It is International woman’s day and I have joined hands with wonderful ladies to celebrate womanhood. I am sure you will be amazed to read different takes on feminism and will be filled with laughing tears in your eyes

If at all I could send a letter to a former version of myself, It would have been like this!

Dear Younger Self,

I know that You are doing good, worried all the time and dreaming about future, it’s neither going to look like what you have planned nor like how you have dreamed. Just stop worrying and start living in present. Things are different now, it’s a long time.

Be what you want to be, be responsible for your own actions and take your own decisions, be it of your present or your future. There’s no point in being worried about what others think of you. Don’t bother having any inhibitions because hindering yourself will only prevent your ability to breathe. Believe yourself, Love yourself, Live life as you want to, don’t give a damn about the bulshit all around, don’t feel degraded, you smarter than you think.

Be confident, you are in the right direction, don’t worry about the destination and keep on moving ahead by following your own instincts and interests. You, in future, will be happy, each and every family member will always be with you and support you in all the decisions you take.

Make a few “friends for life”, I know that you are kind enough to have a huge circle of friends and try to help them as much as you can. You are going to be betrayed quite a few times so, just be warned and prepared for the same. These will be lessons from life and you will be left with a few Gems as true friends who are very close to your heart and genuinely care for you, your real well-wishers.

Stop pretending you’re something that you’re not. Stop wasting time on things that don’t matter to you. Stop being afraid of the truth. Stop being afraid of the unknown and what you cannot control. Stop letting others use you. Live your life as you want to.

You are not as fat as think you are or as much as people make you feel so, everybody is different, you don’t have to be guilty for what you are or about your own body. Be proud of your looks and carry yourself confidently. Care about yourself the way you want others to care about you. Exercise regularly to be fit and not to be thin, eat healthy and live healthy.

My heart goes heavy writing this, it’s not only you, it was not your fault, you will get too many “metoo” hashtags in future saying out loud on social networking sites, it was not their fault either. You have to be strong, stand for yourself, stand for them, make noise, don’t hshhh, shout out, This will make the world a better place to live and without a “metoo” for younger generations.

Relax, Don’t always be in a hurry, take a deep breath, have that cup of coffee when it’s hot and enjoy, much needed. You won’t be able to drink your favorite coffee or tea at the right temperature or as you always like it to be. It’s called motherhood, you will be just gulping the drinks and food as you will have to be there 24/7 for your kids. So just enjoy me time for now.

Read as many books you can, they are a wonderful companion for life. You will love to read more books but, You won’t get time to read them in future. A page will be torn from a book, whenever you take them out, You cant stop monkey activities of kids, they are supposed to be like this, exploring everything in their own way.

Get ample amount of sleep until the time you can, you won’t be able to sleep through the night for years later, starting from pregnancy, due to heartburn or nausea. Staying up all night to feed the baby every hour even at night, due to sleep regression, due to separation anxiety, too many reasons to not let you sleep.

Cheers, Your older self