Pretty, Once Again

She wakes up,

Wakes up with a tired mind.

She knew she has a load to carry

A heavy load on her heart and mind.

She gazed into the mirror and stood on a scale

The scale which now was her everything

She whispers a prayer before looking down

And frowns when the number seemed to have not come down.

Just like the bitter words of people

Which made her consider running away far from town.

She wipes her tears and walks out looking all fine.

She cooks and cleans and caters to her family’s every need.

At the table, she chooses the corner seat

And stares at a dollop of butter, hesitant to spread

Fearing it might render all her efforts futile and annoy the rest.

After waving goodbye to her beloved.

She steps out smartly dressed

And walks the corridors of her workplace

Knowing that at work she is indeed a star!

Just as the sarcastic stares and ugly smiles dishearten her

She chooses to ignore them like she always did.

She toils hard and makes a name for herself.

And after a hard day at work

She sets out to lift some weights

In the hopes of dropping some of her body weight.

Back at home, it is again the cold welcome

Saying nothing,

She finishes her chores

And disappears knowing she was always the invisible.

She sits all alone

With a glass of bitter juice, which she was dreading from noon

With a silent tear in her eyes.

She begins to wonder, what was lacking in her

That had made the people nag

She wondered why she was excluded.

Why wasn’t she called pretty?

Why wasn’t the man she loved attracted to her anymore?

Why were the people around her busy questioning her about her looks even before greeting her?

Why was she restricted from wearing sleeveless dresses?

Why had she always chosen the last row for pictures?

Why was black her favourite colour?

And salad her favourite food?

She began to wonder

Her role as an obedient daughter

Loving wife

Dutiful daughter-in-law

Successful career woman

Talented artist

Were all side-lined

Just because of this measly fat??

She knew she had tried

Tried everything under the sun

Diets, pills and exercise

Had not just worn her body out but also her mind.

She had held back all her cravings

And killed her hopes of flying

But for what??

She knew she could not continue hating herself

And stared blankly at the night sky.

And just then a twinkling star reminded her

She was born to shine and not to shy away.

She decided to begin afresh.

She sipped her drink

And wore some bling

She took out the hidden dress from the closet

And slipped it on her body

She let her hair loose

And smeared the brightest lip colour

She stood in those heels

And knew this time it was going to be real.

Looking at the mirror she realized she was more than just good-looking

She was beautiful in her thoughts, words and deeds

She was successful in every field

She decided to look ahead

And leave the hurtful comments behind.

She knew it was one step at a time

One step towards reducing her weight

One step towards removing the weight of hurt from her heart.

No longer could anyone hurt her

For she had made her mind up

A beautiful path for her she etched

She knew God was her friend and companion

The one who would accompany her in every battle.

She looked again in the mirror

And this time she knew she was pretty

Pretty in the way she looked

Pretty in the way she felt

Pretty, once again!