I have a lot older things but they are safely kept in my box of memories.
The only item I do wear everyday is my cross pendant that my mother gifted me. Over the years I have changed the chains multiple times. However, I always add my pendant to the new chain.
I love wearing the cross its the first thing my mother bought for me after a long time. Not as a birthday gift or a gift for an occasion. She just randomly came up to me one day and gave me the box with the pendant. It isn’t anything fancy or over the top. But the worth it holds for me is far beyond words.
My cross is the constant reminder that I am never alone. If ever I am stressed I automatically touch the cross and I remember that God is always with me. I hope that I can keep the cross with me as long as I am alive and maybe pass it along as a heirloom.
I am not much of fruits or vegetable person. I think my mind rejects any sort of healthy food. Despite this I do like some fruits:
a. Bananas My mom made sure banana was part of my regular diet through out my childhood. She used to tell me that it gave me strong bones. So I used to eat it without much complain. I am glad she did. Though not as often as I would like, it is probably the only fruit that I eat without someone forcing me.
b. Apples Another scam by my mother “Apple a day keeps the doctor away”. I may not have gone to the doctor for a lot of colds and flu. But keeping the doctor now that is another matter. I had multiple “accidents” through out my childhood. The number or times I have broken my bones exceed the number of bones my whole family have broken put all together. Needless to say, I was a kept my parents in a constant state of worry every time I step out of the house.
c. Grapes Grapes are hands down my favorite! I love them! Green, Red, Black doesn’t matter. Its fun to eat just like popcorn. Just wash it well and eat. Also, the added fancy of it being part of many royal scene depictions. I used to love eating it directly from the bunch like I was a king.
d. Mango I love eating them both raw and ripe. Raw mango with a little bit of chilli powder and salt make for a perfect snack. The blisters from it are totally worth it. On the other and ripe mango is like ice cream. Its just tasty! No more words needed.
e. Jackfruit They are seasonal and I do not eat much of it. But it tastes so good. the hassle for cleaning it up is something that deters me. My father loves the fruit so he does all the cleaning all I have to do is sit beside him and patiently wait as he cleans. This fruit brings back happy memories. I remember me and my sister used to keep count to ensure that no one got more than their fair share.
You meet over a million people in your lifetime. Most of the instances, they are just people who come into your life and leave without any impact. Some of them come into your life and tear you down. And if your lucky some of them come into your life to change it for the better.
There was a time in my life I did not know I was depressed. I just thought I was lazy and sad. It was God who helped me then. My faith brought me out of that mess. I still don’t know how I recovered.
In other instances, God sent me amazing friends in my life. They stood by me and started showing me that there was a part of that was beautiful. They showed me my worth. I can’t take compliments. It makes me feel weird. I feel like I don’t deserve it. However, these friends never gave up on me. They keep giving me reasons to smile, pulling me out of the darkness when I felt like I was drowning. Whenever I was down, they never asked questions, they just pulled me into a hug and stayed like that till I could breathe again.
If they ever read this, you know who you are. Thank you for being the amazing person you are! I hope all of you make more friends because I am sure you will definitely bring smiles to their life. In this world where most days are filled with tribulation, people need a break. They need someone who will stop time and be there and bring a little spark of joy into life.
To put “Freedom” simply it would be the opportunity to make your own choices without the fear of consequence.
Being free is to being in control. I mean on every second of your life. There shouldn’t be any other human that forces you into making a choice you do not want. I do not want to ever lower my eyes into submission. Every consequences of my life I face I want to to be completely because I decided it. I do not want to ever have that thought – “I should not have agreed to what they said.”
The choices can be anything. It can be how I dress, what I eat, when I choose to do something, how I choose to do it. This list goes on. I have seen a lot of documentaries where humans have experienced the treatment of being mere puppets. They were broken and shattered just for others fun. While I have never been subject to that kind of experience I think everyone experiences some degree of subjugation.
For example, I think most women even today have thoughts that limit them. When I want to wear a particular dress I should have the choice to wear it without having the thought of – “Will someone judge me?”. I should not be worried about how people perceive me. Neither should I be worried about – “Am I allowed to wear this?”.
Most people grow out of it and learn to stand up for themselves. The time that different people take to reach that level is different. I always encouraged and supported my friends to speak up for themselves. I am ashamed to admit it that when it came chance for me to speak up for myself… I failed. I had to take a lot of hits to my self esteem. It took every ounce of will power I had to break free. To this day, I struggle sometimes but I will never stop claiming my freedom.
Hope to all those with me, ahead of me and just starting in their journey to fight for their freedom. Its difficult but you will get there.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years? The standard question that was asked in all my interviews. I absolutely hate it!
I mean I could give a shocking answer like: “Who knows! Maybe in the afterlife!” but I never did give that. I gave the standard I hope to reach a management position. If only reality was that easy.
To be truthful, I have a good career now. I do not know if I will be able to continue in this career given that the world keeps changing around me. But one thing I do want to do is maybe be good enough to teach the next person the job. I want to make things easier for the next person in my shoes and hopefully end up with a career when doing that.
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Who has seen tomorrow, I have today and the only thing I have for tomorrow is hope.
I think the first and only time we went for a live performance was when I was 8 or 9 years old.
The memory I quite vague but it was a live performance of Pokémon. I don’t remember much of the actual performance but I have blurry memories of the characters. I remember seeing Ash and Pikachu, and oddly, I remember Team Rocket in the “sky”.
I remember sitting in the park, which had an amphitheater area, I remember buying popcorn, and a ring that had flashing lights. But the most distinct memory I have is of the Pikachu balloon that my mom bought for me. It was those helium inflated Pikachu shaped ones, and I was thoroughly fascinated by it. I carried it around the home with me for the rest of the week. Wherever I went, my Pikachu came with me.
But, watching another live performance once in my life is on my bucket list of things to do before I die. Hopefully, sooner than later!
When we are self focused we seldom realize that there are people in this world who have walked the same path. What seems so difficult to us right now someone has already overcome it.
My Parents It is very irritating when they start with the line “When we were young…”. However, whenever I am stuck in a decision my parents are my first source of advice. I may not always follow their advice but their perspective teaches me a different thought process than I could imagine. There are times when I choose not to trouble my parents and make my own decisions. My parents keep watching me closely making sure they are there next to me the instant I need them. They never want me to fall, but they want to be there every time I need support to get back up.
My Sister Some would find it odd why I chose to mention my sister separately. But she deserves the specific mention. She may not be very old to me but she has taken care of me at every stage. If it was up to her she would tie me up with a mattress and cushion so that nothing can harm me. “To harm her you need to cross over my dead body” – seems like a very cliché line in movies. My sister doesn’t need to say it, cause with her every action she shows it. She goes to the extent of saving me from myself. She doesn’t sugar coat her advice. If may not always like it but I know she says things out of love. I may not understand it an the very moment but eventually it all makes sense
My Mentors At different stages of my life I meet with different people who guide me. Whether it be in school, college or at work. Each and every one of them have taught me something new. The most astonishing part of the whole thing is that they do so with so much humility. They know so much but yet they come down to my level to help me understand things. I admire those who can impart knowledge with such impact.
My Friends I admire all my friends. I think I become friends with people because I am fascinated by their moral character. Some them are epitome of patience, some are so selfless, some of them are so self driven and motivated. All characteristics I seem to lack in. I turn to them for advice when sometimes I just want another perspective.
It depicts me the best. I often avoid conversations and reserve my opinions. In most conversations I was the youngest so even if I had an opinion it really didn’t matter. Probably one of the reasons that I celebrate getting older.
Though I learnt to restrict my words my face however is an open book. I think 90% of the the time my unamused face reveals my opinion on the matter.
It is my most frequently used emoji in my phone. It completely expresses how I feel with out using words.
It often starts with a news headline. If I see something in the news that I don’t understand I then go and try to search the net for more information.
I often get fascinated by things I don’t know and keep investigating it further. And in the off chance that I find someone who interested in the same topic I end up discussing the topic with them.
I love talking about new advancements in technology, changes in the market, new medical innovations.
On the other hand, on a non-newspaper influenced topic list stationary definitely tops the list. I love talking about new books, TV series, Cooking, Traveling.
If I were to summarize, the topic really does not matter. What matters is who I am having the conversation with. With my sister and very few close friends I can talk about any topic under the sun.
I love collecting stuff. Over my lifetime I have had various collections.
I used to collect tiny shells whenever we visited the beach. I used to collect flower petals and dry them out. I used to collect recipes that I hoped to make one day. I used to collect old tattered notes from different countries.
Though I have given up collecting almost all of the things that I used to in my childhood I do still collect items.
I have continued my collection of stationery. Over the years I think it has almost converted to a sort of addiction. I still collect coins and notes. My collection of recipes has changed to an electronic format. I still love collecting cute hair clips though some might not consider it age appropriate. My collection of accessories has been reduced, I chose to get rid of the chains and keep only the pendants.
I think I would always have the instinct to collect items when my interest sparks in it. And I also am aware that when time passes as my interest changes so will my collections.
Word Hues 