she looked at herself. Her face was burnt. She had gone blind in one eye. The other eye could see all the chaos around her. She stood in front of the mirror…
Her one good eye had the look of anguish. The conflict had begun. The conflict between her soft, innocent inner voice and the outer voice, that is, the society, had indeed begun.
“Don’t go out!”, they said. “First change your appearance then, and only then can you step out!” the voice of society commanded. “Don’t be ashamed you are the most beautiful girl!” her inner voice said. “Look at yourself! So fat and ugly. You are so dark and short…ewww!!! We are not going to accept you.” the outer voice screamed.
“You have the most precious qualities. You have a good heart. Forget the past and live your present. ” her inner voice explained. “Don’t you remember that incident? You stepped into the street without covering your ugly face. Have you forgotten how we insulted you? You are not a normal human!!!” the outer voice shouted.
“You have survived something which is very difficult for one to survive. You are the most courageous girl. There’s no need to hide the reality.” the inner voice stated.
The conflict finally came to an end. She got up, wiped off her tears and said, “Yes!! I am the ugliest and the prettiest! I am not a normal human, sure, but I am also the rarest and unique. I am not a culprit. I will not allow society to hold me responsible for whatever happened to me in the past. Nobody has the right to hold me back from doing the things which I want. I am a girl with the rarest face. Yes!! I am an acid attack survivor.”
She took a deep breath and dressed herself the way she wanted and began her new journey of life. She went out into the world, motivated the youth and filled them with courage. The society, as usual, hurled the worst comments her way but she moved on. As she started gaining courage, society also began accepting and recognizing her for who she was.
Finally, she had won the battle. The constant battle between surviving and living, the battle for acceptance and self-respect, and between life & death.
A student with an innocent soul and a poetic heart. She brings her own songs of life to dance. A vivid introvert who speaks through her writings and wishes to enlighten the dark souls and infuse a smile on every face. A constant one, yet ever-changing.