The balance we all seek....

It's a roller coaster - this life. You don't know at all, the turns it would take and the heights it would climb upon and fall from; you just have to ensure your safety belts are on. If you choose not to wear them, be sure your reflexes are strong enough to grab the sides the moment it takes a wild unpredictable turn; if you fail, you are either mortally wounded or dead. Clutching too hard to the sides doesn't let you have fun and loosening the grip frightens you to death. It's the middle of these two that all of us seek. And the one who finds it, lives. 

The child within me....

When I was about five or six, I loved behaving like an adult. I stole Mamma’s lipstick and roamed around with her purse on my shoulder, pretending to go to office and getting tired and coming home and what not. I loved to be useful and responsible, never knowing the real meanings of these. I just couldn't wait to grow up. And now when I have grown up, I don’t know how to go back.

Where my bag used to be filled with books and papers and pencils and loads and loads of mischief, today my bags are full with documents and files and laptops and notes and loads and loads of work. Where I could be friends easily even with the butterflies in the garden, today I find it difficult to even acknowledge a person sitting next to me. Where a deep night’s sleep was an everyday affair, today sleep is just a formality.

I miss my lovely self. The little innocent smile, eyes full of sparkle, little feet running around and creating a ruckus, messed up hair and palms smudged in dirt. No fear of falling, no knowledge of death, not knowing what winning or losing means so nothing to be afraid of. Saying sorry and thank you was so easy then. Because I didn't know what the big “E” of “Ego” means. No judgments, no opinions.

I miss me. I miss that little thing that imitated adults but didn't really have to bear all the responsibilities. I miss the time when going wrong and making mistakes was okay and not a very big deal – the time when my only priority was me.

None of us can go back to where we came from. But we still have something that can be amended - today. None of us can look and predict and define the events of the next day. But we can see – today.

Let us all look into the mirror and venture deep into our eyes, to find out the small child in us who still loves to live today. Let’s grab that favorite chocolate, candy, ice cream and cake. Let’s look at the bird out there and smile. Let’s hear the sparrow chirp and try chirping with it. Let us be unafraid to let people know that we love them. Let us be easy with the “sorry” and the “thank you”.

Hoping and wishing that all of us find the child from within us and let it be there for as long as we breathe, because life is easy if we take it easy.

Yes !! I am a GIRL !!

I am a GIRL. Yes i am a GIRL..Born in this country; brought up with values of respect, dignity, love, nurture, sympathy and integrity.

As the year ends, the voices of the endless "me"s, I hear. I hear the "me", who was aborted in the womb; then the "me", who was shot at point blank range for standing up for what was right; then the "me", who was raped by those six in the middle of the night, they thought they were being "men"; then the "me", who was manhandled at that temple, just because I wasn't moving faster in the queue; then the "me" who was harassed and tortured by a certain boss at a certain workplace; a "me" who was burnt alive by my own people; a "me" who was taken advantage of and left in the middle of nowhere; a "me" who was assaulted for merely being "me"; and many more such "me"s. I hear them all, loud and clear. I have heard them cry. I have heard them shout for help. I have heard them screaming. Now I hear them walking. Silently. I hear their feet and I hear their souls. Like words don't matter anymore. Like enough was said but not enough was done. I see them vigilant, I see them stronger than ever. They are all a bunch of "me"s. N we are moving steadily towards all of those "you"s who have taken us for granted. Those who felt we can be victimized; you better know that we have decided to stop playing a victim. We have decided to stop being harassed and subdued and tortured and played with and taken advantage of. We have decided to stop dying.

The next time you touch me without my consent, I will not draw my hands back. I will ensure your hands are ripped apart, so that you do not even think of doing that ever again. The next time you tell me I can't do something just because I am me, I will ensure that I do it right in front of you, so that never again would you underestimate my power. The next time you grope me or try to assault me physically, I will let you see my strength and make you go down on your knees and beg for mercy. The next time you shout at me or try to take me for granted, I will make sure my voice reaches its highest decibels so that never ever you use your power against me. The next time you try burning me alive, I will ensure that I rise from my ashes and destroy your existence to its core. The next time you play with my soul or body, I will make sure you do that for the last time with anyone.

This New Year I pledge to bring out the strong, powerful, undeterred and fearless "me" - the survivor "me". In today's times, when the saviours fail to save, when the legal and judicial system ridicule, when my own family abandons and leaves me homeless, when my parents decide to kill me even before I come in this world, when my companions stab me deep, when I am treated like a no one - I will show the world who I am. I will not back down. I was brought to existence by the Almighty with a heart full of love, to spread joy and hope amongst the hopeless, to be a ray of sunshine. But just remember, the rays come from a fireball - you try to suppress me and I will explode - and the destruction thereafter would be just a consequence.

All the "me"s out there - let's pledge to survive. Beat all odds and triumph

.‪#PledgeToSurvive