Write up by Toybanker- Priya Lakshminarayan, Accenture India

My True Story

I lay on this huge shelf along with my 6 other sisters… (Famously known as the Katrina sisters) we were having a good time as we were freshly made from the factory and transferred to this big mall. One of our neighbors from the nextshelf Mr. Big Truck began telling us a dramatic story of this big bear and what a horrifying accident he had witnessed, we all were anxiously listening to his story and wanted to know what happened to the bear next, was he safe? Did he hurt himself badly? Just then like a typical Bollywood movie, a tall man wearing a hat walked in and took me off the shelf… I could hear the fading voice of Mr. Truck and the sounds on my sisters calling out to me and if I am not wrong, I think I even heard some dramatic music being played in the background like in some Prakash Mehra flick!! Thus began my journey from my home in search of another home.

This tall man, who took me with him, seemed to be a nice man. During our journey back home, he took good care of me and to top it all he was good looking too! I am sure you know how difficult it is to get this combination in a man!! Anyways we reached his home and one cute little girl came running to us. He hugged her and gave me to her… she looked at me with fondness, kissed him and walked away to her room with her prized possession… ME!!! 

I had an instant liking to this cute girl, Aisha who was 5 yrs old. She kept me along with her other pretty dolls who seemed to be very brand conscious and used to tease me very often. I didn’t like them however I was fond of Aisha so tolerated all the misery quietly. Aisha never went anywhere without me, however in some months something changed. Aisha had started ignoring me during her play time. she had found a new friend I guess. I did not have much choice but to stay put in this shelf along with some other left overs. There was a small ball in the corner that rolled by and sat next to me. I had never ever noticed him He then told me the trend of Aisha. Her interest in any new thing was for a limited time, she would move on very easily to her next favorite and leave the old ones in one corner. He told me that they all were her favorite at one time. 

Soon I made some new friends like Mr. Fat Ball, Ms. Broken Eye Puppy, etc.. and we started singing happy days are here again, but deep down my heart, I wanted a friend. One night out of total frustration and drinking too much from the tea-play set, I prayed to god asking him to change my life for the better, I knew I was not meant to be kept as a show piece. I don’t know how but someone up there was listening, because the next morning I was in the arms of the handsome man again- Aisha's father held me and looked at me for a full second and then placed me in a bag, in came my other friends like the ball, puppy, trucks, etc.. We didn’t know what was happening and I had no idea where we were headed to. Then after traveling for some time in a closed bag, it was kinda getting suffocated, but then we finally stopped moving and were placed down. We could hear a lot of noise around and we were making all sorts of guesses as to where we were.

Finally the bag opened, I was picked up and handed over to this small girl waiting in a line. Again my heart ached as I sensed that I was departing from Aisha and was going in the hands of a girl, a complete stranger who looked nothing like Aisha. But I trusted my master. The other girl took me with trembling hands and had a big smile on her face. This cheered me up instantly, as I parted from my handsome master. It felt different. The environment was different, people around looked different, however their need for love was so high that they could give Karan Johar run for his money!!

Now I am spending my old days in a home with this sweet little girl named Shanti. She is one proud owner to have me, she is not worried that my dress is dirty or my hands have become loose, she still accepts me for what I am and I too have accepted her. I am her companion everywhere. She tells me her secrets and shares her day with me. I could not have asked for a better friend! Today it has been 3 years and we are still going strong as best friends forever.

Thank you for bringing me into the life of Shanti.