Talk to Yourself!

Writing, for me, is just like talking to myself or feeling the emotions once again. I believe everyone needs a time of solitude with oneself. This is the time when one should try to feel one’s own emotions. I have met many people who are very calm and composed even at the most turbulent times. It has even happened to me many times. I do not respond or react in the same way as I would have been feeling inside at that moment. We all hold back ourselves at all times. But whenever we get time for a rendezvous with ourselves, we set all our emotions free. When we are happy, we might even jump around everywhere or dance in the bathroom. When we are sad, we might soak ourselves in an ocean of tears. Similarly, there is a reaction to almost every emotion one feels inside. But have we ever thought, why people do not react in reality!

We all are afraid of revealing our real self to the society. We don’t want our vulnerability to be exposed. Balancing the relationships in society has been the priority of every individual. Some people try to prioritize their relationships while others are busy making everyone else happy. But have we taken out time to ask ourselves if we are happy! We started balancing our emotions instead. We have become so analytical that we have started calculating the happiness quotient!

There is nothing wrong with being sad, angry or mad at times. There are highs and lows in Life, and it would keep happening with all of us, at least till the time we are alive. Most of us have adapted ourselves in living life by dealing with these highs and lows. The most common way of dealing with them is hiding your feelings and curbing your dreams. In the process of doing so, we even start lying to ourselves. After failures and rejections, have you not felt that you were not meant for that passion or dream? What follows is the scary low confidence which shakes you completely. You lose your direction and focus both. You get overpowered by all negative emotions. Trust me, there is no session that would bring you back to your path. Instead of running away from our emotions, we should face all different shades it ensembles. What matters more is how you can overcome the negative emotions and emerge to be a happy person. I believe, there is only one person who can guide us and make us come out of any unwanted situation and it’s we, ourselves. We all need to be true to ourselves.

The state of bliss has always been mistaken with contentment. For example, you might be satisfied with the status, success and a perfect family life, but do you think you are also happy at the same time? Happiness in my opinion, is that state of mind when you just want to live in the moment. You are carefree. You are visiting your true self.There is no magic key to happiness. Most of us do not know that it’s actually hidden within us. You just need to discover that happiness. Can one identify that one reason that gives happiness in life and devote some time towards it every day? I guess if we add little elements from our passions into the daily routine, it will bring a sense of happiness to us every day. It will help us in understanding about our inner strengths. That, in turn, would help to mend up our broken state of minds. So, talk to yourself to find out what is missing from your life and help yourself as well as your loved ones.


Life is a Fairytale!

IMG_20181101_181417As a teen, Aashiya always use to hear the stories of fairy-tale love from her friends and cousins. The vague idea of being in love used to send jitters in her nerves. But, silently even she used to fancy the world of true love and submission. At the same time she was scared as hell, into being a prey to this emotion. It was clear in her thoughts that emotions like love had no place in my life till she establishes herself. And she had her own reason behind this strange decision.

Right from her childhood, the thought of becoming an independent girl and helping her parents was in-built in Aashiya. It was to such an extent that, she could not even realize when her innocent dreams converted into practical ambitions. No, it’s not something for which anyone has to be blamed. It’s the social stigma any middle class girl faces. It’s because…. this is how our so-called social values have been established. She had seen her parents being ridiculed at several occasions for having no son. Since then she had started making several promises to herself in the ambush of those rejections. Yes, I would call those subtle sympathies of the well wishers as rejections. Deep inside her, something was completely broken down and something was gathering up. Perhaps, this marked the end of Aashiya’s world of dreams and ignited the fire of ambition inside her.

Being a small town girl, Aashiya had to leave her parents at a tender age of 16 years. Her parents were more than supportive in every aspect of her lives. They had the courage to allow Aashiya fight her battle of identity. By then Aashiya was well aware that it was only she, who would be responsible henceforth…. for anything that would happen in her life. So, she had put several limits in her lifestyle and on her emotions. Being in a new place, completely out of your comfort zone helps you see that actual World more closely. This helped Aashiya to know new people, handle sensitive matters, and understand different relationships. Within these intricacies, there were also new bonds of friendship. When you are with friends, you are just yourselves. No one judges you and you have the chance to open up to this new shade in life. There are more than a hundred tales of friendship which still tickle me and brings happiness to me. Aashiya also made some really very good friends for life. Gradually, she became free from the self cultivated bindings inside. She began to discover her true self! Those long-buried fantasies about love had begun to bloom again in her heart. She kept on reminding herself of her priorities by constantly shoving aside those emotions. But somewhere inside, even she was craving for a true companion.

Unlike others, Aashiya never dreamt of getting a charming prince riding a white horse. She was very practical and had simple wishes in life. She always wanted her soul mate to be her best friend. A person with whom she could have been completely herself! She wished for someone who would understand both her aspirations as well accept her responsibilities. She dreamt of her man to treat her parents as his own. She wished her life partner not only to be a part of her love-story, but also to be a part of her family….

And the day had come. The day when Aashiya was ready to live her dream. The same dream that was buried under the burdens of her priorities. Aashiya had returned to her small hometown after completing her studies and getting a job. She just stood in front of the mirror and admired herself. She was always a simple girl. A girl who had never used makeup other than Kohl in her eyes and gloss on her lips. Aashiya had requested her mother to deck her up with minimal jewellery. And so here she was, just as she wanted. Dressed up in a bright red wedding attire and with her eyes shining with happiness, Aashiya looked just like a Rose Bud ready to bloom. Everything was just as she had imagined in her early teens. She could feel the butterflies in her stomach. The warmth of love in the heart made her cheeks flush red. She looked around and saw the pride in her Dad’s eyes. The happiest person amongst all was Aashiya’s mother who saw her own dream come true. After all, they had chosen their son-in-law and Aashiya also had consented. Aashiya was amused to look at the beautiful wedding decor and arrangements made by her family.

She sat on a chair in her room quietly….when the sound of shehnai added wings to her anxiety. This was the most romantic tune she had ever heard. She felt herself to be so beautiful that day! She asked herself,” Is this the feeling from which I was evading for so long?” This took her back to the time when she did not want to marry and still how he had stepped quietly into her life. Today Aashiya felt grateful for the day, when she had called him for saying NO to the marriage!



The cool breeze around, blooming of yellow daffodils and clear blue skies had marked the advent of the most awaited spring season. There was a sense of exhilaration in our minds. My daughter was super excited because this season marked her approaching birthday also. After a long dull winter of England, we were all so relaxed with the sunny and bright mornings. The nature also looked so elated in wearing her new hues as if even she would have been craving for the same since ages! But the best part of the season was that it brought us closer to our home.

Life is easy here. The British people around are very warm and friendly. You will not feel afraid of talking to strangers here. Doubt in your minds is the last thought to come. You have complete freedom of everything. Unlike our country wherein you are judged for every little action. A country which is your own, but unfortunately, it’s the country wherein doubt and fear are the predominant feelings in our minds. Staying here, has given me so much time to ponder upon the differences that exist. We are a country blessed with so many languages, food, culture, literature, festivals and natural beauty. We have a moderate climate and beautiful landscapes be it mountains, sea beaches, deserts or marshes.

What is it that goes missing from our country? Why each of us feel that nothing can change in our country? Why most of us feel that if you need to grow or succeed you need to hunt on a foreign land? Why is Britain, Europe, US or Australia still a land of dreams for most Indian youths. Because trust me… even in this beautiful country with no social issues like those of our home country, I feel so left out. This really made me think deeply…. About the land where I belong to.

I was going to pick my daughter from school that afternoon when someone approached me asking if I was also an Indian! To find someone from your country talking to you in the same language and discussing the same feelings on a foreign land gives you a sense of belonging. You feel so comforted to be in your own cocoon because however close it is inside, its warm and belongs to you. It’s this sense of “calling it your own” that has been missing from our countrymen. We all know how to claim our country and perks, but most of us don’t know how to own and respect the perks. It has been years now since we have been blaming our fate of being slaves for so many years. We became independent 70 years back, but in real sense have we become really independent?

We are still not free from the age old social prejudices. I will not make my thoughts become repetitive by mentioning those evils again here. What I mean here is that lets liberate our thoughts first and make our country a better place to live in. There is no point in blaming others for being a hindrance in our growth. India is expected to have 34.33% share of youth in total population by 2020. This is the perfect time to give a clear direction to our country. The pace that is set today will determine the position of our country in coming years. Being another Indian youth, I believe that if each of us become more pragmatic in our thoughts and approach it will not be difficult to bring the change. It’s well said that if you want to bring the change you need to be the change. We have been treating our country in the same way as we treat our moms. We take her for granted every day and only realise her worth when we are in pain or she is not around.

As far as I am concerned, only when I crossed the country’s border I realised that I am an Indian first and it’s the land where me and my dreams belong to. The work commitments have thrown us so far from home, and despite of all resources we are longing to go back to our land. A land of my dreams, a land of respect for each other, a land without doubt and fear, a land of equal opportunities for all and a land of love and warmth. Is it not a dream of every youth today?