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Also titled, A Billet-Doux. In this poem, the author narrates how her idea of love has changed over the years, from sweet nothings to everyday actions that matter.
When I was sixteen,
I received love letters
From a boy who thought
Life would be better
If I were by his side
Today, I’m 41.
And no, I’m not married
to that boy or any other
My idea of a love letter
has changed over time
I think of a love letter
As not a promise with words
But the actions of a devoted husband
Who shows his wife what love means
By waking up at dawn to cook her meals,
To take her to the hospital when she’s ill
And be with her through thick and thin
In the way he drives 20 miles
To pick up something of hers he left behind
A man who stays through all the fights
And doesn’t keep one foot at the door
Is so much more genuine than one
Who promises the world through his words
But retreats when push comes to shove
I guess I have grown up and seen the world
To understand the finer nuances of love
That makes its presence felt
Without penning a single word.
Image via Unsplash
Aishwariya Laxmi is a writer, editor, blogger, and poet living in suburban Chennai, India. She blogs on https://aishwariyalaxmi.com/ and has a newsletter at https://ash.fambase.com/. Her poems and flash fiction have read more...
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UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.
Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.
While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.
Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.
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