Worn Once, Kept Forever.

It is not a mere shirt.

At first, it appears to be a mere piece of cloth, a name, some pictures.

But, as you see, it is embracing years.

All its corners have a tale.

The voice of each color of ink is a voice.

Some wrote in a pleasant manner, others hurried, others scribbled.

But all of it… somehow feels like home.

Once we were all unknown to each other.

Different schools, habits, fears. 

We didn’t know who would stay,

who would matter,

who would become that person we can’t imagine leaving behind.

And then slowly, without us noticing,

attendance became friends,

group work became late-night phone calls,

and random talks became recollections worth remembering forever. 

This shirt is evidence of that.

Here, in one place,

are the people who made ordinary days feel important.

The ones who sat beside us, laughed too loud,

shared notes, shared food, shared silence.

Few messages are lengthy, full of emotions that they were not able to express.

Few of them are merely a name but even a name has a tale of its own.

Few could write jokes, that is the way they love.

The rest had inscribed blessings, as they did not know how to bid farewell.

And perhaps that's the worst part of it all.

Because no one really teaches you how to leave a phase of life like this.

There’s no proper ending, no perfect words.

Just a shirt, passed around,

and a quiet understanding that things are changing.

This shirt will be stored in a cupboard one day.

Not used daily.

But never forgotten.

Several years later you may pull it out,

touch your fingers on the stained ink,

and all of a sudden recall it all--

the classes, the fun, the pressure, the individuals.

You will try to read the messages over again,

some clear, some blurred,

and realize… it was never about how perfect the words were.

It was about who wrote them.

Because in the end,

this shirt is not regarding signatures.

It’s about presence of individuals who lived together with you,

and made it better somehow.

So, wear it once.

Allow them to draw everything on it.

Allow it to become messy, crowded with love in the form of messages and imperfect.

Because years from now,

this will not feel like a shirt.

It will feel like a piece of your life

that you were lucky enough to hold onto.