Letter to Keiko

Letter to Keiko Furukura from Convenience Store Woman By Sayaka Murata

-By Anuska Saha

To Keiko,

I hope this letter finds you well. The only purpose of this letter is to check up on your well-being and nothing else. Sorry if this confused you! You can toss it in the trash if it gets too annoying.

There are days when I find the world puzzling(for lack of a better word). People have unspoken expectations that they seem to telepathically convey to each other, and honestly, it gets quite tough comprehending them. We may not be similar people, but we share similar issues. I fail to understand what people discreetly imply to each other, and I'm not good at realizing their indirect animosity as well. I'm not trying to insert myself into your circumstances, it was just an attempt to display that as much as an alien you consider yourself to be, other people are not very different.

To be honest, I do not fully agree with what you believe about society and normalcy - the ones who appear normal to you are only so on the surface, while their insides slowly rot away. They try so hard to keep up appearances for the sake of an unknown veil over everyone’s lives known as a society that when they come across someone not successful at the same attempt, they do not hesitate to crush them. However, I am only talking of one extreme. Most people just try hard to adapt to society while finding methods to stay true to themselves. It is not always easy to do so, hence I admire those who can detach themselves from the greater masses to find self-satisfaction.

I think what I am trying to say is that being normal to someone does not guarantee a smooth sailing life. The concept of normalcy depends from person to person, city to city, and of course from country to country. Don’t think too much about what people comment or criticize about you. You already have something that gives you a reason for existence - the ‘institution’ of a convenience store, so you do not need anybody’s approval for the same.

People might see you as someone who needs to be ‘cured’, but I see you as a human in its purest form. You can see through others’ flowery deceptions and petty comments gift-wrapped as concerns better than most people I know in real life! Unlike others, you honestly state what is on your mind! And if there is something you don’t understand, you actively try to fix it! It is not your fault that society has a lot of unspoken rules that people learn to accept and apply, so please don’t think so low of yourself.

Stick with the one thing that gives you solace, and let others say whatever they want - only you can channel the voice of the convenience store through your very being, not anybody else:))

Sending more positive energy your way!

Love,

Anuska