March 8th is International Women’s Day and on this day people world over celebrate the women in their lives, and those who have achieved truly amazing things in life. However, celebrating women shouldn’t be an annual thing – it should be an everyday thing. Women impact others on a daily basis as mothers, wives, sisters, daughters and friends.
I love the women in my life. They make me stronger, wiser and happier every day. Their existence means the world to me, and they are well aware of that. Still, I feel I can never tell them how much they mean to me and how much I love them enough. This is another small attempt on my part to show them my appreciation of all of them.
The woman who is most responsible for me being who I am today is my mother. Every good quality I have, my mother has instilled in me. My mother is a wonderful person, she is exceptionally good. Since childhood, my sisters and I have shared a beautiful relationship with her. She has always been a friend more than a mother. I can talk to my mother about anything in the world. No topic is off limits. And that is the beauty of my relationship with her. She has always been one of my closest and dearest confidantes, and will always be. And she is the best cook I know – no I’m not being biased, I’m just a really lucky foodie!
Going through my divorce, my mother has been the greatest source of support and sanity for me. She is there for me every day – every minute of every day. She is patient and understanding when I have my crazy moments. When my situation drives me to lashing out in anger, she acts as my anchor, trying to console and calm me in a way that no one else in the world can do.
My sisters. What can I say about those two? They drive me crazy at times, we fight, we get pissed off at each other, but there is no one we love in the world as much as each other. The best thing about us is that, as much as we might fight and even if we are annoyed at each other, if anyone does anything to hurt any of us, no one jumps to each other’s rescue as fiercely as we do for each other. All of us have completely different personalities, and that is why we share a very interesting and dynamic relationship.
My older sister is a beautiful soul. I don’t think I have ever told her this, but growing up I always felt I was living under her shadow. She is, and has always been, the beautiful one, the smart one, the confident one and the friendliest one. I am very biased when it comes to her, but she really is all this and more. Growing up she was always the one who was full of life, always had more friends than me and I always admired that about her. Even today, she is the most social one of us. She makes sure she stays in touch with everyone on a regular basis. One thing that always annoyed me about her (I feel I am praising her too much!) is that she does have the tendency to *borrow* things without telling you first. My older sister’s greatest quality, which I feel she underestimates about herself, is that she is a naturally wonderful artist. The amount of talent she has is incredible. I wish she would paint more since she is so good at it, I only wish I had half as much talent as her!
My younger sister. Now this one is a character! But I wouldn’t have her any other way… At times I suspect that that is somehow older than me – she sure loves to act that way! In all seriousness though, I know very few girls as sensible, intelligent, witty (she shares my father’s sense of humour), caring, loving and loyal as my baby sister. She is quite possibly the most important member of our household, and well aware of it. What I admire most about my baby sister is that she is very dedicated and determined. Years ago, just before my eldest paternal uncle passed away, he casually remarked to my sister that she should become a lawyer. She was around 8 years old then. But after he passed away a week later, she never forgot what he said to her. And I am so proud of her of fulfilling his wish; today she is a lawyer. That is my baby sister.
Apart from my two biological sisters, I have also been blessed with 4 more sisters. One who is a technically a cousin, but means so much more. Three started off as friends, and now are sisters who I cannot imagine existence without.
My Api is my kindred spirit. My maternal aunt’s daughter, she has been the person I have always looked up to and admired. I guess you can call her my role model. We share a love for the same kind of movies, Shahrukh Khan, books and Mr Darcy. She has always been a close confidante, I feel like I can talk to her about everything in the world. She serves as the voice of reason at times. At others, she is someone I can passionately discuss How I Met Your Mother and Once Upon A Time with. My most special moments with her are that whenever we visit each other, we easily stay up all night talking about God knows what. And every time we are together for a visit, we have a BBC’s Pride and Prejudice marathon. Something I can possibly only do with her multiple times!
Ada. She is my oldest best friend, not by age but by years. I know very few people as wonderful as her. She’s been through a lot in life, but it has never changed how beautiful she is on the inside. And that is her greatest quality in life. She doesn’t always realise how strong she is and how much of an inspiration she is to me and others in her life. She is a wonderful daughter, sister, mother and friend. She knows me in way that very few people do, and understands me in a way that even fewer do. And I like to think she feels the same way about me. I am proud to call her my own sister and I always pray that our friendship lasts not only as long as we do, but beyond that. Very few people are as lucky as me, to have a soul sister like her.
The one I love to call ZAMBO! This nickname annoys the crap out of my *adopted sister*, but there is very interesting history behind the name, so *No Zambo, I am never going to stop calling you that*. She is loud, completely crazy, has an incredibly scary potty sense of humour. But that just makes her who is she is. The best thing in our relationship is that we balance each other. She lets me be crazy when I need to be, I *try* to make her sane when she needs to be! Our friendship is truly unique. Only we get how we are best friends, confidantes and sisters. Our relationship looks crazy on the outside, because it is. But that is exactly why it’s so special.
Feef. Fa-mera. You know the saying that goes ‘a rose by any other name…..’? Well, this girl by any other name would still be just as fifalicious. I love her as my own sister and am especially proud of my friendship with her. She is the only best friend of mine where our friendship hit some major lows. But it not only survived those lows, but blossomed even more once we overcame those. And that is very rare in a friendship. I am glad we were able to weather those rough spots, Feef is the sort of friend that everyone need in their lives. She is full of life, upbeat, fiercely loyal and loving. She knows exactly how to pull me out of a bad mood, and I always strive to do the same for her.
I am blessed to have these women in my life. I truly would be lost without them. They are a source of strength, joy, love and inspiration every day. I only hope and pray that others can be as lucky as me to find such beautiful relationships in life. I love you all more than life itself, and every day is Women’s Day with all of you around!
Lipgloss And A Lit Nerd 