Whenever I hear Bryan Adams' song, ‘I want to be 18 till I die...' my memory flies back to the time when I wanted to be 18 at 18, not look one day older or younger. and when looks mattered very much. When looks were the only ones which mattered, without any warning, one fine morning, my pre-molar fell off and I rushed to the dentist in panic. After taking an X-ray he seriously said, "Lady, that was a milk tooth...!" Till his pronouncement, I was worried where my other teeth would follow suit. Totally relieved, I gave an account of the incident to my family members and they all said in chorus, "Yes, it must have been a milk tooth and the origin of your childish behaviour." I tried correcting them, "You mean innocent and child-like!" "No, childish! ", again a loud chorus. So, my efforts to look young and beautiful branded me 'childish'! Even so, my efforts continued. A few weeks later, I had gone to our orthopaedist for severe 'pain in the neck'. Taking an X-ray, he said, "your cervical curvature shows degeneration..." Degeneration?? The untimely climax to a glorious spurt of my youth? How can I have a milk tooth in my mouth and degenerated bones in my back? Spine-chilling!! The doctor advised me to wear a collar for some time. I was rearing to hold my head high with youthful beauty, and there I was, with a collar and a toothless grin to top it. I might not have a won a crown in a beauty pageant, but I was fitted with one, in that set of beautiful pearls, and my collar helped my head to stay on my shoulders. So passed my youthful adventure with beauty. Years rolled by, but the itch remained, and I got a great moral boost to my ego, when, at a party, a co-guest commented on my youthful appearance. In a totally exulted state, when I told this to my family, they said, {again in a chorus}, "do you know, when people comment on how young you look, that means they had guessed your real age and wanted you to keep the good work going, in 'trying to look young'...!" "Gosh...they are all as impossible as I am" I thought exasperatedly. Few days later, I overheard my two sons talking in their room, "we will definitely plan to go to Commercial Street on Saturday, but let us not plan with our little girl...yeah...she runs into every shop and takes so much time to decide...I can't forget that silly look on one shop keeper's face...last time..." Their grandmother intervened and said, "...that's because she doesn't know, she looks nice in anything...!" My ears begged for more of those honey-sweet words. "Hey little girl!", they greeted me and their faces were so joyful and sparkling...I felt young and beautiful, receiving that greeting from these young ones, after all, there is an age when a woman feels she has to be beautiful to be loved, and there comes an age when she has to be loved to feel beautiful...and lovearound me is just superb...and I felt really beautiful...for the first time...
Your beauty is seen in your writings Hello Ambika, That was a great one. I can imagine how much you would have enjoyed when your sons called you "little girl". Especially we feel extra beautiful when we hear nice words from our near and dear loved ones...isn't it? after all, there is an age when a woman feels she has to be beautiful to be loved, and there comes an age when she has to be loved to feel beautiful... I kept reading these lines so many times... Yeah, as I have titled the message, 'your beauty is seen in your writings' :clap . Thank you for such a wonderful good to read!
Thanks Rathi THANK YOU SO MUCH RATHI....YOU MADE ME FEEL GOOD ABOUT MYSELF AND ABOUT MY WRITINGS.... This forum with loving and responsive ladies like you is acting like one tonic to the writer in me.. Thanks again ambika
You Are a Beauty, Ambika! When I read this piece I thought that it would be like the hundreds of other insipid middles which I have read over the ages. Slowly when you became conscious of your beauty, and your family determined to put you down, that became an interesting piece of writing. But when you said these words, after all, there is an age when a woman feels she has to be beautiful to be loved, and there comes an age when she has to be loved to feel beautiful... you delivered a beautiful truth about love and beauty. This piece is poetry in the form of prose. Very Good work, Ambika. This should be made prescribed reading for all middle-aged women. Your beauty pours out through your writings and from your writings I can guess you are a real beauty! Keep up the good work sridhar
Thanks Hello Sridhar Thanks for liking my piece. If my writings can speak of my inner beauty, what ever little I have though, I should be grateful to 'Saraswathi' the divine muse. The highest reward for anybody's toil in any field "is not what they get for it, but what they become by it." .... I strive to become more humble to be able to deserve all the love.... Thanks for your kind words of deep appreciation ambika
inner and outer This article of hers doesn't need my mundane comments - I feel as though she's chatting with me! I know Ambika personally and I'd like to tell all those who have never met her that she is a beautiful person - both in looks and nature. With collar or without, with specs or without, in pain or not - even in difficult and trying situations she's always warm and welcoming. She's magnanimous, compassionate and has a throaty laughter. She's my confidante and ray of sunshine. Sharada
thanks Sharada... Dear Sharada A true friend is someone who knows all about you and loves you just the same- you have proved this saying to the last word. You know all about my minus and plus points, still you love me just the same. Let me reiterate, that our love is mutual and I take pride in our healthy friendship...which taught us frankness, understanding, patience, endurance and emotional interdependency.. Thank you....you are a present I have given to myself.... ambika
You seem to be getting younger and beautiful! Ambika, I am a newcomer here...but I happened to read few of your postings in snippets and good to read section. They are very interesting. The best I liked was this one - tryst with beauty - the way you brought out your eagerness in being said young and beautiful got me hooked to it. I can say though you are physically getting aged(read this and forget it immediately), you seem to be getting younger and beautiful in your thoughts(remember this forever). That's coming out in what you write. Cheers, Poojitha
thanks.. wow Poojitha..a very inspiring response. Thanks a lot for your kind words. Welcome to the site...hope to see your posts soon...you seem to have a way with words... thanks again ambika
Good piece of literary work! Hello Ambika, I am relatively a new member. I have been reading all your post here and enjoying them greatly. But this one on BEAUTYand LOVE and YOUTH, topped all! (for the moment of course)! That was one great peice of writing. Very jovial in the beginning and very inspiring when you concluded. and all the responses were equally spontaneous and appreciative. Keep on with MORE INSPIRING THOUGHTS for poor souls like us :thumbsup , this will keep us hooked on to INDUS LADIES to keep us going for the rest of the day ! thanks once again,
