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For me, love has always been a safe space. A space where you can be you. Where you can bare your freckles, stretch marks, your insecurities, name anything and still be accepted for who you are.
Love. What does it mean to you?
The way I understand love is it is a feeling, the presence of which makes you feel safe, accepted and celebrated for just being you. Maybe just like you love a rose with all its thorns and petals long after it has dried up.
My father was a good-looking man. When he reached his sixties, he started to show a little age on his face. He was good-looking still. One day, he was grooming himself before heading out to his clinic. I was just sitting watching him.
Admiring every part of the person that he is.
After he checked himself in the mirror, he turned to me with an unsure smile, ‘I look so old now, don’t I?’ I looked at his unsure smile.
I smiled back at him and I thought to myself, ‘No matter how old you grow, what you look like, I will always love you.’
For me, love has always been a safe space. A space where you can be you. Where you can bare your freckles, stretch marks, your insecurities, name anything and still be accepted for who you are. My father taught me that kind of love, and it has remained.
Now, when I look around at the commercials, the expectations to be met and the beauty standard to be maintained to be loved and accepted, I feel so empty. What has the world come to?
As the saying goes, in a world full of conditions, people are looking for unconditional love.
Don’t we naturally love a rose with all its thorns? Why is then human love so fragile that the moment a personal expectation is not met or changed, love breaks?
Love is more like a sugar-coated contract.
Have you ever changed yourself to fit into someone’s expectations to be loved? I am not talking about changing for the better here. Well, if you are an alcoholic, and you are trying to get rid of the habit to save a relationship, that is much encouraged.
If you have, do you think it is worth it?
Food for thought?
Image source: Rodane Productions, via pexels, free and edited on CanvaPro
A Social Media Content Writer by profession. A writer by heart. A genuine foodie. Simple by nature. Love to read, create paintings and cook. Have impossible dreams. At the moment, engaged in making those dreams 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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