It had been a difficult two years for Kiran. He had been 12 when he had arrived and now, he was 14. And in these 2 years, a lot had changed.

During these two years, he had made friends and he had lost friends. It had happened not just once but twice. The first friend he had lost had been due to the lack of persistence. While his second loss had been a result of their failures.

But changes were not just social and mental. They were also, physical. The boy’s body had changed and he was no longer a kid that had seemed adorable in his white robes. Instead, he now looked a growing young man.

The boy had lost a lot of his baby fat and, as if defying the impossible, his face had become even more unremarkable. His frame had grown lanky, thin and tall, in a way that only teenagers were. However, despite the growth spurt, he had yet to grow even a single strand of facial hair.

Not that all of this had bothered him. He had always had bigger things to worry about. Kiran had, like the majority of the disciples, failed to make his hair fall off within the first year of his stay in the Ashram. Of their batch, only 4 had succeeded in their attempt.

His failure had been the source of righteous sorrow. This sorrow had plagued not only him but also every child that had failed. They had, after all, given up too much for this.

They had left behind their homes at a tender age of 12 and had suffered emotional turmoil. They had built their own homes from mud and clay as they had suffered physical pain. They had spent an entire year cooped up within their mud shacks, either studying or meditating when their bodies and hearts had wanted to do anything but that.

Yet they had persisted.

And they had failed.

The failure had bothered many and had consumed their fighting spirits. They had given up and they had gone back to their homes with their head bowed low in shame and failure.

Kiran had not.

Instead, he had sought his teacher outside of the class for the first time and had asked for help. Kiran had been willing to beg for mercy and forgiveness for his failure. He was been willing to beg for just a little guidance.

But there had been no need. The saffron-clad gaunt man had taken one look and agreed to help the boy. Though, the help had not been what the kid had been imagining.

Instead of answering the boy, the skinny man had given a puzzle and the left the boy to his fate. It was only after that the boy had understood the meaning behind the puzzle that the man had guided the boy down his path.

The year following the decision to stay had been a difficult one for reasons more than one. He had seen the next batch of hopefuls arrive, essentially his juniors, and had seen them go through all the things that he had gone through.

Though, his interaction with them could only be classified as little to none. Just like there had been little interaction between his batch and the seniors that had stayed behind. For those that stayed behind, they usually had a strong resolve to earn their Class and had little time for frivolousness.

The other thing that had made his life difficult had been his shack. The shack had always been on the smaller side and as he had grown over the 2 years, the lack of space had only become more apparent.

Often the thought of tearing the mud house down, to rebuild it, had bubbled within his mind. However, he had lacked the time it would have taken to do so. He had not wanted to waste even a single moment.

The last thing that had made his life difficult had been the lack of any sort of friendship. More than once, he had thought about seeking Surabhi out but, in the end, he never had. The fact that Surabhi had yet to seek him even once, stood in stark contrast to his own emotions.

The loneliness had haunted him but every time it did, Kiran turned back to his studies with impassioned fervour. The long time and the difficult road thus made him appreciate his achievement even more so.

When the first patch of hair had fallen off into his hand, as he had been washing it, he had bawled. He had cried his eyes out. He had sat in the puddle of water with his hair falling in his hands as his eyes and nose had leaked tears and snot.

It had not been a pretty sight. Not that Kiran was pretty to look at in any sense. He was decidedly not.

After he had gotten the 2 years of frustration out of his system, only joy had been left behind. And with each passing day, this joy had only increased as more and more of his hair had fallen off until he had become completely bald.

It was around this time that others had shown progress too. Although of those that had stayed behind, he had neither been the first to achieve his goal nor had he been the last.

Amongst those that stayed behind, 3 had managed to shed their hair and Kiran had been the second one to do so. Yet, the name of his former friend had been absent from the list. Surabhi had yet to shed her hair.

But Kiran had faith in the girl. Despite not being on talking terms with the girl anymore, the boy did not shy away from acknowledging that the girl was smarter than he was and had worked just as hard.

It was around this time that he came to know that he would be Awakened soon and his happiness had known no bounds. This joy had been not only from being Awakened but also from the knowledge that his parents must have been invited. For only one’s parents could Awaken a person.

As joy had bubbled within his mind, he hoped that his former friend would manage to shed her hair by the time Awakening ceremony began. He hoped he would be able to reconnect with this former friend of his.

-X-

Within a desolate desert, inside a dilapidated shop, on a simple chair, a youth seemingly slept.

-X-