Memories We Carry

Memories We Carry

I think this is the right time to write about memories. I am in my fourth year at IISc, and somewhere along this journey, between lectures, deadlines, and late-night conversations, life quietly taught me what it means to feel, to lose, and to hold on. Goodbyes were never easy. People who once felt like home slowly become part of a different story, moving away, turning pages, and beginning chapters where you no longer exist in the same way. And suddenly, there is no one to say, “Hey, how is life?” No one to sit with you through the chaos, complain about the workload, or stay awake for no reason, just talking and being there. It feels strange how we take people for granted. We believe they will always stay, as if time owes us their presence. We avoid imagining their absence, and in doing so, we forget to say the things that matter the most, how grateful we are and how much they mean to us, until it is too late.

I have lost someone very close to me, and what stays with me is not just their absence, but the words I never said. Sometimes, I find pieces of them in strangers, in a voice, a smile, or a small habit. It is strange how the heart keeps searching for what it knows is gone. I replay old videos, scroll through photographs, and listen to their voice like it is still present, reliving moments I know I can never return to. When someone who was part of your everyday life, someone you shared everything with, suddenly disappears, it leaves behind a silence that feels louder than anything. The late nights, the laughter, the small fights, everything comes rushing back at once, like memories refusing to fade.

I wish I could go back, just once, and live those moments again, but life does not move backwards; it only teaches you to move forward. Maybe that is the hardest truth, that people can be here today and gone tomorrow, and all we are left with are fragments of what once was and the quiet ache of wishing we had done or said more. Out of all goodbyes, the silent ones hurt the most when both hearts understand the distance, yet still choose to smile.

Be a reason someone smiles, be the person who listens, ask them how their day was and mean it. Life is short, and love is often left unspoken. Cherish your people and hold them close while you can, because one day all that will remain are memories and the hope that you loved them enough when they were still here.

- Shreya Pithva