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We all age, but do we learn enough? How many of us are proud and happy to be in the thirties? This post discusses some beautiful thoughts around this.
Here again, is this beautiful annual day when I converse deeply with myself.
On this ‘my day’ in my memory palace, I quickly look back at the highlights of the last year, the highs and the lows, the happy and the sad moments, along with the dreams for the next year.
This lovely train of thought process is interrupted by a wicked reflection from my head, which reminds of something called age and an age group called thirties. But soon after, there is a whisper from my heart, kind of gently knocking at the memory palace door and wanting me to focus on the mileage, and not the age.
Thirties is more than an age group; it’s a special period in one’s life when one feels comfortable both on a personal and professional front. One feels equipped enough to march on, carrying forward sweet and sour experiences of the 20s, and having complete focus on the coming decades with fool-proof plans for every possible thing one can think of.
Growing old day by day, year after year is a very natural process. What is important is did you actually enjoy yourself in this journey called life, were you happy and content? Do you see life in those many years that have gone by? Did you do enough funny mistakes to laugh out loud for the rest of your life?
Have you climbed a big rock, dived into a deep blue sea, camped in a dessert or enjoyed the snow? Can you relate to the feeling of getting drenched on an island when you no more complain about the unexpected rains, but you just look at the blue sky acknowledging that heavenly shower?
On your professional front, have you declined offers from places like the Harvard Medical School or refused a comfortable government job just because you know the fact that tall brands, big names are not worth when your heart lies somewhere else.
Have you stood up for something even if it costed you your corporate job? Have you had that unique nerve to resign from that position and rise again maintaining your dignity intact? If yes, your thirties are worth.
Even if you do not practice any particular religion, but believe in spirituality, and have respect and tolerance for all possible human faiths and cultures; if you are open to assimilate some other forms of practice in your life just to be a better person and if you know the difference between praying and mediating, you are sorted for rest of your life.
It’s picture perfect, if you have an awesome friend circle and have special 2am friends, lived life in a messy hostel room, have survived with maggie and chai over the weekend because you were too lazy to cook for yourself. If you have experienced at least one city more than the one you were born in and if you have travelled alone on a shoe string budget. If you love to dance in front of the mirror and you don’t care if your moves are not synchronized with the rhythm. If you exactly know when to appreciate music or lyrics and you are sensitive enough to shed tears in the movies. When you know how to strike a balance between complementing and criticizing, when you know sufficient tricks to create happiness around you compared to the standard ways of ‘how to be happy’, you are not only living but learning from your thirties.
If you have an obsession for high heels and you think your love for shoes is an unending affair; if for your wardrobe – you can afford a variety and wide range of fancy attires complementing your accessories and if you own that funny looking handbag for which you did quite a lot of matching shopping. If you are always on a shopping spree but you still feel out of stock for clothes, handbags and footwear all the time, you are a princess in your thirties.
If you are best friends with your mom and she still worries about your food, health, travel and insists on the importance of weekly massaging your head and wants to know your whereabouts every now and then. If you have loving siblings with whom you feel candid and if you guys can fight over petty things, and still giggle about your childhood pranks. If you are part of such a family, do consider yourself as one among the luckiest souls on the face of the earth!
And on the top of it all, if you have cute little nephews and nieces to look forward to every time you visit your extended family, you are simply a blessed princesses in your thirties.
Believe me, if you could relate to even one-third of these listed things, you are living your life because thirties is the new 20s and yes, you are a queen in making!
Dedicated to my loving family and friends for realizing and reminding me year after year how super blessed I am.
Image of a happy lady via Shutterstock
A scientist by training and science administrator by profession. An enthusiast traveller by choice and amateur writer by passion. In between the two -just love to dance, swim, dream and practice optimism! read more...
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People say that women are the greatest enemies of women. I vehemently disagree. It is the patriarchal mindset that makes women believe in the wrong ideology.
The entire world celebrates International Women’s Day on March 8, 2024. It should be a joyful day, but unfortunately, not all women are entitled to this privilege, as violence against women is at its peak. The experience of oppression pushes many women to choose freedom. As far as patriotism is concerned, feminism is not a cup of tea in this society.
What happens when a woman decides to stand up for herself? Does this world easily accept the decisions of women in this society? What inspires them to be free of the clutches of the oppression that women have faced for ages? Most of the time, women do not get the chance to decide for themselves. Their lives are always at the mercy of someone, which can be their parents, siblings, husband, or children.
In some cases, women do not feel the need to make any decisions. They are taught to obey the patriarchal system, which makes them believe that they are right. In my family, I was never taught to make decisions on my own. It was always my parents who bought dresses and all that I needed.
14 years after her last feature film Dhobi Ghat, storyteller extraordinaire comes up with her new film, Laapataa Ladies, a must watch.
*Some spoilers alert*
Every religion around the world dictates terms to women. The onus is always on women to be ‘modest’ and cover their faces and bodies so men can’t be “tempted”, rather than on men to keep their eyes where they belong and behave like civilized beings. So much so that even rape has been excused on the grounds of women eating chowmein or ‘men will be men’. I think the best Hindi movie retort to this unwanted advice on ‘akeli ladki khuli tijori ki tarah hoti hai’ (an alone woman is like an open jewellery box) came from Geet in Jab We Met – Kya aap gyan dene ke paise lete hain kyonki chillar nahin hain mere paas.
The premise of Laapataa Ladies is beautifully simple – two brides clad in the ghunghat that covers their identity get mixed up on a train. Within this Russian Doll, you get a comedy of errors, a story of getting lost, a commentary on patriarchy’s attitude towards women, a mystery, and a tale of finding oneself, all in one. Done with a mostly light touch that has you laughing and nodding along.
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