My journey of before and after…

When I was a kid.. I had heard my parents asking a relative about home remedy for changing skin colour, because I am wheatish.

As a kid was never bothered about the colour of my skin, but as I was growing up, was always compared with cousin whose skin shade was lighter than mine. My aunty was very proud of her daughter, because she has a light skin tone, so she is pretty.. it did hurt my Mom.. and so I did bad. The statements by relatives were made in way that made me inferior. I had this thought in my head that am not beautiful because my skin tone is not light and fair and nothing will suit me. So for me my lifestyle was very simple. I use to get lot of compliments on my hair, that made me very happy and felt that am atleast blessed to have great hair. As young adults, when we have events to attend Jainee would tell me that she will do makeup for me, but I would ignore that and tell her that makeup does not suit me. Such was my bias towards myself. Friends did try to change my thought process but I was reluctant…
Somewhere I thought my marriage didn’t work coz I was not beautiful.

I work with an MNC.. so am surrounded by people who are mother’s, independent woman, Young girls, matured men.. all with different backgrounds and different perspectives. This changed a lot for me, the interactions with people from various backgrounds gave me a new perspective to things and life.

When I was going through tough phase of my life, I had my school friends who stood beside me like a great wall of China. Shruti my best friend, she is one of my inspiration. She is so full of life and positivity. She insisted me to get a haircut and change my look.  “You will feel better”, she said. But I was reluctant, she did not leave at that, managed to convince me and took me to a salon… my long hair, was no more. And I got a compliment, you look pretty, it actually made me feel happy. My learning from her “I am more than my long great hair”
Monica – my office friend, is 40 and has two kids. She used to tell me to use makeup atleast when u come to work and as usual my reply would be “It doesn’t suit my skin colour and I will not look pretty even if I use makeup”. She didn’t give up on me, she kept on guiding me on what products to use n how to use. For office events, she would force me to use lipstick. My learning from her “I am more than my skin colour”

My friends Sarika & Vinita, told me every woman is beautiful .. it’s just that she has to believe in herself.. understand her needs .. beauty is not always about make up, thoughts play an important role too… One has to accept their body. My mantra of changing myself, Compliment yourself daily looking at mirror.. like Kareena says in jab we met .. mein apni favourite hoon… Wear your smile everyday.. love yourself .. My learning from them “I am more than my body”

Jainee helped me understand my body shape and frame. What clothes to wear and look elegant. She changed my wardrobe, how to use accessories.. Accessories have become an important part of my wardrobe.  Thank u Jainee for changing my outlook towards styles. My learning from her “I am more than fashion”

Friends have played an important role in my life.. though I was very simple.. they never left me alone.. rather they groomed me .

Another school friend Priyanka and me, have been shopping together . She taught me that woman look beautiful in any attire if they carry it well, whether its a saree or dress. My learning from her “I am more than my clothes”

You look smart, elegant… These compliments  started coming from people around me and it made me happy and smile more . In a way it boosted my confidence and it all showed up on my face.

Women should love every bit about herself. I keep hearing  from woman that they have to bear everything. I think God  has empowered us to give birth to new life. People say difficult situations give a negative impact to the life… but for me it worked positively.. and I am blessed that I have good friends and family who have been my support all through.

I want to end this note with something that I have practiced in my journey of transformation “Be the change, don’t wait for it “