HAPPY REALIZATION

Fashion ,the  multimillion dollar business that has only grown to bigger numbers and might over the years, even through the so called ‘recession’!, like they say is an illusion. An illusion that has so many ‘real’ lives and struggles camouflaged into glitters.

I carried dreams of gold on my shoulder as I walked into the ultimate destination for any kid aspiring to be ‘in fashion’. Though it was not planned, I somehow knew I wanted to be there and do it, all I knew was that I was passionate, loved colours and good things happens to good people.

It did not come as a surprise or to anyone who knew me or the ‘world of fashion’ well that I was a misfit in the whole scenario. I was outdated, did not own a Gucci bag or 100 shades of lipstick or eye shadow matching every dress, I did not have a mother who attended kitty parties ,I did not have a toned physique and I ate like a pig, hogged on anything and everything that made me happy without keeping track of calorie count. I had no clue of the difference between Manish Malhotra or Arora.I could only look at those ‘beautiful’ creations called the bunch of ‘rich kids’ and admire them. Now when I look back at that phase in my life I realize that though I envied all the glamour, I never longed to be one of them. I loved myself the way I was, and I knew I would put it off one day with the grace that no richness in the world can afford. Hence, I decided to gang up with the other outcasts, the normal human beings, who felt the same way as I did, out of place and suffocated, but never small in terms of self respect.

I met some people with amazing conviction and will power in my four year long journey through the bumpy terrain in the world of fashion. Looking at their perseverance gave me enormous strength to hang on, take a deep breath, tell yourself it is ok ,and move ahead. The easiest thing to do would have been to fake it and try to fit in. The toughest thing being to accept all the crap that you were being subjected to and still not care and just be yourself. As i wore the convocation robe and collected the million dollar certificate, I gave a silent HI5 in my head to all those who chose the latter. I wanted to shout it out to them ...’yes!  We made it, without head help high up and we did not make it any small’.

I took me a while to realize that the bunch of ‘real people’ who were constantly struggling to be real in the fake world of show off has gradually become my family. Though I was excited about entering the big new world (apparently real), and being on my own missed everything that kept me up, awake, alert and on my toes. I missed the tiger that roared inside me all the time.

Now, as i complete a year in the ‘real world’, I earn just enough to survive and live each day with a new dream in my eyes, on my own conditions, in my own way, while my friends earn to live their dream life .I thank all the odd things that came my way and all the awesome people I met a year ago ,that  gives me the strength to  stand with my head help high up still and have the guts to tell myself ’better things are yet to happen’.