I have lived half my life – I guess I can safely say that – and no matter what I do, I have always been ‘that fat girl’.

No matter what I do, I will always be ‘that fat girl’.

It is as if I have done nothing else in life.

This one label has shaped my life in innumerable ways. I doubt if I will be able to quantify how it has affected my life.

It is as if everything I have done in life is for naught. Because I am always weighed against only one parameter. And I am found wanting.

But….

But I am glad I have risen over it.

Like a Phoenix rising from its ashes, I have made my life bigger and better, and I have reinvented myself every time someone has tried to typecast me or attach some nasty stereotype against my name.

‘What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls a butterfly.’ – Richard Bach

I am so many things. And I am blessed because my family has never tried to limit me in what I do or want to do.

The #UseYourAnd Movement

 

When I heard of the #UseYourAnd campaign from Gillette Venus, it struck a chord. I felt it was made for me.

I remember the times people have expected me to conform to some silly benchmark.

Thanks to #UseYourAnd, I have the courage to unleash my inner spirit {Goddess}.

Today, I take a stand. I am much more than you think I am.

And here is what I have to say!

I am
A seagull, soaring high over blue skies, flying a bit farther every time And
An Engineer who fiddles with things, who could easily have been a doctor And
A MBA running the rat race, fighting hard to keep up the pace And
A back bencher who became a merit student And

I am

Crass, brash and some people think trash, Just because I say it like it is And
A techie and a published author And

I am

An entrepreneur who chose to live her passion And
A nomad, at home around loved ones And
A double post graduate working toward a doctorate And
A vegetarian who wasn’t raised to be one And

I am
The exception that proves your rule And
A bit Shy, dreading hitting Publish on this ‘Bare All’ post And
A rookie Yogini working on her Padmasana And
A vagabond, happy with starry skies and the endless road And

I am

A dreamer trying to unravel my subconscious will And
The friend who will never say goodbye And
An optimist with a closet full of dresses four sizes small And

I Am
Crazy enough to drop it all for the sake of love And
A romantic who believes her Don Quixote is still out there And
A hard working business woman who works from home And
Wise enough to not live for Facebook Likes And

I am

Old enough to recognize that Great Expectations are just that And
Young enough to expect spectacular things from life And

I am

Strong enough to accept failure And
An R2Ier trying to adjust to my surroundings And
A mutant who has evolved beyond my roots And
An oxymoron greater than the sum of my parts And

I am

Aphrodite the beautiful and Athena the wise And
A singer humming the song of life And
A pragmatist who is flexible so she doesn’t break And
A mermaid braving Poseidon’s ocean waves And

I am

Bold enough to challenge the norm And
Modest enough not to blow my own horn And
Erudite enough to be slightly superstitious And
Fickle enough to be a runaway bride And

I Am

Astute enough to know you are being nasty And
Stubborn enough to get my way And
Simple enough to giggle when I am tickled And
Humble enough to be awed by the mighty ocean
(no matter what Ayn Rand says) And
Secure enough to play the fool when I want to And

I Am

The lifelong friend you forgot you had And
A mother with many kinds of children And
A sister who will reinvent life any number of times And
A daughter who will never transcend those that gave her life And

I Am

A trapped soul seeking salvation And
A photographer capturing life vignettes
(not always with her lens) And
An innovator searching for the next life hack And

I Am

A scientist decoding that salty caramel And
A programmer wading through lines of code And
A web designer creating the next popular website And
A diva, holding stage in my ratty pajamas And

I Am

A wine snob who prefers a certain kind of Merlot And
A narcissist who finds her own writing witty And
An elephant who remembers all bouquets and brickbats (and loves alliteration)

And

I still lose myself in Enid Blyton books And
Stop to smell the roses, to ‘stand and stare’ And
I want all those garlands and crowns
Even if, especially if, my brow is wrinkled

And

I have a high IQ, but I give my heart without deliberations And
I love to cook, and talk about it, and it’s not beneath me And
I write books on food, technology, business and fiction And
I probably assume more responsibility because I am single

And

I will walk through fire if it’s the right thing to do And
I cry rivers when I hurt because I am human
(not just because I am a woman) And
I scale mountains to reach the summit And

I Am

A Twitter personality that follows you back And
A reviewer who gives honest opinions And
A film buff who lives for movie night And
An award winning food blogger, striving to be better And

I Am

A hamster running on the wheel of fortune and
A poet chasing rainbows in the dew drops And
A poor writer hoping to win the grand prize And
A queen of the ether, reigning supreme And
A knave supplicant against the elusive Almighty And

I am

The swan that was never an ugly duckling And
The sorceress stringing a company of men And
A beloved celebrity commanding a standing ovation And
Grateful that I loved and lost, and would do it all over again And

The rock you can lean on when you get a tough break And

I Am

Wanton as Bridget Jones And
Confused as Stephanie Plum And
Wily as Agatha Raisin And
Prejudiced as Liz Bennett And

I Am

Scarred as Lisbeth Salander And
Precocious as Hermione Granger And
Observant as Miss Marple And
Adventurous as Lara Croft

And Meddlesome as Emma And
Unconventional as Deeti And

I am

Proud of my heritage and tolerant of others And
An explorer stomping through a dark forest And
A lioness mighty as Aslan, if not mightier And
A large woman living a 2XL life!

I Am

A hundred things today and a thousand things tomorrow

And

I am 100% Woman!

I am 100% Woman!

I dedicate this blog post to every girl or woman who has ever been typecast or ridiculed because she did not fit a stereotype, or did not conform to someone’s definition of perfect. We are much greater than the sum of our parts. And together, we can motivate each other to reach new heights and shatter that glass ceiling.

Together, we can add another ‘And’.

Join me in taking a stand against one dimensional labels that limit your true potential. Let us all add more ‘AND’s against our name, and create a planet of formidable ANDs.

So let me ask you, what is your AND?

As you can imagine, it took considerable effort to write this blog post. I will really appreciate it if you leave a comment below.

This post is a part of #UseYourAnd activity at BlogAdda in association with Gillette Venus.