The New You

We step into this world simply as a skeleton of bones covered with flesh; completely unaware of who we are and what we want to be. Our cries create a musical parody in the entire environment that surrounds us and people close to us start dreaming of what would we become on growing up. Most of us either follow the path defined by our family members or as per gender stereotypes set by society. The route to self-discovery gets blocked somewhere.

I, being the first child of the family; was seen differently by each member of the family. Everybody used to see me; the way they wanted me to be. I was somebody's latent dream and another's a future aspiration. Everybody was busy in molding this clay according to them. I was a doctor for one and an artist for another. Every moment of mine was being captured in frames. I got tagged as a 'software engineer' on pressing a key button on the computer by some and got labeled as a 'lawyer' on throwing strong arguments by the other. Being the limelight of the family, there was absolutely no area that could remain unexplored by me.

  Throughout our journey of life, we come across many individuals who leave an ever-lasting influence on our lives and their life's journey inspires us in some way or the other to become a better version of ourselves. Blessed with a strong and dynamic lady as my mother, she was my first role-model in life without a doubt. All I used to see myself as was a carbon copy of her on growing up. That was all that I knew about life and about being a woman as a child. I used to admire her daily routine and used to imagine that I'll also acquire this schedule on growing up. Life was as simple and as straight as that. But, the good gracious had some different plans for me.

   Being a bright child at the academic front, a spark of my parents' eyes, and an admiration for my sibling, I was exposed to almost every field for encouragement, self-belief, and self-discovery that kept adding onto my confidence in life. After my mother, the first person who ever inspired me in life was 'MYSELF'.Every achievement acted as an inspiration for the next. Where on one hand, fetching higher grades in academics inspired me to work harder for the next academic session; performing well in extra-curricular inspired me to explore my hidden talents on the other. Throughout my childhood, reading about many great and eminent personalities like Kiran Bedi, Kalpana Chawla, etc. to name a few, kept transforming me into a better version of myself.

  Praises, applause, and recognition of one's performance and work also act as a source of inspiration in one's life. On being acknowledged for my work and performance in various fields, inspired me to take a deeper dive into each one of them. Successful practices of various doctors and lawyers, always made me dream to be one of them in the times to follow. Undaunted confidence of my father as an orator inspired me towards public speaking and poetry recitation. Fighter spirit of my younger brother; even on getting diabetic at the age of 10 has always inspired me to face every hardship of life with greater strength and zeal than before and making most of my potential.

  Media has a significant influence on a shaping mind and a growing personality. Admiring the lives of women in T.V. programs like Shanti, Aurat, Shaktimaan, Office Office, Adalat, etc., pushed me towards seeing myself as a journalist, a lawyer, a doctor, a writer, a manager, a social activist and much more. Programs like 'Aap ki Adalat', 'Bournvita Quiz Contest' etc. inspired me towards anchoring.

  

Sometimes, random incidences in your life also let you discover 'The New You' or 'The Hidden You'.On being made to acquire an 'M.S. Office and M.S.Paint certification' by my mother at a younger age, inspired me more towards computers and software. Random selections at school as a member of 'Eco Club' and on being assigned various roles and duties during house functions, teacher's day, annual day, etc. during school let me explore my various abilities minutely. Acknowledgment of my poetry by my 'Hindi teacher' and essays by my 'English teacher'; selection for extempores and debates inspired me more towards reading and writing.

  Good books, movies, and success stories also play a pivotal role in inspiring us.' You Can Win' by 'Shiv Khera','Oliver Twist' and 'Othello' by Charles Dickens, 'Malgudi Days' by R.K.Narayan, etc. and then, movies like Taare Zameen Par,3 Idiots, M.S.Dhoni, T.V.Series like Small Wonder, etc. were casting some image or the other on my personality. Where life, on one hand, was in a paradise of Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White, Goldilocks, etc., Akbar-Birbal and tales of Panchatantra and Jatka were leaving their impact for strengthening the virtues on the other. Where freedom fighters like Bhagat Singh were causing an influence on one hand, principles of 'Gautam Buddha' were inspiring on the other.

 Where mother's geometrical lines were giving rise to a budding architect in me; father's advises on color combinations and decorations, were encouraging a dormant interior designer within me. My mother's love for Mathematics, Chemistry etc.and various competitions amongst the siblings for mathematics, science, general awareness, etc. were sometimes taking me into an imaginative journey of space and sometimes leaving me seeing myself making construction plans for bridges. I was at the operation theater on one day and developing a new software on the second. My performances were soaring the sky and imaginations were taking a trip of the moon.

 This was me; a doctor, a lawyer, a space scientist, a writer, a social activist, an artist, an engineer, an architect, etc. till my VIth standard. A girl, inspired by herself and her own role model doing everything in order to impress her own self and her parents; doing things for family's harmony and her own happiness; making attempts to bring a smile on her loved ones' faces when life took a drastic turn. Love for the subject and things took the shape of competition on getting acquainted with a person made to sit with me in grade VI. Having an unknowing liking towards him, inspired me more to perform better than him at every front especially with subjects like Mathematics, Physics, etc. Following my mother's example as a lady, I always wanted to portray myself as an all-rounder and better than boys in every field in front of him. I wanted to be an engineer when he wanted to be one and a doctor when he used to praise me. I wanted to be an artist when he had no sense of art and wanted to be a teacher when I used to explain concepts to many like him. Competing with him at mathematical and physics concepts and numerical kept me motivated towards various entrance exams to follow. Having always admired a lady like my mother who could manage work and home so well, I always stayed inspired to bring small joys in the family by experimenting with my artistic and creative skills at cooking. Where cooking was just occasionally done by me during childhood, only in order to bring some environment of joy in the family, it became one of my hobbies after getting engaged to this guy that let me discover 'The New Me'.My parents always used to say that I never do anything at just an ordinary level. There has always been a quest for perfection in every work, giving all the time and effort to it even if it is something as small as writing an essay or a story. Where joy was only restricted to solving one book after the other while sitting on a table and a chair, learning cooking for getting married to this person made me experiment my hand on various dishes and discover a new skill and talent within me. This way, my admiration for my mother's home-cooked delicious food, my brother's love for my food experiments, my father's compliments on dishes cooked by me, and my fiancee's love for food made me discover 'The New Me'.The girl who would do anything in this world to avoid kitchen started taking pleasure in cooking different recipes on special occasions and also trying her hand at baking. My mother's cookery skills and post-retirement hardcore engagement with the kitchen also inspired me towards different varieties of dishes. From being Bill Gates, Sundar Pichhai, Kalpana Chawla, etc., I found a 'New Me' as a balanced person in life deriving pleasure in seeing the smiles that she's bringing to many faces with her transformation; 'Her Newself'.Today, I see myself as a fine cook too along with the other abilities that I possess as a daughter, as a wife, as a mother, as an individual, as a professional, and more importantly; as a significant member of my society. I would not say that it's a 'New Me' as I possessed all these skills right from my childhood but yes, definitely; a more refined version of me who is still on the path of self-discovery and self-improvement with each passing day. I hope 'The New Me' inspires 'The New You' in many of you.