The Barbie Ruler

It is strange how a simple ruler used to draw straight lines can create a straight connection to the little girl I knew long back.

The one with two braids with a perfect partition in middle for the school rituals. In 3rd grade, she didn't think this ruler would later on become the reason why people remember her.

Quite literally, since many in her college now say, "Oh hi, it's you who has the Barbie Ruler? Cute eh! Didn't expect from you?"

Why wouldn't you expect that of me? Well, the reason I keep this ruler even today is not just because I'm stingy (that's one) but also because I love how it has stayed by me.

I love how on my way from 3rd grade to college, many plastic rulers have left me, abandoned me in the chaos of straight/wavy lines...but this one right here, it never left me.

Stayed by my side when I needed it the most, when I needed it to guide my pencil into making perfect lines and shapes.

It stayed by me when I didn't confide in myself that I could possibly create beautiful diagrams even without it. It stayed not because it could do the work and I couldn't, but because it knew I needed it now when I didn't know how to function without it.

So, you see, a simple ruler is like a mirror to my relations in life, the more they stay, the more they make me liberated yet connected to them with a smile of nostalgia.

-Devanshi Purvi (DP)