Dear Nobita
Thank you for everything you have taught me
I was introduced to you by my little brother. To be precise, I was introduced to Doraemon, not you. During my childhood, it was Tom and Jerry, Popeye, Scooby Doo, and dragon tales that entertained me. I thought you were some stupid cartoon when my brother watches you continuously for hours and hours with a break in between to watch Shin Shan.
As I started watching your show, I was never fond of you. You are a fool who always depends on Doraemon. You couldn’t even study for yourself. You are a coward. You can’t stand on your words, can’t even fight for yourself. Your great-great-grandson Sewashi, thinking changing the past may change their future, sent you a cat robot named Doraemon to help you do things. Not to become a failure and not to let them fall into the pits of poverty.
You completely took advantage of Doraemon and was totally dependent on him for everything. From studies to impressing the girl. From showing off to taking revenge on your bullies. You never really tried to change, to be on your own. You are nothing without Doraemon and his gadgets.
And the worst thing to me was people compared me to you because of some of our common traits. Man, I hated you. I hated you for being so dumb, and I wanted to prove to people that I’m not like you; I’m not dumb. I, unlike you, was good at academics. They compared me to you because of us being a coward. We being scared of taking a stand for ourselves. Us being dumb, stupid.
But still, I watched your shows continuously. Yes, I hated you, but deep inside, I felt we are the same, and I didn’t want that thought to arise again and again. I hated myself.
In this letter, I want to tell you something that I never really wanted you to know. But if I don’t tell you this now, you may live in the misconception that people hated you and that you are good-for-nothing, that everything I said earlier is true. Yes, they are. But they don’t define you. I don’t want to judge you for your worst qualities.
You know, I loved you. From the day, you tried to study hard no matter what, and you did, but fate played another note. From the day I saw you helping the lone little puppy on the road. Though you fought with your friends, though they always make fun of you, you take them for every adventure you make. You fight for them no matter what they did to you.
The day when Doraemon needed to leave you, you promised him that you will stand for yourself. You fought with Gian, not accepting your defeat. You fought and fought till Gian accepted his defeat. You are brave enough to leave your friends for their good. You are good at heart. You are innocent. I feel you. I feel the way you try to do things. How you are possessive about your friend to be friends with only you and not that guy Dekisugi. If I were in your place, maybe I would have used every gadget from the Doraemon’s pocket. To do the things you did; to help people; to take revenge; to do everything in my capacity.
You made me realise, all the protagonists need not be perfect. They need not have superpowers to help the people in need. Yes, you have Doraemon, but the willingness to help and take risks comes from within oneself. From such young age, you are strong and brave enough to take risks to save the worlds and galaxies.
You are really a very good example of how a friend should be. You love to be with them, fight with them, make memories with them, forgive them, tease them, go on trips, irritate them, even leaving them if it is what they wanted.
Thank you, Nobita. For being you, not trying to become someone else. For telling me, being dumb is not a sin. Thank you for everything you taught me.
Your everloving dumbness partner,
Sushritha.
PS: I wrote this based on ‘Stand by me Doraemon’ movie, and also on the episodes of the Doraemon series.
Love writing letters? Join Mini Mailer!
