Acceptance

I have always found that discussions on the different meanings of the same word are very controversial, everyone has a different view on it. Today, I am going to be talking about my views on this very important word- Acceptance.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines Acceptance as – “the quality or state of being accepted or acceptable”. Not very helpful is it? 😊

However, to me Acceptance means a gift that humans have naturally received, a gift that allows them to accept their surroundings, whether good or bad, and adapt to them…

“The universe constantly requires us to accept something, because only then, can we be introduced to something newer and perhaps better for us” (I can’t believe I just thought up this line). This Pandemic and Lockdown situation, has made it all the more necessary for us, to accept a few things and adapt to them.

There are a lot of things that I myself have had to accept in the past few months. I have had to accept that my very last year in the school I have been in for the last five years, will be almost completely online. With the Covid 19 still on the status of “Full speed ahead!”, schools will probably have to wait a while to open up. With four valuable months of our last year, already gone while looking at one screen, even we have accepted the fact that this IS how it’s going to be for now. Even if schools do start, everything will not magically become normal again, and all we can do is accept it and move on.

We have had to accept the fact that there will mostly be no farewell for the 2005 batch of the tenth graders, we have had to accept the fact that seeing our friends again is a faraway thought, we have had to accept the fact that all those parties and get – togethers are not going to be happening for a while. But you know what? It’s ok, because we have adapted to it.

It is ok to struggle for something but at some particular point of time, we have to accept the truth. I would like to talk about my brother at this point, kids are said to be the most accepting people. They accept things really fast. My brother did crib over not being able to see his friend, or play football, or go to the play-areas in malls. But in less than a month, he accepted it, he told his best friend “ No, we can’t play together right now, the Coronavirus is still here and it is dangerous, we can’t play” What is surprising is that, it took me so long to accept it, to accept that this is how things are going to be for a while, but a seven year old boy took lesser time? By birth, we are very accepting, however it is our societal and mental blocks that stop us from accepting.

We can only thrive if we accept. Because when we accept, we also adapt to a new situation. It makes us stronger. It is what we all have accepted, what we all have adapted to, that has made us who we all are today, at least that is something we can all accept… Right? 😊

“The universe constantly requires us to accept something, because only then, can we be introduced to something newer and perhaps better for us” – Ananya Agroya

 PS- And, after a long time, this blog has a quote by Ananya Agroya 😊

MOM

(For mom, in celebration of her 41^st birthday… She doesn’t know I’m posting this 😉)

Mom: Ok Ananya, we need to finish 25 questions of Maths today…

Me: 25?!? I need to do two essays, homework, AND I have a class!!

Mom: Fine, 20 questions…

Me: 20?!?! Look at the size of these questions Mom!!

Mom: Well we can’t sit here and measure each question’s length, can we???

Me: Fine I’ll do ten questions

Mom: TEN?!!?

Me: FINE. Eleven is the final deal…

Mom: Fine. Anyways I knew you wouldn’t do 25, I was just setting the bar high so that you would at least do ten. *laughing*

This is just a short glimpse of what occurs every day… 😉

Mom… The manager of all the stuff I do, my teacher, my best-friend-who-loves-teenager-gossip-over-a-hot-cup-of-tea. You don’t need to tell her what you need or what’s going on, she’ll know before you even think of telling her.

Mom… You are the firecracker of my life…  And today on your 41^st birthday, I think its time that you are celebrated publicly 😉

Thank you for always standing beside me through thick and thin. Thank you for making me realize what is wrong and what is right. Thank you for bearing with all those endless tantrums. There are a lot of things I can thank you for Mom… There are a lot of things I appreciate you for, even if I don’t say it.

I’ll never get enough of your endless teasing, your almighty sneezes, and your “Please don’t invade in my personal magnetic field” whenever I hug you.

No matter how many hilariously stupid arguments we have, mom. I will always, always love you.

So, I hope that you absolutely enjoy this birthday, and bear with the taste of the cake that I have made you, because you know that I have absolutely no experience in the kitchen 😊…

HAVE FUN AT 41!!!

Back stage of my recent online play 🙂

Brother

I was six years old, and I still remember that very day, my friend had just got a baby sister and had not let me take the handles of her pram claiming that she is HIS sister so, only HE can hold the handles. I was very upset that day. I came home and told mom that I wanted a sister or brother so that, I could be the one to control his pram handles.

A year later, on Gandhi Jayanti, my own very leader was born, my brother, Avi. I remember that the first day I saw him, I had got two five- stars, both of which I had put on either side of his sleeping body saying that he could eat them. (I did end up eating them later, but it’s the thought that counts! 😉)

When he was three and could walk and talk on his own, he took up a major responsibility, a task that needed courage and bravery (at that time 😊). He was given the responsibility of feeding fruits to me. I detested pomegranate (still do), pears (still do), chikoo (still do) and papaya (still do!). But, if my mom wanted me to eat a fruit, all she had to do was hand the plate to Avi, who would then chase me through the whole house on his tip-toes (he would only walk on his tip-toes, weird I know). He would force me to sit on bed, and then tell me the benefits of eating fruits and would tell me to chew properly.(he still does this…)

When he was 5, I convinced him that I studied in Hogwarts, he believed me, and the next day, mom reported to me that she overheard a conversation between my brother and his friend, where my brother very proudly bragged that his sister goes to Hogwarts to learn magic. As much as he annoys me, I have to say, that’s cute…

Quite recently, I was sitting at my desk and solving a few Math sums. When suddenly, I heard a noise, a prolonged drilling sound… I brushed the noise away, thinking of it as, perhaps some mechanical work from our neighbors’ house. But… It wasn’t that. It was my “innocent” little brother, who was spinning on spot, and putting in his own sound effects. “What are you doing Avi!!” I asked him, and he said “I am getting Ironman powers Didi! Look! DRRRRRRRRRRRRRR”

This is how I can sum up this seven-year-old boy, who just can’t be quiet, who thinks he is Ironman (After watching Avengers), A Power Ranger (after watching The Power Rangers) and Ram (after watching the Ramayana).

You can never be bored around him, you don’t even need to say a word, all you need to do is have a strong and patient hearing sense, because believe me, he can drone on and on for hours.

Avi knows that he is seven, but never wants to admit to the fact that he is younger than me. Sometimes he would tell me “Didi, you’re so lucky, you’re going to get a car before me! It’s just not fair!!”. My 13th birthday card holds evidence, that he will NEVER publicly admit to the fact that he is the younger kid. As he very proudly writes in it- “Didi when you will be 14, I will be 15 and then I will be bigger than you.” (Please ignore his English, this was his six- year old self 😊)

During these years, as he kept growing up, he found more friends play with, more things to give time to. His bubbly self does not always revolve around me anymore. But, if he sees me doing something other than studying for ONE minute, he would immediately burst “DIDI!! You are wasting your free-time. LET’S PLAY!!!!” And then I will have to engage myself in a two- minute hide-and-seek game with him… He will always cut all our cakes … He will always look up to me and my friends… He will always be my “little-brother-who-is-way-more-organized-than-I-will ever be”. But I will always love him (lol, he absolutely hates the word ‘love’… sorry brother 😉).