Sunday, 4 January 2015

Sisters- An Eternal Bond

" A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost."- Marion C.Garretty
                                                                     


Though all human beings are born equal, sisters are the most peculiar creatures among all. For a sister is capable of being one of  the most evil, wicked witches and the sweetest( And I am talking,' I bake cookies everyday just for my sister' sweet, here), adorable angels, all in just one hour. And they keep interchanging between these two roles for the rest of their life. From babies to bitches,from toddlers to teenagers, from school to senility they have stuck by your side, and they will be there no matter what. Whether it was tantrums, mood swings,'The  awkward, chubby kid' phase, ' The punk teenager' phase, the ' I dyed my hair blonde' phase, you name it, they have seen it all.( like they would ever let you forget). But through it all, they have managed to love you in a way only a sister can. Never ever underestimate your sister, they know almost each and every little secret of yours( more than they let on). But don't worry, they would never reveal your secrets because they know you will and you do return the favor. And whatever you do, don't ever dare to mess with sisters. They will unleash all hell upon you.

Now you can agree or disagree, or just agree to disagree but according to me, here are some of the finest highlights of having a sister and being a sister. I am not saying they are all good, they might be bad, annoying, weird too but they are the finest and most precious memories of sisterhood.

ALL THE FIGHTS

Now when I was younger, my fights with my sister used to contain a little bit of everything.( hair tugging, punching, boxing , biting, scratching, etc.) I am just kidding, it never got that bad. (... or am I? If you have a sister, you will know) Now  I can't remember what the fights were about. After about the first five or six, you just loose track. But at least more than one of them were about the remote control. Sometimes, okay all the time, you tend to overreact. Like:

ME: OH MY GOSH!! You never listen to me! I always have to compromise.
MY SISTER: OH PLEASE!! I always have to listen to you, whine and crib.
(at this point, one of us has the other in a headlock)
( Dad walks in)
ME: YOU ARE THE BEST SISTER EVER!!!( While hugging her tightly)
MY SISTER: NOOO! YOU ARE!!!

I am not saying they always made sense. But we always made up quickly. You can't survive a day without talking to your sister. Plus, you make a great roommate, because you know how to get past people's small, annoying habits like a pro! And someday, when you are about 90 years old and you are sitting in a rocking chair with her, these crazy fights will make you smile and laugh hysterically. And you will be telling your sister," Bitch, i can still take you down the way I used to when i was nine."

SHARING IS CARING

Whether it's clothes, shoes. accessories, food, books , everything that can be shared is shared.And it is one of the best perks of being a sister! We are super generous human beings.
Although if you break or loose their stuff. Um, not so much.

MY SISTER: Where are my favorite blue heart shaped earrings?
ME: Didi, you won't believe there was a huge bird and it just swept in from the window annn-
MY SISTER: URRGHH! NOT AGAIN!!!

Well, in my defense, sometimes stuff just slips, okay!

EVEN IF YOU ARE ALONE... YOU ARE NEVER ALONE!

When you have a sister, you will always have a friend around. Someone who will listen to you, watch movies with you, someone who is always ready to go shopping with you. They were your bffs long before you even knew what a bff is. And they were there for you, when your other so-called best friends ditched you. They taught you what true friendship meant and what it means to be a true friend. And they always, always have a hug in store for you.

SO WHAT DOES BEING A SISTER MEANS?

The word sister doesn't really do justice to all the sisters in the world. Because being a sister is like being a parent, a friend, a guidance counselor, a roommate, a guru, a  true soul mate. And when you look at your sister , you see a little part of you in her and a little part of her in you. When they move away, these little sometimes irritating, sometimes sweet, sometimes hilarious moments are what you will miss the most. But it doesn't matter even if they move halfway across the world, they will always be close to your heart.

Some people go through life searching for unconditional love but they never find it. But if you have a sister I congratulate you, for it was always there right beside. If I were to loose everything  but as long as I have my sister, I would still be okay. But god forbid if I had everything and I lost my sister, I wouldn't even be able to stand. Because whatever it is that you are going through, your sister will always be there to share the pain and the joy. Truly, she loves you unconditionally. So now that you have revisited all your sisterhood memories, go and give your sister a big, bear hug.

( Those of you who don't have a sister, not to worry, you will always have your unbiological sisters, your best friends.)


Saturday, 3 January 2015

' The Ideal Look'

"Beauty is how you feel inside,and it reflects in your eyes. It is not something physical."
                                                                                                       - Sophia Loren


                            
                            Ugh. My dark circles are huge.
                            Wait, is that another zit? Perfect!Damn you, deliciously scrumptious cheese fondue.
                            What is that? Am I starting to grow whiskers????

This is, basically, the gist of my thoughts, every morning. I wake up, look at my reflection in the mirror, and fuss over all the possible flaws in my appearance.  And, I'm sure that you tend to criticize yourself in some or the other way too. And, it's not just you and I, every woman, every person tends to be overly self- critical of themselves. Deep down, we all wish to look a certain way , we fantasize what we would look like if we could just tweak the shape of our nose, or if we could have that straight, silky hair, or possess that perfect body , or to have that clear, smooth complexion.We long to look a certain way, ' The Ideal' way. We itch to have ' The Ideal' look. 

I know what you are going to say now, " Psst.yawn. bogus. I knew that already. There's nothing new about that." But, let me ask you, If you know that everyone feels the same way, If you know that no one is perfect, and that ' The ideal' just doesn't exist. Then,why do you & I still keep inflicting ourselves with such demoralizing rebukes? It's easy to think that it's the society, the media,the outside world that planted this delusion, to be 'The Ideal', in our minds. But, the bitter truth is that it's not the society that imposed these narrow-minded conceptions on us, we are the real culprits of our low self-esteems. What we see outside is nothing but a reflection of what we feel inside.

How many times have you caught yourself looking at a friend, a relative, a stranger and envied their luscious hair, or their slender arms and legs, or their clear, glowing skin. But do you know, 
while you are envying someone else, that ' someone else' might actually be fretting about their own insecurities and they could actually be envying you back? And the circle continues. Even though, we don't believe in our own beauty, we want to be told that we are beautiful. And we wait for someone else to come and make us believe in ourselves, but we won't do it ourselves. Forgive me, isn't that a little too hypocritical of us?

But why should we feel the need to hide these little imperfections, that are, actually, a part of who we are. Think about it, if everyone of us were to take away those tiny blemishes and flaws and achieve 'The Ideal look', won't we loose our individuality, too? And isn't that a bigger loss, in so many ways, Remember, your imperfections are what makes you, a real woman. Instead of hiding them, if you embrace these little details , your so-called flaws, you have the power to compel people to see the real you. Your soul will shine out through  your eyes. When you accept yourself for who you are, the world will start doing the same too. I know what you have to say, " That's some good advice, but easier said then done, right?". Well, what if I could prove it?

Lupita Nyong'o
 An actress and film director, she won an Oscar for her role as the slave Patsey in the film ' 12 years a slave'. And, in 2014, she was named " The most beautiful woman" by People's magazine. Something, she felt she could never achieve , because she thought beauty meant " Light skin and long, flowing, straight hair."


 So, there you go, I want you to be inspired by this one hell of an amazing woman, and realize that when you appreciate yourself for who you are, no more and no less, there are no limits as to what you can achieve.I know it's hard and it takes a lot of courage but it is worth it. And now when I wake up, I look in the mirror, and I am thankful for my crazy, unruly wavy hair, my slightly plumpy nose and my braces studded teeth. Because they are a part of who I am. And I wouldn't change my imperfect features for the world.(Though I'll be glad to get my braces off, Perfect or Imperfect, they can be a pain.) All I can tell you is that if Lupita Nyong'o could do it, if I can do it, then, so can you.

Thursday, 1 January 2015

A New Beginning

"If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word."- Margaret Atwood


                         

                                                                             
Have you ever felt an urge, an instinct inside you driving you on, to pursue something, a long lost dream or a new found hope? But then, did you ever take a look around you, see all those masterminds who were already a whole lot better than you, did you feel like a little kid trying to play a grown up's game? And so, did you give up on that warm glowing gut feeling inside you because of all the fears you experienced in the real world?

I have always wished to pen down my thoughts, my stories and my words.But whenever I would try I would question myself, "What if I am not good enough?","What if everyone mocks my writing?" and I would tell myself  that there are so many better, smarter, craftier writers than me, So, What's the point of writing at all? What's the point of even trying? Every time I let my fear of failure grow bigger than my love for writing.

But now I know that it's not about success or failure, it's not about winning or loosing, it's not about being good or being bad. It's about doing what you love solely for the purpose of doing what you love.Because when I write I don't write for the world, I write for me. Sure,at first, it seems like every word, every line, every paragraph, every article is missing something and I have to resist the urge to rip off every page and chuck them in the trashcan. But as someone once said, the worst thing you ever wrote is better than the best thing you did not write. And slowly(sometimes excruciatingly  slowly) the words just come to me naturally and then it just a matter of putting them down on the paper and weaving all the words together to form a beautiful story or a powerful message.

I also wanted to do something to inspire others, something that could make someone smile when they feel like they are about to cry. something that could make you laugh at the end of a long, rough day, something that makes you realize that who you are and what you are is more than enough. I wanted to make others feel good about themselves because when I do that, that's when I feel good about myself. And if my thoughts are forever stuck only inside my head  then they won't do anyone any good.

Blogging seemed like the best way to do that by simply, doing what I love.If you ask me what I'm going to blog about, I won't be able to give you a clear answer. Because I go with the flow and wherever it is that my heart leads me. All I can say is that I'll try my best to make it worth your time.

 And whoever you are, if you are reading this post right now, if there's something that you want to do, but you are hesitating because you fear that you might mess up or that people might ridicule you, remember, if you never try,you will never know. You won't start out as the best.The best  didn't even start out as being the best. Everyone has to endure and overcome innumerable bumps and stumbles along the way.  And once you get through all those rough patches, well, that's when the fun part begins.All you have to do is take the first step, no matter how small it might be. Don't ever give up, the best is yet to come.