Recently, I came across a video by Nandita Das and many other actors depicting the obsession with fairness in our country.  It felt good that at least people are trying to break this obsession, but deep down we all know that it will take ages to change this mindset.

Now, let’s come to one more issue that I have personally faced, shaming the short and the chubby.  Yes..I have faced it a lot, in my growing up years.  A society where there are set standards of beauty generally looks down up someone, especially girls, who don’t fit in that bracket.

Just take a look around.  All the beauty pageants want the contestants to be of a certain height, clear/fair complexion, slim figure.  Same is the case with air hostess selection or even in the “marriage market.”  Someone who fits in this standard of beauty has also an upper hand in school plays, jobs, and sometimes even in friendships.

Now who will decide what’s beautiful?  When someone tells me “Thank God your kids have taken after their dad and are tall” it makes me ponder, “Is being short a crime?”  I have myself faced so much of flak for being chubby that I had promised myself that I will never allow my children to face this flak.  Of course, I wanted them to be fit and be active, but more than that I did not want them to be ridiculed socially or be made fun of.

It took me years to be happy in my own skin, to be confident.  But somewhere the childhood scars still remain deep down.  It’s very important that the families teach their kids to be confident in their own skin and love themselves the way they are rather than trying to make them fairer, taller or prettier.  Also, adults themselves should stop commenting and obsessing about all the so-called stereotypes of beauty and pass this trait to their children.

As I always remark, “It seems the mannequins in the shops weren’t designed for people like us.”  Let the concept and notion of beauty change.  It’s high time..

What is happiness, the little joys of life:

Planning a holiday with your family
Awaiting the arrival of an Amazon delivery
Looking at your teen smile to the mobile
Listening to the calls of the hubby animatedly for a while

I have been working from home since the time my son was 9 months old. The work-from-home journey has not been easy at all. There have been times when the money has been more, sometimes less, sometimes nil. I had to take breaks in between due to health issues or job dissatisfaction or kids being small.

This month after many months I got a good amount, not a great one but good one. I was happy and shared it with my son this morning. His tall frame took my short frame in his embrace and said, “That’s really awesome Maa! Keep it up.” I said, “But baby, I have a long way to go. Hope to earn even better.” He said, “It will happen Maa. Somewhere the journey has started. It will fall in place soon.”

While raising the two little children, there were days when I would tell my husband, “I can’t do it anymore. I want to quit.” I let go off many opportunities that came my way. There were times when I had to stay strong while I was crumbling from inside looking at my injured or bullied child. There have been days when I cried with guilt after my kids slept as I felt I had been hard on them a tad too much. There have been difficult days where I had to wake up feeling unwell but had to take care of my little children.

But I can never be thankful enough to have such wonderful children in my life who love me with all my flaws. They take care of me, understand my emotions, handle my PMS, my arthritis pains, and hug my small frame with their tall frames leaning on me. Every pain, every tear, every guilt is worth this love..