In the Middle
By Saai Syvendra ·
This happened, at my 1st cousin's 2nd wedding...
The DJ was loud.. My drunk uncle singing, I mean screaming... was loud… And her voice too, was loud.. But sweet... Out of all of this, my heart beat was the loudest…
Contest Chair, one side, I had my drunk uncle insisting me to take a shot.... And on the other side, the sweet voiced girl was insisting I danced with her... I have to admit, she was beatiful... But there was a small problem...
You see, there are two things my mother clearly told me to stay away from... Drinking with uncles & dancing with girls.
And to make things worse, guess who else was at this wedding? My mother.
I could see her head pop out of the crowd and scanning, to find where I was... Whereas I was.... stuck in the middle of a.... Dilemma. Should I take that shot? Should I dance with the beautiful girl? or should I go back and sit with my mother, like the obedient little boy I was?
Friends, what do you do when your stuck in the middle?
Well, for me, it wasn’t the first time I was stuck in the middle. No, I was born into this situation — like literally! I’m the middle son of three boys, in a middle-class family, born in the middle of March, in the middle of Colombo, in the middle of an operation. My life too was like any other middle child, the odd neglected one. My elder brother did Commerce. My younger brother did Commerce. Me? Maths. My elder brother, Chess captain. My younger brother, Chess captain. Me? Chess water boy, no place in the team. Even our names. My elder brother, Sanjey. My younger brother, Sanjit. Me? Saai Syvendra.
And the worst part, are the fights. If I fight with my younger brother, my mother comes to me and says, “Syvendra, your the elder one, learn to forgive.” Okay… And if I fight with my elder brother, my mother comes to me and says, “Syvendra, your the younger one, learn to respect.” Hmmm… Alright… And if my elder brother and younger brother fight… my mother still comes to me… and says, “Syvendra, your the middle one, learn to get in the middle of a fight, and stop it.”
What do you do when your stuck in the middle?
I was fed up of being in the middle and I wanted to be on the top. To be on the top, I had to be a leader. But I wasn't born a leader, so joined this so called organization cause that is apparently where leaders are made. I started speaking, competing, evaluating, eating free food at competitions and things were fine—until, I found myself in the middle, again. This time it was a speech contest and I was seated in the middle of Tom and Jerry, two of my club members. One likes slow classical music, the other likes rock music. One would die for chocolates, other one would rather starve and die than eating chocolates. One wanted the gas cylinder the other wanted the compass. These two disagreed on everything. And at this contest their disagreement was wether the girl behind us was staring at me or not. Jerry leaned and said, “Saai, that girl is definitely staring at you!” Me being me, I replied, “Ah ok” and continued watching the speech Tom countered, “Come on, look at her! Look at Saai! Why would she stare at him!” To which Jerry added, “Aneh meh! I’m a girl. I know how girls think okay?” But neither of them knew what Saaj thinks. There I was, stuck in the middle of their fight, like the poor bulldog in Tom and Jerry.
What do you do when your stuck in the middle?
Believe me or not, the universe answers your questions at the most unexpected time. And the answer for my question came from the speech that was happening on stage… The speaker, “Ever since that day, Sir Richard Branson has been my role model… Let me conclude with a quote of his… If you find yourself stuck in the middle there is only one way to go – forward” That’s it. When your stuck in the middle, you move forward.
At the contest, I moved forward, and sat in the front row. And boy was it peaceful to leave Tom and jerry behind.
Back at the wedding, in the middle of the dilemma of wether to take the shot, dance or go sit… I decided to move forward to the buffet and start eating… Guess who else decided to join? The beautiful girl.
And as for being the middle child, I decided to accept my fate and move forward with life.
So, friends if your stuck in the middle, you simply move… forward.
#Humorous
#2024
#AreaContest