The Love Letter

This has to be the most poignant love letter I've received till date and thought I'd share it.

Sweetheart,

You are the most wonderful person I've met. I know you get defensive whenever someone compliments you but I also know that you secretly enjoy it. So I'm not going to hold back anything I feel.

You are so committed to your work, you're doing a PhD. You love to teach, to help. You want to serve people. You're so patriotic. You're multi-faceted, you cook, you dance, you compere, you write, you play the keyboard and you do all of them so diligently. I've never seen anyone else so persistent in their goals nor so dedicated.

That's what I love about you. It's not that I'm impressed only when you praise me or converse with me, your existence itself is an inspiration to me. Your attitude pushes me further, to better myself.

As a person, you're loyal, humble and just. You never put any of your friends down and you could have 1001 meetings, you'll somehow manage to help people. You make my conscience sharper.

I love the way you look at people in the eye and speak. What beautiful eyes, just like a doe with those curly eyelashes. You make me feel confident.

And you never get angry, how do you not get angry. Sure, things upset you, irritate you, but you never get angry. You do get rude sometimes when you're cornered, but anger doesn't engulf you and I've never heard you shout. You make me check my temper.

Passion is what drives you. It is the core of your existence. The heat from it is so palpable, that it ignites the hearts of its neighbours as well.

But I am not like you. Though you enrich my life and make it so much better, I get angry. I get angry when you feel sad with the same intensity as your passion. I get angry that you let people take you for granted. I feel angry you put yourself for the last. I feel angry when you don't stand up for yourself.

I know you would just want me to let it go. I know you'd say that this is just your karma.

No one as beautiful as you should suffer so much. Pain is inevitable, suffering is not. Love heals all wounds. Why do you not allow our honeyed rays of love soothe the rough sores on your heart?

Oh you're not perfect, you know I've to be honest. You have a tough exterior and a super soft personality ensconced inside. It misleads people. You are extremely absent minded, and no it is not a compliment. While you are brilliant in academics, you are clueless about things everybody know.

That is also so lovable though. You exist in dichotomies, suspended between euphoric happiness and abject misery, sparkling brilliance and absolute stupidity.

Never forget I'm always there for you, a cushion for your fall, a shoulder for your tears, a ear for your fears and a pillow for your dreams. My greatest happiness lies in you soaring above the clouds with your famous Mona Lisa smile.

I love you, just how you are.

With Love,
Your Soul

No matter whether someone is in a relationship or is single, self-love is so important. I thought this was a quirky way to explore that where I wrote a love letter to myself.

This was written as a part of "Write a love letter campaign by Chennai Bloggers Club"

The Invisible Gender

This post is dedicated to people who identify themselves with the third gender. In India, transgenders have often been regarded holy. However, that has not protected them from discrimination at work or even inclusion in our society. While discrimination is a fundamental problem in India along the lines of gender, economy, caste and religion, we interact with all these sections of society. We're friends with people from different religions and economies but how many of us have ever had the opportunity to talk normally with a transgender?

In my experience, I've awkwardly thrust money into their hands at traffic lights, intimidated and afraid.

In this gloomy scenario, I was pleased to find that the Bharatanatyam teacher at my college is a transgender. She was fresh and amazing. She was very passionate about the dance form and had trained rigorously for years.

There wasn't an iota of awkwardness. All my initial inhibitions had just melted. I felt proud of my institution for not discriminating against her.

It opened up a platform for discussion on this pressing issue and gave hope for the winds of change. Everybody has a bit of femininity and masculinity in them. Biologically, we have both hormones - testosterone and estrogen. Some of us like to express ourselves in different ways. While the society today doesn't bat an eyelid at a woman who dons a suit, it looks down upon men who outwardly exhibit feminine characteristics. I think there is a subtext here which implies manliness is more superior, but that is just my view. After doing some cursory Wikipedia based research, I was happy to see that Tamil Nadu had a lot of schemes for the improvement of their welfare.

I think things are looking better. Recently, I saw a band perform which comprised completely of transgenders. I envision a day in the future when a man can wear feminine clothes and receive the same supreme unconcern as a woman in masculine clothes.