The lost me....

Who am I?
This question comes to my mind every day. But does it even matter? Even if I know the answer, life will still go on as usual.

(Voices coming from inside the house)... "Aloo... ohhh... aloo..."

To be honest, my name is Aditi—but no one seems to remember that anymore. Today, we're going out, and I'm really happy. But, as always, there's the same old problem: What should I wear? I find it so difficult to choose clothes.

But after talking to Amma, I finally decided that I’ll wear jeans and a top. We got ready to leave, and one special thing today was that despite the rainy season, the weather was completely clear.

When we were about to reach our destination, I told Amma in a slightly loud voice that someone was smoking nearby. But she told me not to speak so loudly and said, "One shouldn’t talk like that."

We went inside the mall, but I was confused about which shop to enter first. Then Appa suggested, "Go one by one to each shop and buy what you need."

Finally, I bought my stuff. But suddenly, something struck me as so funny that I burst out laughing loudly. Everyone around started staring at me strangely. Appa noticed this too and scolded me on the way back home, telling me not to laugh so loudly in public. As always, I quietly agreed without any questions.

But at that moment, a strange thought came to my mind—Am I really a member of this family? Because every time, someone is there to tell me what to do and what not to do...

Why do I have to think even before I laugh? About how loudly I should laugh, or whether I should even laugh at all? Is it because I’m a girl that so many boundaries are set for me?

Or am I someone else altogether...some unknown, forgotten person?

(The rest of the story…some other day. I’ll meet you soon with a new chapter full of fresh thoughts.)