A small town girl's journey: From nothing to something #PART_1

The story begins with a girl who just took birth in a small town in north India and the challenges started right away from her birth. Starting from the acceptance of a girl child in a joint north Indian family with no desire for a boy child next is a surreal circumstance. Thereafter, expecting equal treatment, liberty, and freedom for a girl and boy is close to impossible. As people say, girls mature faster than boys, is conclusive enough to understand that observing indifferent behavior throughout her life can shape a girl's mind very differently from a boy's. Mostly ignoring this fact raises the baseline of the incidents for a girl being vocal about things.

Considering these conditions implemented by default, growing up a girl needs the love and affection from both parents to understand the fulfillment of a mother and father figure. The lack of any of the counterparts can create a gap in the child's mind in a different way. A girl child ignored by her elder ones loses her confidence to speak up and share what she feels. With all this family burden, a school can be a heavenly place for a girl to learn from teachers, her friends, etc.

All the hurdles can be commonly seen and observed in a normal household. But, my childhood was significantly different from what I described here. I was the girl loved by my parents, teachers, and siblings who only knew to compete with the boys and the girls of the school in study or otherwise. A girl always appreciated by teachers for her melodious voice and humble nature, elected as a minister in the 4th class. Despite all this, there was an inherent fear of leadership, a doubt that leadership isn't something I think I am good at. Now, if I think back I know that this was something I could never improve or that this ability comes inherently, can't be developed but can be imposed. Always participating in competitions and winning them could not bring that leadership quality or the immense confidence to let go of the inhibition of thoughts I had. Co-education till fifth, confident enough to fight a boy, put my point forward, not underestimating myself from any boy, and then transferred to the girls-only school and what happens there I will continue in the next blog.....