What was and what will be

And what about the present?

Do You Feel Happy

One step at a time...??

The 1000 Upvote Answer

I've been on Quora for around 5 years now and I have spent many hours on the site. In this period, I have written more than 150 answers. Most were poorly written and unsurprisingly, hardly received any upvotes. Now I've deleted around 30 of them which even I didn't feel like reading. 

A few days back, I had written a post on Pragati. So when I saw this question, I decided to write her story. And the answer to the question became my first answer to receive upvotes in excess of 1000. Previously my highest count was 408. 

I had written many answers on history and movie reviews which took a lot of time to write, sometimes even hours. There have been hardly any views on them. I wrote this answer in 15 minutes and it garnered more than 25k views in just 6 days. 

The answer evoked strong emotions and had the elements of shock and tragedy. It made people sad and sympathetic who are moved more by emotions and feelings than by hard facts. Most of the high upvoted answers on Quora are about self help, motivational stories, or tragedies. I had been reading about this for some time and this answer confirmed it. No wonder Donald Trump won in USA. 

I don't feel any sense of joy in receiving 1000 upvotes. It's more of a checklist thing.  It was about Pragati, someone about whom I've been thinking a lot in the past few days. She is one person I never want to forget about. I hope that this answer will serve the purpose. 

Material Possessions I Need (Want?)

1. A room with a small attached bathroom/toilet - on rent
2. Enough natural light and air in the room
3. Study Table with a chair
4. An almirah - a small one would do
5. Bed (a mattress would do)
6. Laptop - preferably macbook pro
7. Mobile - a normal smartphone would do
8. Kindle
9. iPad
10. Internet Connection - high speed
11. Shoes (2 Pairs)
12. Chappals and Sandals - 1 Pair each
13. Clothes (all of them should fit in one suitcase)
14. One Pouch consisting of all toiletries
15. One backpack
16. Food to be provided daily from outside 
17. Clothes to be washed in laundromat like service
18. A Two wheeler - a second hand would do

Pragati

Pragati was a classmate in school and one of the best students in my batch.

Every teacher used to fawn on her.

In 2002, just before our Social Sciences board exam of class X, she took her own life.

She was in depression.

Every now and then I'm reminded of her.

People commit suicide when they are left with no hope, and death seems the only way out. Taking your own life seems to be better than any other option. It's strange. ANY other option!!

Many people call them cowards. I don't think so. It's not the bravest thing to do, true. But it's nigh impossible to put oneself in the shoes of the person who goes through that pain.