To the Queen in you!

Recently, sitting at Starbucks, my go to place to soak into writing, my eyes stayed at the logo of the Starbucks long enough. Long enough to observe and think about the crown placed over the face of a lady.

The crown, I am blessed with one, why should I forget all about it? How could I forget all about it? What makes a girl feel ordinary or just one amongst the crowd?

Hmm… I have always been the queen, what makes a queen forget that she’s a queen? I wondered!

My thoughts flashed back to one of those evenings, that made me drop the crown I was blessed with the moment I was hurled onto this earth.

Well, I was walking with all the grace, feeling confident, feeling like a queen, by adding in all the extras over my face, the liner, the concealer, moisturizer, toner, a splash of glitter over my eyes and yes, that bold red lipstick. Whoa! I feel like a queen, I walked with poise.

Someone at random commented, ‘Hey, this makeup looks a little blah on you!’ Whoosh! The crown dropped off, feeling like a nobody. Tears trickled down as I deepened that ‘not so good enough’ tag. Why am I not the best? Why am I not that plush looking girl, with men gawking at her? Please note, I had been a teen back then.

While I experienced these terrible emotions, in no time, here came a lady, my mentor Megha Bajaj. She dressed up simply, with no makeup over her face, with no makeup, I mean quite literally none! She radiated confidence, an aura of genuineness, with nothing over her face she still looked like a queen to me. Lovingly, she simply said, ‘You do not need any of this to feel like a queen, you already are one, dear.’ Saying this, she swooped away.

Her assertiveness had some power, that made me move, I went to the nearest powder room and removed every layer over my face, splash – splash, no strain of makeup must remain, I told myself. With a clean towel I rubbed my face, looking at the mirror, I felt cleaner – better.

I loosened my hair, at peace and in love with the layers of my darkest brown hair dropping over my shoulder. This looks better, I said to myself. I felt confident, also feeling the crown over my head, I re-adjusted, smiled and walked off with grace.

As I walked past the lobby, I found the same girl who had commented about my makeup, now teary eyed. Apparently saying her friend that someone just remarked that this outfit makes her look plum! I empathised her, to my surprise, I saw myself walking up to her, the words seemed to come through me, ‘You are the queen! Don’t you forget that my girl. And more importantly only a queen can see a queen in you!’, I simply said that and walked away, not waiting for her to respond!

All those moments flashed by, that made me forget about who I truly am with such ease. And something profound struck me – only a queen who knows who she truly is within, can fix another queen’s crown! Only a queen who knows who she is within, will be truly happy and at ease with another queen’s joy and victory! Only a true queen can look straight into the eyes of another queen and make her realize her true worth.

To my queens reading this, do not wait for the world to fix you. At times, you may be surrounded by the ones who may not know their true worth yet. Know who you truly are – be that queen, be the change, lift yourself by yourself and help others fix their crown!

I saw at the Starbucks logo yet again and smiled, thrilled of all the emotions that surfaced.