Rediscovering Zara!

It so happened that a professor started showing a video called the “class of rowdies” to his class. In that class full of rowdies, was this quiet little girl, Zara. Mind you, quiet; but brilliant. She was bullied by everyone for being such a zombie in school who always sat alone. Fidgeting with herself and always aloof. Then there came this new teacher one day,who on her first day was just as dumbfounded as anyone else who came to that class. No discipline, no respect for teacher or anybody. A hopeless case. But the teacher didn’t give up just yet. She came up with an awesome plan! The next day onwards, she asked the students to come and talk or explain about any topic which interested them and within weeks, were showing amazing results! All the students turned out to have brilliant minds which were finally being channelized in the right direction. In the meanwhile, the teacher also got to know of Zara’s hidden talent, of writing poems! Now the day arrived when it was only her who had not spoken up. And the entire class which was so used to bullying her, were finally cheering for her and encouraging her to come forward and speak. Mustering all her courage, Zara walked to the centre of the class and poured her heart out, for the first time, with the classroom resonating with applauds for her.
While all this was happening in a reel classroom, somewhere, sitting in a corner of the real classroom, were a pair of eyes with tears in them as they saw the beautiful video. Someone who could see a little bit of herself in Zara. As the lights turned out, quickly wiping out her tears so that no one could see her, she went on with the day. And then the next. And the next.
But that story somehow got under her skin and made her wonder, although she was not exactly like Zara, she was this young introvert girl who had so much to offer to the world but thought that others were better, superior to her. She knew she was good at what she did. But she lacked self-belief. Now you may say that it was probably because people never really appreciated her, encouraged her to be her own person. Cause sometimes it’s good to hear from someone else what we already know inside our heart. Well that certainly was not the case. Friends, family never doubted her. If there ever was one person who doubted her, it was herself. Someone told her one day that she needs to stop judging herself so much. And life will be easy. Again, not something she didn’t already know. She’s been trying for years now, to grow out of it. To speak her mind always, talk to people and she is progressing but it’s still a long way to go!
Don’t you think that there is a small Zara inside all of us? Some are just great at keeping her at bay and be their best selves. To all those Zara’s out there, I want to say just one thing : life is beautiful and it’s better to live it before it leaves us. The first step is loving yourself and accepting the fact that you are YOU and you are just as good as anyone else. And showcase to the world what you’ve got, cause only then will they know! Only then will they understand. Only then will they believe.
But first, you’ve got to believe in your own self. And do what you love. Love what you do.
Today that girl has embarked on her journey and you all know her by the name #exploringmyhorizons 😉