At the University, she was slut-shamed after an intimate video of her with her boyfriend went viral and soon became the most sought-after "real-life sex MMS". The video was everywhere and with everyone.

Had it been today, the video would have been paid Instagram or OnlyFans content, and she would have been a highly followed content creator, with many people emptying their pockets to watch her.

But the year 2006 was different, especially for small towns, and in the state of Assam, it was even more so.

Just imagine the situation: even today, it is a big deal if a bra strap is slightly exposed—what must it have been in 2006, when the intimate video of an Assamese girl went viral?

In Assam, except in Guwahati the internet wasn't that fast in other cities. The story of the universities, however, was different. The internet was not cheap, and for some 500MB of data, one had to buy a recharge card costing around Rs 70 (varying with different service providers), and the validity was only 10–12 days—at most 15.

The net was slow, and the 500MB of data lasted for two days at most.

Even with such slow internet speeds, the viral video was downloaded over a million times, helping it spread faster. She became every boy's fantasy.

Her parents, who lived in another city in a different state, were initially oblivious to what their beloved daughter was going through—but for how long can such things remain in the dark?

The calls stopped, and this pushed her into a dark chamber of depression. After her classmates and hostel mates distanced themselves from her, it was her parents who remained for her.

But…

But they were parents, after all—easily gullible, easily influenced.

Despite being on the verge of hating her, her father—an influential bureaucrat—managed to save her from being sacked from the university so that she could appear in the final semester exam, which was some four months away.

The VC of the university, however, was not like the others. He was understanding. The VC felt she was not to blame for what she was going through. He believed it was merely the consequence of one bad intention from a crooked mind that her intimate and private life became public, served hot to a voyeuristic society to feast upon. He believed she was a victim.

But before being a man with an understanding soul, the VC was the head of administration of a reputed institute, and he had to act thinking of the majority. Much against his liking, he had to shift her to a solitary room in the hostel and do everything to hush up the matter to protect the university's image.

The first few days were terrifying, as isolation can break any person—even one with the strongest willpower. She, after all, was a young student of barely 21 years.

She cried, she screamed, and gradually she became silent. But after a month and a half, something completely changed—something completely changed in her, something completely transformed her. Silence and isolation killed the timid girl and gave birth to a new self—a self who was much stronger and fiercely determined. And when she stepped out of her room on the 47th day, the world seemed to have moved on without her…

The familiar faces that had become strangers gave her queer looks and smiled sheepishly—as if guilty of some crime. She, however, smiled back warmly, making them feel as if nothing had happened and nothing had changed.

Her roommates, her batchmates, her university mates—everyone felt an uneasy yet positive energy vibing off her.

Her warm and affectionate brief talks unsettled them—especially the female mates. Some even sobbed in isolation, cursing themselves for what they had done to her, for abandoning her when she was in the most vulnerable phase of her life. They had failed as women, many felt, and the weight of guilt made life increasingly tough.

Life is like a flowing river: though it can be temporarily dammed, it cannot be stopped forever. If its original course is somehow altered, it creates a different, new path—but it eventually reaches its final destination, and that cannot be changed.

Now, almost two decades later, the university has moved on, and two VCs have replaced the 2006 VC. Today, no one in the university knows her or her name. In fact, no one cares. Things that were viral MMS material in 2006 are now ordinary internet content, and perhaps many 19-year-olds who were infants back then have millions of followers and paid subscribers on Instagram and OnlyFans.

She, however, remembers everything, despite being thousands of kilometres away from Assam. Despite being the founder of a fast-developing software firm, she never forgets what happened in 2006. The year, the incident, and the subsequent events continue to shape her, reminding her of the strength she discovered in those lonely days. Every challenge she faces now, every summit she strives to scale, carries the imprint of that time—turning pain into purpose, and isolation into a fierce, unyielding resolve. The girl who was once broken now moves through the world with a quiet power, and the memory of 2006 is no longer a shadow, but a guiding light that keeps her burning ever brighter.

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