I am ME

LET ME BE…. I AM ME

Let me grow up, right here in front of you…

I play on the beach and collect the shells….

I run back home; my mother is angry that I filled her cleaned home with sand….

I run back home; my mother is eagerly awaiting my return; her open arms are my biggest security. collection.

I see the waves; they are calling me…. But I am just 5…

I look at my father and I see fear in his eyes, and I hold back…. I am sad but that is ok

I look at my father and he see hope in my eyes, so he ties a rope to my arm and lets me go deep. I am still scared but I know I am safe.

The bhutta wala is standing outside the gate, his cart is full. I steal four, 1-rupee coins and get a bhutta for myself.

My parents yell at me so badly for stealing, and I also get one hard slap. I never want to look at a bhutta again.

My parents tell me stealing is bad, that evening we make a piggy bank, and they show me how to save my money and manage it too.

I go to school; the teacher holds my hand so tight to make beautiful 4’s on the paper. I hate it.

I tell my parents, they say this is the way it is done, I am so disappointed that I do not want to write again.

I tell my parents; they take it up strongly with the school and in the process it is discovered that this method is detrimental to neural development.

I am standing in line with my uncle to get ice-cream, someone pinches my bottom. I do not know how to react, but I go home and tell my mom.

She says to me, “This is how the world is, we have to survive.”

She takes me back to the ice-cream shop; we sit there and wait till that man shows up again. She hands him over to the police, that is the day I learnt how to fight for justice.

I cycle so fast; I lose my balance and I am bruised

My father is angry, how can I not learn properly.

My father says, ‘Tomorrow, I will show you how to balance. Speed is not everything.’

I go to school, I do not like it much, the teachers are partial

My parents are always angry that I do not perform well. I am angrier, that they do not understand.

My parents always say do your best, do not worry about the results. I can excel in whatever I want.

I am a teenager now, the first period. Just do not know, what to do. Mom is not home.

I go nervous to my dad, he is busy. He looks at me and asks me to not disturb him with trivial matters. They can wait till mom returns.

I go nervous to my dad, he looks at me and knows something is wrong. He leaves everything to talk to me, and there he taught me how to use my first sanitary napkin.

I am in college now, and there is this boy, very sweet. I really like him.

My parents find out, I am beaten up.

My parents find out, and they tell me, this is the first. There will be more, some will break your heart, you will break someone’s heart. And then you will find the perfect one, wait for that perfect one.

I am in the corporate world now, performing well, achieving targets, gaining praises for my dedication. But I am not happy in that space.

I speak to my dad, he says this is how life is, learn to live with it.

I speak to my dad, he says, if this is not it, then find what brings you happiness. And make the happiness your career.

I am a mother now.

I can be either of the above. But I chosen to learn how to be a parent. I have chosen to give wings to the lives that grow before me.

Let them grow, right here, right now, in front of you… nurture them.

No one teaches us, how to be a parent. It is all about hits and misses. The child suffers for no fault of theirs.

Let them grow… artists, musicians, chefs, dancers, writers, thinkers, teachers, THE WORLD NEEDS THEM