Beauty

Yay its story time–little Shreya chuckled, lying cozily in her mother’s lap. “Today I want to hear story of snow white”.

Mumma smiled and started the story “There was this pretty girl who was fair as snow, soft as cotton and the prettiest girl in the world"… and the story went on…

Next day started as usual with Shreya's laughter echoing in the morning but things changed when she returned from school.

“I was again not selected for the drama.” She said dully removing her shoes. “Hmmm but then the princesses need to be fair and pretty which I am not so I guess mam did the right thing.” and she went to wash her hands.

Mumma stopped short in her work. Shreya’s words echoed in her mind for a long time. She wondered who planted these measures for beauty in these innocent minds. Aren’t we all responsible? These measures are so deeply rooted in our minds that knowingly or unknowingly we all become ambassadors of false notions of beauty. Tall, fair, slim -are these the notions of beauty? Really? The models showcased in the flimsy cover pages looking no less than the snow white aren’t flawless themselves. The dab of makeup and the photoshopped images must scare them to come to limelight with their natural beauty. Why are we chasing illusions? She decided she won’t let her daughter chase an illusion and will clear the clutter from her innocent mind.

Today she was waiting more than Shreya for the story time. And as the night crawled in, she was ready with a new story.

“So today I will tell you a different story” she said, cuddling Shreya closer in her arms.

Wow… Shreya chuckled

“This is a story of a girl”

“Who was fair as snow” Shreya said before her mother could complete the sentence.

Mumma smiled and shook her head.

“No, she was dusky and chubby."

“Oh, so she wasn’t pretty like snow white.” Shreya was disheartened.

“I didn’t say that. She was dusky and chubby, and pretty in her own way….” And the story went on.

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Beauty has no parameters. It can be...

    

With all its extremes isn’t mother nature beautiful. It nurtures all extremes will equal love and care and even we appreciate nature in all its form, then why this bias for our own tribe? Why we try to confine beauty in restricted standards. May be because the false parameters are so deeply rooted in our mind that it has become a part of our belief system. It's time to shed them. Beauty is immeasurable and undefinable. Let's celebrate the vividness of our existence and appreciate beauty in all its forms.

5 Benefits of Getting Older

Looking at an old photo makes you sad? The slight wrinkles burying the youthful skin wasn’t a friend then. The glint in those dark eyes isn’t a friend now. Time does that to us. But getting old isn’t that bad. It comes down with its own happiness package.

Starting from middle age this package starts becoming lucrative with each passing year. I have listed down just a few of the endless benefits that comes down with getting older.

1)            Expectations are tamed down

I think as we age we make peace with reality. Youth is loaded with energy, dreams, ambitions. But a crushing weight of unrealistic expectations stresses it out. Expectations, from everyone and everything. And as the famous saying goes “expectations reduce joy”. It really does. And as the expectations are crushed brutally under realism we are forced to shed the layers of expectation with passing time. Though some expectations still hold us tight but they are much more realistic. 

2)            Realizing what really matters

I wanted a lot of things from life. The most important was to secure 100% in every relationship. I wanted everyone to be happy with me. And that made me most unhappy. The point is not that it was impossible, the point is that it wasn’t important. As time passed, I realized what really matters in life. And it is a huge relief.

3)            Getting comfortable in our own skin

I believe change is toughest to accept at the onset, and as the journey progress it becomes acceptable. I have never seen my mother fretting over getting old. She has other issues to deal with, like dreams of her children, her grandchildren’s health and other things, but the wrinkles on her face or the age spots no more bothers her. I am yet to meet an elderly person who is worried about being fat, short, dark or lacking a grand personality. Isn’t it great? Free from the burden of looking great all the time. Well this is something that comes late in life. I have yet to travel long to reach there.

4)            Little issues don’t bother anymore

Sometimes when I look back I am surprised at the things that fretted me out. They were numerous. I used to frown at things I now just laugh at because life threw bigger challenges. But then I realized time breaks us and then it only mends us. This too shall pass – this is the first thought to pass my mind when I am upset.

5)            Finally, some me-time

Everyone is talking about having me time. How does one get it with little toddler demanding all your time and energy? But by the time we reach middle age kids have passed the toddler stage. Though the responsibilities and tensions don’t end here but at least the nappy changing times and a kid-totally-dependent-on-me stage have passed. And finally, the me-time starts sounding real. What a relief!

These are just a few of the endless benefits of getting older. I would love to hear a few more from you. Till then cheers for every passing day making us wiser (Another Famous saying says – Age doesn’t bring wisdom always. Sometimes age comes alone.” I am in no mood to prove it true 😊)