The mission is yet to be accomplished......

“Because I am a woman, I must make unusual efforts to succeed. If I fail, no one will say, "She doesn't have what it takes"; they will say, "Women don't have what it takes";”

-Clare Boothe Luce

“Nobody objects to a woman being a good writer or sculptor or geneticist if at the same time she manages to be a good wife, good mother, good looking, good tempered, well groomed and unaggressive.”

-Leslie McIntyre

“I've yet to be on a campus where most women weren't worrying about some aspect of combining marriage, children, and a career. I've yet to find one where many men were worrying about the same thing.”

-Gloria Steinem

As a woman, I try to set some goals in life which I earnestly wish to achieve in due course of time. One of the most important things I have learnt is to master the art of multitasking as beautifully as possible. Perhaps a woman needs to be more physically and mentally adroit than men and any intelligent man would be able to reason with it.

It’s hard to believe that that just a handful of disastrous experiences and some pleasant ones too, in the past three years have helped me to evolve into a woman and come out of the shell of naivety. Everyday, I endeavor to confront the challenges that keep coming my way and muster adequate courage to fight back and enough resilience to spring back to my normal self.

Perhaps the desire to be admired as a good (if not perfect) daughter, sister, friend, and colleague or as a wife or mother in near future drives me crazy sometimes. But in the process, it also encourages me to get rid of those thin streaks of selfishness, laziness or recklessness in me. Every human being craves to be appreciated, if not revered. I am no exception. In the process, I do realize that I am being taken for granted a zillion times, but who cares??? I do realize that I have made my life as mundane and tasteless as it could get because of countless daily errands and that I have made myself as unimportant as it could be, to me. As long as I give myself an opportunity to beam with pride every time my dear ones acknowledge me for the endless efforts I make to keep them happy, I am happy( though I know that very very rarely happens!!!!!).

These are some of the things which I, and for that matter every woman who has ever walked on the earth, would die to hear from their loved ones-

From my father: As a patriarch, my innermost fear is to imagine my family in dire straits when I am gone. But being around, you have always delivered an assurance to me.

From my mother: It takes inexplicable prowess, tenacity, resilience and a tender heart to be a woman. But, I must say, you have nearly perfected the art.

From my elder sister:

I have you as my sister. Evidently, I don’t seek a best friend.

One day, I wish to have a daughter like you.

From my younger sister:

You inspire me, personally and professionally…In every walk of life.

My elder sister is my buddy, my confidante, my mother.

P.S- Since I've completely forgotten how it feels to have the presence of a 'special' person in my life, it would take a while to ponder over what i would be expecting to hear from him!!