Karis: (noun) greek; grace...

I was barely out of teenage hood when I first set foot in England. Despite my family and friends' teary departure at the airport (yes you know yourselves), I was pretty excited. Who wouldn't be, I was embarking on a whole new journey, on a different continent, ready to re invent myself. Of course before we left we were all told a million things about what to expect and all the culture shock we would come across but nothing really prepares you for a brand new place. Right off the bat as I left the airport to catch a train to Leicester I was met by something I had only seen on TV. There was this young couple sitting opposite me just going at it, I am talking heavy kissing and petting here. Obviously right now if I saw something like that I wouldn't even bat an eyelash. But back then I was fresh from home, from a very conservative nation that didn't encourage such public displays of affection. I think it was at that moment that I truly realised that I was no longer at home...

JAMES James wasn't Nora's first boyfriend not by far but she was quite certain he would be her last. Theirs was an interesting story if there ever was one. Like Nora, James was gifted. They had been enrolled in the same schools since they were 12. Academic rivals was the best way to explain their earlier relationship. In fact, when Nora was awarded her college scholarship, James was the only other person in her school who also received it. But they never interacted on a social level. Just a few polite hellos at most had been exchanged between them for 6 whole years. There is no 'Nora and James' without Eddie. When Nora was 19 she started seeing Eddie. Eddie was charming and funny and quite popular among the girls so naturally she was very flattered by the attention. What started out as casual dating blossomed into a full blown relationship in the space of two months. That's when Eddie introduced Nora to his friends. "This is Jess, Brad and I think you know ...

So I wrote this short story that I have finally decided to share with the rest of the world. I will be publishing it in parts and this is the first part: NORA Nora was relatively happy. In fact she had never thought of happiness as a fleeting emotion. Sure sometimes she would get sad or angry, but it was always temporary. Sooner or later she would be happy again, content. It was her state of being. Even as a child she was bubbly. Despite her abusive step father, she somehow found a way to stay grounded. She had this one memory that she held on to. One summer night when she was 12 her mother decided the night sky was too beautiful not to watch. So she took an old rug and set it outside. There was a cold breeze quenching the night of it's humid heat. All her four younger sisters and her mother slept on that old rug that night. Just looking up at the stars making up theories of how they got there. She had never felt so peaceful. That was Nora's happiest moment. Over the years s...

If you have spent more than half your life in some sort of formal education then finally graduating is something you look forward to whole heartedly. Three years of pre school + seven years of primary school + five years of secondary school + two years at University and another three more years at another uni and I finally made it into the coveted cap and gown. Yes, I finally got my degree! It's a beautiful feeling, seeing all your hard work finally pay off, well that is if you got a good degree classification.  But what nobody ever tells you is the kind of pressure that comes with that little piece of paper. All of a sudden your long lost cousins and aunts and uncles start expressing their joy at your success and burden you with their expectations. So not only do I have to meet my immediate family's expectations but my extended family's as well. It's at this point in time when you realise that even though you spent half your life being lectured about the importan...