A 5-year-old Matilda made my 7-year-old self fall in love with paper, print and the stories that lay within them. She told me that with all the books in the world, I could never be alone. I often wonder what she would've grown up to become, part of me wants the oblivion, Matilda growing up is too heartbreaking. I've frozen my childhood in hers.
Elizabeth Bennet taught me the art of loving and reading people. Lizzy stole hearts, Mr Darcy's and of readers across the globe and became the favorite one I looked up to, in times of ordeal.
Talking about favourites, if Harry was the boy who lived, Hermione Granger was the reason he continued to do so. She taught me that it was alright to be bossy and overly cautious as long as it was for the greater good of the people around, and yeah, Hogwarts over life! (any day) Jo March told me that it was okay if I couldn't stand the thought of coloured nails or fancy hair. Instead, she made me give birth to art and remain headstrong, loving and rebellious.
Not all heroes start off by winning hearts. Some start off by being called a harami, over and over again. Mariam has an irreplaceable portion of my heart. Her subtle, yet beautiful acts of love and kindness leave me wondering if shadows radiate sunshine.
I would by lying if I told you that I don't tear up every time I reach the part with her ultimate sacrifice for stranger-turned-daughter, Laila.
Katniss Everdeen made me stand up for my loved ones, Scarlett O'Hara persuaded me to focus on survival in trying times, Anne Frank's diary is kept under my pillow after a melancholic day. These women have moulded me, not in blood and flesh, but in the ink and ochre of paper that smells of vacations and road trips.
And one day, when I'm old enough, I will hand them over to my daughter.
I'll tell her, that with a book in hand she'd never be alone, that she could be the smartest witch of her age if she wanted to, and that she shouldn't stop, until the whole wide world kissed their three fingers and held them up in the air, towards her.
Happy Women's Day.
Submitted March 08, 2019 at 08:03AM by BatmanJain https://ift.tt/2Tz7VZ0
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