Ready…CHEEEEEEEESE

“I am done for the day”. In my teens, I would get annoyed after such experiences. But today I smiled and came back to write it down. To share with the wider community how little things matter. I just crossed the 25-year mark and my parents have started thinking seriously about getting me a new surname and I guess I am on my way to be Mrs. In India we have a Tinder for parents, Matrimony websites. I took my father to the dentist and my uncle showed up at the clinic. He started asking my father about registering in Matrimony websites and in 10 minutes I was on my way to the studio for clicking my Matrimony special single photos.

Now the location is inside a big photo studio and a photographer aged about 50. I realized he is a veteran in the field from his demeanor and the splendid studio set up in the middle of the town. The last-minute change of plans and waking up late gave me hardly 10 minutes to dress up for a dentist appointment and leave home so the only make up I had was the kajal smudge in my eyes.

Uncle waited outside and the photographer and I were in the studio room. “Stand straight... Chin up..tilt left..eyes on the camera..” Flash...He looks at the capture on the camera screen. Not matrimony worthy I guess. “Dear..you can bring your chin down..tilt right…you might not smile that big..now your arms…let’s go for fig leaf…” Too many instructions and I felt like playing statues. “Your photos should look feminine, you know, it should project loyalty and submissiveness“. I couldn’t hold my laugh at actually living that moment. I wasn’t upset at him because I realized he just projected what a majority thinks. The photo clicked at that moment looked the best because I was laughing at this. He was focused on clicking the best feminine looks of mine so didn’t actually bother about what I was laughing at.

I am just asking a few questions to myself and anybody who comes across this write-up. Why is everything categorized blue and pink? Why do we assume our little girl would love a pink doll and not a red car? When we find a not so experienced driver on our car’s tail why do we assume it would be a lady? Why does any woman who talks about promotion looks greedy and opportunist while a guy who does the same is portrayed focused and ambitious? I am also a partner in crime. My cousin brother coming home late was not something I worried about but when my sister tagged along so late I was concerned. I am not questioning the society but myself. Was I just worried about her safety? Or was I worried about the specific moral guidelines a woman is supposed to follow? It is just me that I am worried about. What am I learning unknowingly and what am I becoming? It is the LITTLE THINGS. Hold on a second. Let me ask my little Nora what does her aunt need to get her on her birthday.