Back when I was in 9th grade, I never liked wearing anything on my wrist. Watches, bracelets, bands—none of it ever felt right to me. Whenever I saw girls my age wearing colorful watches or pretty bracelets, I used to wonder how they could wear them so comfortably. For me, even the thought of having something tied around my wrist felt strange and uncomfortable, almost like it didn’t belong there.
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Because of that, I always avoided wearing anything on my hands. My wrists were always bare, and honestly, I never thought much about it. It was simply who I was. I had convinced myself that watches were not for me.
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Then one day, everything changed in a way I never expected.
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There was a married relative of mine—the same man who later tried to harass me. At that time, I didn’t fully understand the discomfort I felt around him, but something about his behavior always made me uneasy.
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One day, during a casual conversation, he looked at me and said, “You’ve grown up now. You should start wearing a watch like everyone else.”
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His words felt unnecessary, almost intrusive. I immediately refused. I told him clearly that I didn’t like wearing watches and that I felt uncomfortable with anything on my wrist.
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I thought that was the end of it.
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But a few days later, his wife—who was like an elder sister to me—came to me holding a watch.
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The moment I saw it, I felt something strange inside me. I didn’t know why, but deep down, I was almost certain that the watch had come from him.
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I hesitated.
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I told her honestly, “I don’t feel comfortable taking anything from him. Please take it back.”
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But she smiled and tried to reassure me. She said it wasn’t bought specially for me. According to her, it was just a free gift that had come with ₹5000 worth of shopping.
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Even though her words sounded convincing, my heart refused to believe them.
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Still, after refusing several times, I finally gave in and accepted the watch.
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At first, wearing it felt awkward, just as I had always imagined. The weight on my wrist felt unfamiliar. I kept adjusting it again and again, trying to get used to it.
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But slowly, day by day, something changed.
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I started getting used to it.
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Without realizing it, I had developed a habit of looking at my wrist. Sometimes I would glance at it absentmindedly, just to see it there. It became part of my routine.
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And then, only a few days before he tried to harass me, the chain of that watch broke.
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I remember staring at the broken pieces in silence.
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At that time, it just felt like an accident.
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I stopped wearing it after that.
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And then the incident happened.
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After what he tried to do, the broken watch no longer felt like just a broken object. It became tied to a memory I wanted to erase.
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I never touched it again.
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But even though I had stopped wearing it, the habit it had created stayed with me.
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My wrist suddenly felt empty.
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It was strange because for years I had hated the feeling of wearing anything there. Yet now, when I looked down and saw nothing, it felt incomplete—like something was missing.
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That was when I realized how deeply habits can settle into us, even when their beginnings are unwanted.
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One day, after thinking about it for a long time, I went to my father and asked him if he could buy me a watch.
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He didn’t ask too many questions.
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He simply brought me one.
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It was a simple act, but it meant so much more than just receiving a watch.
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This one was different.
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It carried no discomfort, no hesitation, no hidden uneasiness.
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It was given to me by someone who truly cared for me—my father.
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The first time I wore it, it felt different from the very beginning. Instead of discomfort, I felt warmth. Instead of doubt, I felt peace.
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And slowly, this new watch replaced the meaning of the old one.
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Now, whenever I wear it and catch a glimpse of it on my wrist, I sometimes remember how this habit first began.
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For a brief moment, the memory of that first watch crosses my mind—the watch I never wanted, the watch that carried a truth no one openly admitted.
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But then I look at the one I wear now, and I remind myself of something important:
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Not every beginning gets to define the ending.
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Yes, the habit of wearing a watch may have started from a painful memory.
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But the meaning of that habit changed when my father placed this watch in my hands.
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This watch is no longer about the past.
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It is about the present.
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It is about love, care, and protection.
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It is proof that something connected to pain can be rewritten into something beautiful.
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And now, every time I look at my wrist, I no longer think of what happened back then.
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Instead, I think of the people who truly care for me.
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I think of my father.
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And I smile, knowing that this watch is not a reminder of what hurt me—
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it is a reminder of what healed me.28Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡicH9ClRNaq
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