Happy Valentine's Day
As soon as Alisha woke up that morning, she spotted a beautiful painting of a mother and daughter made by Mriyanka. There was a hand written note below the painting.
"Dear Ma, Wish you a Very Happy Valentine's day. This is a small gift for you."
Alisha, had least expected to receive this gift today for it was not mother's day. She became highly emotional and began to cry. Mriyanka had left for school already. So Alisha, could not thank her. She took the day off from her office and devoted the entire day after eons by baking a cake, preparing Mriyanka's favourite dishes and flipping through the pages of the album recollecting all the memories with Mriyanka from the time she was born with down syndrome.
Everyone including Ujaan her husband considered her to be ugly, clumsy and fit for nothing. Yet Alisha had abundant faith in her daughter's capabilities . She was the only one who was able to see the beauty of Mriyanka. She was an ever curious and adaptive soul with an amazing ability to grasp the tunes of any song .
Alisha was impressed by the artistic abilities of Mriyanka too. Since a very young age ,she began to show amazing interest in best out of waste craft. Like they say 'Beauty lies in the beholder's eye', Mriyanka had an amazing ability to convert anything into a beautiful piece of art. That was the sole reason that , Alisha helped her pursue a course in fine arts, so that she could emerge out of her scar for not being normal against the will and wish of Ujaan too.
No one was ready to accept her initially, but her strong determination helped Mriyanka learn the delicate strokes instantly. Soon her creativity was recognised by the teachers of the School of fine arts. After finishing the course. She joined as a faculty there.
"Learn to adore yourself first. Indulge in ' Philautia'. It is the act to love oneself or regard for one's own happiness or advantage."
Mriyanka still recalled her first day at the school. She was observing the strange glances of children in her class the moment they saw her entering. No one was even prepared to sit beside her. Mriyanka , came home absolutely broken. That was when Alisha stood by her side and told her to love herself as she was unique, one of a kind. She sang a song to make Mriyanka fall in love with herself as a whole.
"You are you
I am I
You are special
So am I
I am good
So are you
We must be proud
We must love ourselves
For what we are
We are true
We have our virtues
We have our vice
Yet, it's you who
can make yourself rise."
These words made Mriyanka make a comeback that day. She considered Alisha as her role model. Mriyanka learnt to love herself with the love she received from her beloved Mom.
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