People I will never meet

Pranav Praveen
Nov 6 · 7 min read

The world is compromises of 7.7 billion people. Most of which, you will never meet. And out of these 7.7 billion names, you will only meet a mere handful. And only a few names will be your friends. Real Friends — Not your followers on Instagram. Their importance serves multiple purposes. Friends shape our lives as much as our family. They help us when we fall from grace and offer us warm words of compassion. They provide us with fond memories to treasure in our heats. I doubt I would have stayed sane today if I did not discover the friends I did. The faces we wear, what we like, and what we do is linked with friends. Just like a book.

From a young age, I had always envisioned imaginary characters. Each had their own personality, and there would always be a protagonist. In each imaginary battle, the “good side” would regardlessly win. My interactions with such characters increased with my discovery of books. Today, as a teenage boy deprived of sunlight, I yearn the companionship of friends in this age of loneliness. Where friends can’t help, I believe that books can. And the people I will never meet.

I began my reading journey this year with a famous sequel to an epic series.


Harry Potter and The Cursed Child

“Be honest to those you love, show your pain. To suffer is as human as to breathe.” — Albus Dumbledore

J.K Rowling’s play Harry Potter and The Cursed Child is a refreshing break from the typical Harry Potter series. The fact that this is not a regular novel provides a fresh perspective. Firstly, we are introduced to Albus Severus Potter. The unlucky and peculiar son of Harry Potter. Albus begins his Hogwarts Journey at the infamous platform 9 3/4. Here Albus meets Scorpius Malfoy, son of Draco Malfoy. The two boys instantly become friends for life. However, Albus breaks the tradition of the Potters being sorted in Gryffindor. Instead, he is sorted in Slytherin with Scorpius. Both boys are bullied through their schooling career; Albus, for not meeting his fathers legacy and Scorpius due to the rumours about him being the son of Voldemort.

The odds the boys face in their schooling draw them closer together, creating an inseparable bond between them. In a world where they don’t belong, Albus and Scorpius feel the need to look out for each other. At an age where youths have a strong sense of justice and moral code, the boys are inspired to correct the past and save Cedric Diggory. They team up with Delphi to steal the Time-turner stored in the ministry of magic, oblivious of the “dark cloud”.

“Thank you for being my light in the darkness” — Scorpius

As the story progressed, I became familiarised with the land of Harry Potter. Hogwarts, Diagon Alley — it felt like coming home after an extended vacation. However, apart from the usual themes of love and friendship, I became interested in the idea of Family. To me, this was about parenthood and the paternal relationship between father and son. I learned much more about what parents do so to care for their children. And that there is so much more thought that goes into their actions

“We cannot protect the young from harm. Pain must and will come.” — Albus Dumbledore


1984

1984 by George Orwell is a classic I had tried to read countless times in the past. After consistently failing before reaching Part two of the book, I decided to challenge myself and finish the book once and for all. 1984 proved to be a fascinating book. In the world of Oceania, Eurasia, and East Asia split in a war filled with propaganda and espionage. Winston Smith is an ordinary man in the lower party who works for the Ministry of Truth, rectifying and correcting historical records to align with The Party’s current statements. Which creates the image that the Party is always correct. The manipulation that the Party uses leads Winston into silently expressing his hatred for Big Brother in his diary:

DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER

In doing so, Winston accepted his fate as a dead man. Obliged to act against The Party, Winston continues writing in his journal in a world where being “too intelligent”, and rebellion can lead to Thoughtcrime. Through silent acts of resistance, Winston risks his life. Eventually, he is caught by O’Brien, a party member who reveals himself as an agent. Winston is sent and imprisoned at the Ministry of Love. The Ministry monitors, arrests and converts criminals. One day, Winston is brought to the enigmatic Room 101 — where he is broken.

“Thoughtcrime does not entail death. Thoughtcrime is death”

To be honest, I was quite frightened near the end at the capability of the party, and its cunningness. Ingsoc, Newspeak, Thoughtcrime, Doublethink, all of these terms made me excited. It felt like sharing a secret between the author and me. Winston is a man who suffers from the pangs of work and life, someone that readers can easily identify with. His varicose ulcer, his rebelliousness, and his fatalism — ultimately, his humanness. 1984 lit a fire inside me. It is hard to describe it, but it is buried deep in my conscience. A hatred for totalitarianism and manipulative behaviours.

Unfortunately, many people in the world live their lives under a dictatorship such as North Korea. Where the elite are obsessed with power and control. Where thoughts and expressions of rebellion are banished. Evidence of such rule, date from the origins of human society to Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, and Mao Zedong.

Some dark days, even I dream about the “Golden Place” a land of sunshine and harmony, where “two plus two make four.”. A place where there is no darkness.

“Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”


The Shiny Guys

“Shiny red men?
Wouldn’t be funny if they were real?
‘What if I were the sane one and everyone else was mad?”

Colin has done something horrible. Something that makes him believe that his parents hate him. Colin’s little sister was kidnapped during a camping trip, but when new evidence is uncovered, the shiny guys appear in the corner of his eye. And when The Shiny Guys don’t go away, he is sent to Ward 44. In an epic adventure where reality and fantasy are merged, we learn the life of Colin Lapsley. In the story, we are introduced to many interesting characters. Mango, Colin’s best friend, has rage and issues with hugging people randomly, and constantly has nightmares about “the impossible cupboard”. However, Colin does not like Ward 44. He is scared of Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). He despises Len, his roommate, lies to Dr Parkinsons, and is a Kleptomaniac, eyeing to steal packets of jam and magazines. One day, a new patient has arrived named Anthea who has drug, lying and eating issues. Mango instantly falls in love with her and Colin believes that she sees the shiny guys as well. Through their daily lives, the trio form a close bond.

One day, colin meets Dr Vendra and Dr Maximew, human-sized cockroaches that come from the land of Nestor — a post-apocalyptic world where only cockroaches have survived the nuclear war. Dr Vendra and Dr Maximew tell Colin that her sister was abducted by Nestorians who escaped into his world. To Colin, everything fits in. The disappearance of his sister, why he sees The Shiny Guys, and why electricity scares the Nestorians.

Apart from the twisting plot where reality is merged with fantasy, what attracted me most was the unique characters. Macleod has created Colin as a witty, charismatic boy that anyone can fall in love with. He sees giant cockroaches, and his friend dreams of an impossible cupboard. While colin is depressed, he does not follow a textbook or stereotypical version of “depression” and is unique. Some scenes in the book softened me to the core, such as the intimate relationship between Colin and Mango. The two boys place trust in each other, promising to never keep away secrets from each other. This is not a book about “crazy people” or”spaztics” stuck in a psychiatric ward. The Shiny Guys is a journey that any reader can take and enjoy. Especially with an unreliable narrator.

I will always believe you,’ says Mango. ‘‘I believe you when you say you will help me find the impossible cupboard. I know that will happen one day.’’
‘‘It will.’’


Photo by Josie Lopez on Unsplash

Humans are sociable beings; we talk, we play, and we cry to each other. However, in an age where many are connected online and disconnected from the world, social interaction can be hard to acquire. And whether you are an introvert or an extrovert, antisocial or social; book teach us about people and human nature. Some are the people that are alive in our minds. Those that we share an intrinsic connection with. People like Winston, Albus, and Colin. Their attributes — what truly makes the human, are all related in some way. No matter where you live or what you do, remember that there is always someone that can relate to you.

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