Miss Congeniality- Part 2

I still remember very clearly, the first time we met, sitting next to each other, filling out the college form. Having almost similar marks in high school and all, we ended up talking and I came to know that she will be shifting to a new city for the college.

She has a very unique name (which she doesn’t stop proclaiming sometimes). After that first meeting, I was more confident, because I was going to college knowing a name and atleast one familiar face.

In these past four years, our friendship has seen a lot, gone through usual ups and downs but it has only moved forward. There are things we don’t approve of each other and we make sure the other person knows about it. I rarely hide anything from her; because sooner or later, I always end up telling her things.

There are times though when I am afraid of opening up to her because of things she may not like, but to be honest so far, whatever I have done, worst or best, she hasn’t judged me.

I will always cherish my friendship with her because according to me it is one of a kind.

She has given me some of the best memories of college years whether it be sharing the same bench during lectures or saving a seat for her till she didn’t come, stupid chats of ours on paper while the class was still going on, heavy discussions over movies; what to see, what not to see, gossip of the celluloid world, calling each other new names every day, harmless teasing, pesky fights, her never calling me (miss call concept was created just for her I think). She was my better half in college (according to my mother), my punching bag (she would completely agree to this), and my confidante.

But the thing I dislike the most about her, is her constant self-doubt. She has these moments when she thinks she is not good enough and then she plummets into this pit of low confidence and blames herself for everything. It becomes a task to knock some sense into her. I only wish she would realize soon that she is brilliant and all she needs is an opening to showcase her skills.

It is not easy to be liked by all. People always judge you even before they know you. They look at you and make up their mind about you. But I can bet my life on it that no one has ever disliked her. She has a quality that makes her likeable and adorable. She can adjust very nicely with everyone, be it college or new roommates, anyone.

Anyone who is reading this would think I am madly in love with this girl, but then I am. We never tell each other such sweet stuff but I know we both will have a cry day the day we part ways. But still I know she won't leave me in peace ever and I will always pray that she never does.

If the college had an award for something like this, for me the best and the perfect choice would have been this mad, silly but extremely sweet gem of a person because she truly is “Miss Congeniality”.

Miss Congeniality- Part 1

Once upon a time, there was a girl. 

Ambitious, full of dreams and fun-loving. She came to a new city to begin a new chapter in her life and simultaneously also entered my life.

And ever since that day, ladies and gentlemen, my life has never been the same.

C.S Lewis, the creator of the world of Narnia, quotes “Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: "What! You too? I thought I was the only one.”

And this insanely mad person fits the description. We are as different as can be but so similar in other things that people mistake us to be “soulmates”.

Small round face, small eyes hidden behind Harry Potter type glasses, a huge smile and wavy hair. She is so pretty but she can be very clueless about it. The way she stretches few words while speaking is hilarious and adorable. Everyone loves pulling her cheeks. She is the nerd of the gang. A typical kind who makes notes, prepares a timetable to study and who revises twice before every exam.

But don’t be mistaken if you think that she is just about studies. Oh definitely not. 

I bet the people close to her can actually tell you silly ridiculous tales starring her in the main lead.

She is a true Bollywood fan and by Bollywood I actually mean SRK. The romance king is the king of her hearts too. And no she isn’t romantically in awe of him. She is just in awe of him. She probably panics more than the producer of the film before his new release. She has such a healthy obsession for the superstar that the whole college knows about it. According to me if there is any dream job made for her, it is that of either being Film Consultant to King Khan or a movie critic.

She is a budding artist. She has a lot of talent which she sometimes hides from the rest of the world. She loves painting. And she is damn good at it. And I am sure of it, because I have her work hanging in my house at this moment. She is also a pretty good dancer and can pick up those Bollywood steps pretty quickly. For someone with two left feet, I am definitely in awe of her because of that.

She scrunches up her nose while laughing, she sneezes loudly in the class and then says “Excuse Me” in a cute kiddish voice, she gets extremely excited sometimes and sometimes her mood dips an all time low and she can be very snappy during that time. She talks like there is no tomorrow. She speaks her mind too bluntly at times. Her best quality is that she is a really easy person to get along with and likeable by all and can be an amazing company. But she has difficulty expressing her feelings sometimes especially to people she cares about a lot. And that is what actually makes her so unique. Because you can see how much she loves you from her actions.

She is one of those few people I thank God for. Wondering why? You’ll know soon enough.

"The 12"- #6

I love holidays. You get so much time to write.

Firstly thank you for liking the post on my mum. For all those who asked me if she liked it, well she was in tears when she read it, atleast that's what she told me.

And secondly, few people also liked the other post which I wrote as an interlude. So thank you for that too.

Finally after posting entirely different things, I am back to "The 12".

This person is well the first person I kind of befriended when I joined my college four years ago. And this friendship has been through these long four years and is still strong.

This is more like a farewell message for her. Hope she likes it.

Happy Reading :)

That Thing We Call Hope

Back in childhood, fairytales were the perfect bedtime stories for all the kids. Atleast for me they were.

And almost all the fairytales had the same storyline with just few tweaks here and there.

There would be a damsel in distress- usually a princess whose beauty and good nature would be the reason for her end, an evil force like an old witch who wants to look young and beautiful forever or a queen who wishes to be ‘the fairest of all’, a curse which could be a midnight curfew hour, a poisoned apple or being pricked by a needle and obviously and most importantly the curse-breaker, the pure and noble-hearted Prince Charming, who would waltz in at the climax and break the curse using the most powerful weapon- True Love’s Kiss.

I’ll admit, when I was young, I used to swoon over these stories and wished to have one too.

But as I grew up, I realized that they were nothing but just stories.

Yes you do get helpless like the main protagonist and end up taking shit from some evil queen again and again till you don’t fall into this pit of sadness and misery that it becomes a curse to live and then you expect some hero, some knight in shining armour to come and save you from drowning.

But does it really happen? Do you really need a hero to save you?

No you don’t. You don’t need a Prince Charming to realize your worth. You don’t need him to break the curse. You are strong enough to rise up from all of this.

Up to some extent we all need support but in the end, this is your life. You can’t expect someone to protect you always and fight your battles for you. Because in the end, you are your own hero. You have the courage and the will to win.

You don’t need a knight. All you need is Hope.

For me, hope is a much stronger weapon than some spun tale of True Love’s Kiss.

There is hope everywhere. Hope to make it through the present, hope to live another day.

This world is actually surviving on hope.

Everyday we wake up hoping the day will go well. We hope to get a good seat when out eating. We hope for a discount while shopping. We hope for the perfect ending while reading a book or watching a movie. We hope the monstrosity in this current scenario will soon end.

We hope for the world to get better. We hope for the good.

Hope is a powerful emotion. Because in the end, even the true love’s kiss had hope in it. Hope that the curse will break.

And if you keep living with that glimmer of hope everyday, soon the curse will break. And you will get your Happy Ever After.

Interlude

I hope you guys are as excited about reading my blog as I am when I am about to post something new.

I have realized I love writing. It's the best form of release which relaxes your mind. When you pen down your thoughts, you are actually speaking to yourself. Your thoughts are more coherent and transparent. You see your true self. When you write, you don't lie. You don't keep feeding yourself these false emotions.

I believe everyone should inculcate this amazing habit of writing.

This next post is again not part of "The 12". It is just something I ended up writing while watching this show I like a lot- Once Upon a Time. All about fairytales with modern twist.

You know I was a big fan of fairytales back in childhood. They were full of magic and knights and princesses and stuff. It's only recently I have come to know that many of these tales are very twisted; the actual ones are full of horror and wickedness and what not.

So keeping that in mind, I wrote the upcoming post.

Happy Reading :)

My Rockstar

She is a pillar of strength, an epitome of love and affection, as strict as a teacher when need be but equally soft and warm. She runs the household with dedication and probably more finesse than possible. She can turn into a Japanese warrior when it comes to defending her family. Pampers the son, confidante for the daughter and the support system for the father. She balances the life at the home. She is supposed to be a form of God. Because he couldn’t be everywhere, he created her. He created mother.

Today I am writing this special message to my mother. She turns a year older and I guess finally there is a slight greying of hair now. 

Mumma (which is what I call her) is my Rockstar. There is just no one like her. And yes almost every kid in this world would say the same for his/her own mother, but no I am definitely sure that my mum is just out of this world.

When my grandma shows me childhood pictures of her, I can’t recognize her at all. She seems so different in them. For me,she has always been the same, huge brown eyes, wide smile and dark wavy hair. God what I wouldn’t give to be as pretty as her. She is beautiful. She has such an expressive face that you just can’t take your eyes off her.

Some women are just born mothers. They easily adapt to motherhood when it happens. But according to my mum, she was just a beginner; for her every moment when I was born was like a lesson. She says she would mess up a lot and used to doubt herself from time to time. But I guess she has nothing to be worried about, because I can say confidently that I grew up to be just fine and normal.

Sometimes I wonder how different my life would have been if she was never a part of it.

Who would have woken me up early morning for school, made that delicious tiffin which people used to steal from my school bag at times, encouraged me to sing and take up the various unusual hobbies I have, toughened me up for real world? Who would have wiped away those tears of awkwardness when I became a teenager? Who would have knocked sense into me that success always comes after couple of failures?

It’s scary to think how chaotic life can be without mothers.

She has these few silly adorable habits which are annoying at times. She loves organizing everything in a specific way, keeps a record of every damn household item in her notebook. She is extra cautious about things like preparing my bag and pencil box before exam, double checking it before I leave. She loves cooking and trying out new things. She isn’t shy of experimenting. She believes in God. She believes in luck, destiny and all those Indian traditions but she isn’t narrow-minded. In fact she has an opinion on everything. She just doesn’t like debating. If she can be sweet, she can be equally furious and lash out if we ever disobey her. Now that both her kids are independent, she misses doing all this.

She has always let me make a decision about my life and when I am confused she is there to sort the issue out. I am not able to be in touch with her much given that we live in separate cities, but there is a never a day when I don’t get a call from her. If not a call, then definitely a text message saying a simple “Goodnight” every night sharp at 11.

I miss her a lot. These past few years I have come closer to her, maybe because I am not a kid anymore and because I understand things more clearly.

Running a family is not a joke honestly. Taking care of everyone’s needs, keeping check on the finance of the family, fulfilling everyone’s demands. It is probably tougher than running some huge company.

Every mother has to face problems and struggle everyday.

So does mine. My father being in Army, there have been years when he has been posted someplace where families aren’t allowed. Times like these my mother has single-handedly taken care of two growing kids who are as different as anyone ever can be. And never ever did she give up. She would never let us know if she was facing a problem. She would try and not take out the frustration of handling things in a big city on us. She would take us out for treats on weekends like a movie or a fancy dinner and from time to time let us buy that one toy my brother wished for or the book I wanted to read for a long time. In short she never let us feel that our father was so far away working in some different state altogether.

My mother taught me way more than I give her credit for. She taught me to not give up on life when it gets worse, that there will be times when no one will be around to guide you; you need to figure out things for yourself. That sometimes it is okay to break down and cry. Crying is not a sign of weakness. It is just a means of letting out your feelings.

She encouraged me to start writing in the first place. She is the reason for the origin of this bibliophile actually. I sometimes crib about lack of friends I can share my secrets with. But in reality, I don’t need anyone when my mum is the best “deep-dark-secret keeper”.

So mumma, I thank you. I thank you for making me the person I am. I owe you my life literally. And I know I do things which upset you a lot. But trust me when I say this, one day you will be proud of me. I promise you. Because I am your 'Jhansi Ki Rani' (as you call me) and you are my Rockstar!

The Special Thirteenth

Okay this next post is a huge one. (that's why warning you beforehand)

This post again is not a part of "The 12". It is about a person though, who i refer to as 'the special 13th' !!

Hope you guys like it. Again i will say, suggestions are always welcomed.

Happy Reading! :)