I felt if I would have been given some other role in the play then I would be happier.

*

Looking on the brighter side, I had dialogue of four words. Others had three words dialogue.

*

I like the name of the script. Finding Drona.

*

We all ran to a corner of the room, screaming loudly. Well, I am quite sure that we would've created a din. What do you expect when six girls with shrill voices scream?

Monali whispered to Mansi, "What was inside the washroom?"

For an instant, I thought staying at home was better than coming on a Scouts and Guides trip.

*

It was decided that we will be moving to Pune. Which means I will leave my friends back. I was in shock. They didn't even consider asking me.

*

The stick broke. Shyamali fell down. Like good friends we laughed and then helped her to get up. She cursed us. Very badly.

*

"You are planning my wedding? Without even asking me?"

*

Don't get me wrong, I know that our parents will choose best for us but you don't know the character of the person and you are set to marry him after meeting once. What if he was not that kind... you know what I mean.

Or, maybe, I was getting worked up?

*

I looked at him with a sense of respect. At that moment, he was my hero.

*

"Anika! Don't think too much. Just say yes to him."

*

I was nearly in tears when I saw her little fingers curled to my long slender finger.

***

WHO IS ANIKA ?

Anika is a south Indian middle-class family girl. This story is about bringing out the whole life of a common girl from the character, the protagonist, Anika.

She will remain invisible to the whole world but will be noticed by her small family.

Did I just say notice? Scratch it. She will be closely assessed by her family members. Though I will be giving a physical description of Anika, she can be any girl of your imagination. She can be you unless you are a girl.

This story tries to capture each and every phase of a girl's life, from birth to death. This story is divided into nine to ten parts (I haven't decided yet).

I will be giving my childhood to Anika but it is not entirely my childhood. Some events are borrowed from my friends with whom I had studied in different institutions.

WHAT IS SO GREAT ABOUT HER LIFE?

An ordinary girl's life is filled with so many incidents, dramas and problems that you don't have to think about another story. You can just write your own personal experience.

This story is not like Anika will collide against the most eligible bachelor CEO of the city; they will fall in love; there's a villain mother-in-law who will not accept their relationship; a perfect plastic model ex-girlfriend who is always looking for some reason to come in between them and voila! Everything settles in the end and a happy ending.

No, no, no! This story is not something of that sort. Read a few chapters and then decide whether you want to stick with the story or not.

UPDATE

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