I am What I am

I am the eldest in my family, having a younger sister and brother. Not being fair at all at the time of my birth, got lines on the forehead of many, making them blurt, how will I get married?! To their surprise, my engagement got fixed within minutes with the very first proposal I met. As a child, I was very obedient and sincere. I remember people saying being a woman is not easy.. girls should be raised to be simple, shy and dumb.. Today, when I think of it, I laugh at them. Being a woman, I feel, is the biggest gift from God. And every effort you take, every sacrifice you make is all worth it! Being a woman has never held me back from doing whatever I wanted to do. Thanks to my Father, who always pushes me to do the best and believe in the best! Lucky us, that we’re born in the 21^st century, where opportunity is not a problem and expectations never fails. If not today, tomorrow you will definitely succeed. Gone are the times, where women had to choose. Between Love or Career. Modern or Traditional. Dancer or Homemaker. Mother or a Corporate. Friend or Wife. And the list goes on. Today, breaking all the shackles that society has laid, I choose the And label. All it needs is a little courage to take your stand, and patience to see things fall into places. I stand high and proud of who I am and it’s not just one word that can describe me.

Daughter- Being the elder child, I have always been bestowed with certain responsibilities at a very early age. And I have never ever nagged about it. Rather, I loved every single bit of it. It gave me the joy of sharing my parents work.. Yes.. both mother AND father.. inside the house AND outside the house.. household chores AND  office work.. It made me learn the complexities of the world and the taught me the tact of handling them. My parents never had to wake me up for school after the eighth grade and they never had to push me for my duties. Today, even though m married, my parents are my priority.. and will remain so..No matter what.. and I will be there for them at the oddest of hours till m alive!

Sister- Though I don’t have kids right now, but my sister is no less than a child. Mother, as she portrays me to herself, needs me from the simplest to the most complex matters in her life. Miles apart, a single phone call helps her from taking the wisest of the decisions in the most knottiest of the situations to buying a simple hair pin! And this helps me gain my inner strength as well. My brother, though, isn’t much of a talker, yet never misses to share roller coasters of his life or what is it that’s making his heart feel so heavy. My care and concern for them is endless!

Career Woman- Getting married a little early, did cut the time slack that I would have had, had I married later, but it couldn't stop me either. Not staying in a metro city does circumscribes a few opportunities, but there’s always a way out for everything, depends if you want to find one. Sitting idle is just not my cup of tea. I simply can’t take it. It makes me go mad.. brings frustrations.. throws me into endless pondering, making me miserable..for everyone!  I wanted to work, not for money but for myself.. not for bread and butter but for my individuality, for making my own lil space in the family and in the society. This is what defines me. I can’t afford myself to fade away.  My ambition and my career is like oxygen to me. After a few months of soaking myself into the new culture, new family, new lifestyle, new traditions, I needed to get back to being Me. I started with CitySpeak, which is an online page that helps you find out what so ever is going in the city. It did got immense appreciation, but due to lack of places, the page is on hold right now. I needed something else to get going. I prepared for an exam and the same year I prepared a research paper as well. It was my first experience at an international conference. And it gave me a lot. Experience, learning, realizations about myself to name a few.

Homemaker- Yes, I am a homemaker. And I am proud of the fact that m able to handle it well. It got a handy initially being new at it, plus work along with it. But everything worked out just fine with a little extra effort and the help of my extremely wonderful family.

Friend- Being an extrovert, always helped me making new friends easily. But surviving the friendship with the extreme personalities was never a problem. Being new in the city post marriage, relatives were the only people I had. But with time, I have made few of the closest friends who will be there with me forever. It was a large bunch initially, but with time all their colours came in front of me and thankfully I saved myself from a clump of hypocrites. My closest of friends substitute the word ‘friend’ with my name. I may not talk to them every day, but there has never been a single moment when my friends needed me and I wasn’t there. That’s what friends are for, right?  Actually, this was one of the things I made very clear to my husband initially, that when my friends need me, no matter if its 2 AM or 5 PM, I will be there with them at any cost and he too understands this need of mine. That’s what makes him even more special for me.

Teacher- As I have always been keen at explaining things in a simpler form and this helped me recognise my art of teaching. I did teach endless number of my colleagues, juniors, and off late cousins as well. And all of them proclaimed me to be a teacher. Yes.. I am a teacher now. . My work is the best thing that happened to me last year. It gives me inner peace, it gives me joy and I can connect myself with my work and my students. Empathizing with students and making them understand things and witnessing the look of contentment on their faces is the prize that I get after my each class. It’s bliss. I need it to survive.

Innovative and Creative- Anything that I ever do for people close to my heart, has to be a little unique, different and new. It should have a personal touch in a subtle manner that gives the message loud and clear that you are special. This innate quality of making others feel special defines me as person. I never have any idea about what am I going to do (on things that I’ve never done before), when am I going to do, for whom am I going to do. Everything is impromptu. Making cards or t-shirts would be a cliché to mention. It was my parents’ 25^th anniversary, where they hired a professional to make a documentary. I also did not back out from the gift I was going to present them with that video. Well, he ended up taking a copy of what I made! I am not a web designer, neither have I done any course in it, yet it was for my sister that I gifted her a personalized website which brought tears of joy into her eyes on her big day!

Prospective Writer/Poetess- Writing is a hobby for me. It’s a feel good factor about everything around me. It did start with a frustration to express myself, but off late I realized, it completes me. I never knew I could write poems until one day I had to complete an activity for a friend which helped me discover something I was unaware of.

Passionate- I am a big time passionate lover. Details can be availed from my husband ;). Being passionate about my dreams is within me. There is this fire inside which makes me restless when m not doing anything. Even when m done with daily goals, it points me to do something more, achieve more. I am standing on a road, which m going build myself, discovering myself with every new step and it’s the passion inside me to do every possible thing that gets me going.

Cooking- Not a very avid cook but I love to cook for people who I love. I made an effort and learnt a few special cuisines as well. When you fall short of expressing your love for your loved ones, cook for them. It’s the perfect gift that blends all your love, and brings its magic in the form of its fresh aroma.

Librian- Yeah, that’s totally me! Balanced. Be it work, house, family, career, friends.. That’s one thing that makes me unparalleled. I am good at multitasking and everyone around wonders how all of it is possible giving equal time to everything and coming out with the best results in every activity. I am very liberal and it does seem to many that I go a lil overboard, but that’s their problem I feel.

Social- That’s right. I love to party. I love to drink once in a while. I love meeting people. I love catching up with friends. I love to let my hair go loose and succumb into the rhythm of music and dance like no one’s watching. That doesn’t mean m a slut! I love to wear red lipstick. But that doesn’t makes me an easy catch. I am perfect blend of a modern woman with her own values and principles of traditions.

All these things mentioned defines me.. completes me.. say a lot about me. I am independent and liberal and traditional and modern and inspiration for many. With all the labels mentioned above, I choose ‘AND’ and not ‘OR’ for being someone who I am and can handle all of it well.

As I move ahead with time

I cheer everything I have accomplished in my regime

I stand high and tall

Feeling bright and proud

Shaping my future

That I will carefully nurture

All that I want on my table

Is to keep adding ANDs to my label :)

My special thanks to GilletteVenus for coming up with a contest like this and helping us bringing choosing AND for ourselves. This post is a part of #UseYourAnd at Blogadda in association with Gillette Venus.

Happy Reading

Cheers