Mitasha Singh

People & Culture, Unifynd

This is me, you, umm us – from a weird dystopian future where there’s a global pandemic ruling our worlds, we’re all wearing face masks & collective anxiety is through the roof! No – it’s not as fun as we’d have liked, not glam & Katniss like (you’ll get this reference in some years), & guess what – you’ll crave for a normal and boring world every single day. Not everything’s doom & gloom though, we’ve had a great run so far and some things you’re experiencing today will teach us the greatest life lessons ✨& be our spiritual play-book in years to come 🖖

There’s that new book you’ve picked up – Harry Potter & suddenly you’re looking at all the white owls weird🦉. Cherish the first time you read these books – they’ll become our go-to safe space for the next twenty years of our life. We’ll re-read them, start believing in magic ⚡and turn into closeted optimists for life. We’ll change our Mean girls vibe, start showing empathy, and appreciate small gestures of kindness. And then, JLT, we’ll have to distance ourselves from the artist and channel the wisdom from the books – and learn to give them up.

Conspiracy theories are the best – and Y2k had such cool ones. It started India on it’s journey towards becoming a technology super power but the real threat to our thoughts and lives is yet to come. ‘9/11’ and ‘The Indian Parliament bombings’ exposed every kid, teen and adult to the reality of organized militia. You’re confused, scared & highly opinionated. You see some of your relatives being hounded in the U.S. for their turbans – you wonder why no one knows of your religion?! “Sikhism” is fairly mainstream in India & abroad. You hear of horror stories, and start blocking reality slowly. This is also the first time when we don’t know who or what to believe.

*Listen to that intuitive voice in your head – it’ll always stand you in good stead. The next 20 years of our lives will be ruled by divisive politics. Stay true to your simple self, and consciously work towards leaving any bias behind. Believe in the best in people – we’ll be happier for it.*

I know you read the newspaper the other day & picked up something new: *”Netherlands legalized same-sex marriage”* and you have no idea what this means. So you ask around – your parents decide this is an outrageous topic and try to dismiss the questions immediately, editors in India claim this is blasphemous, and then there’s some kid in school who got punished for trying to cross-dress. In the end you decide it doesn’t matter if you understand it – all you want to do is to be “cool” by talking about it. So you call your best friend a lesbian – in a fight. Did you mean that as a slur? Not really, because you barely understand how sex works. All you know, is that it got you attention and shut everyone up.

Listen – we’re projecting. We’re scared of the changes that are coming and constantly trying to put others down. We’re insensitive, spoilt, and insecure. The sooner you learn to accept that, the easier it’ll be for us to be comfortable in our own skin. 🧚‍♀️

You hate pink. And femininity. And other women. They are weird. So dramatic, and always so jealous. Everything’s always a competition. So all your best friends are boys – and its perfect. Your parents hate it, the cute ones are always asking you out and the rest provide a shoulder to lean on. The video games are cooler, you learn about sports & the vibe is always chill. You think its a compliment when someone says “you’re one of us” and girls are always “them” not “us”.

Boy is that gonna change. The irony is funny and you’ll live through it. Nothing I tell you now will make any sense but we’re going to have the best set of girlfriends ever – they will nourish our souls, protect our hearts & be an inspiration everyday in everyway! Also, we love dusty roses and gold glitter along with Formula 1 and beer pong – its not an either/or. 🤦‍♀️

I’ve saved this for the last part of this note. You’re a 13-14 year old narcissistic, self centred rebel – with your hair falling out in clumps every single day. This isn’t part of the plan – the plan is to groove to Jenny from the block and get married to Leo C; while continuing to be the big fish in your small pond. You take immense pride in the way you look on the outside and spend hours obsessing over how others do too. No one in Vogue is bald and high school kids DO NOT have such problems!

Give it 5 years – that’s all it’ll take from us. And then – it will be the most liberating experience of our lives. We’ll still be messed up yes (duh!), but oh man, we’ll fall in love with ourselves like you’ve never known before. We will be thankful for our blessings, experience unconditional love from our family, find warrior like friends and the privilege of equal opportunity to succeed in every which way. P.S. – You will find the boy, and no he won’t care! 🤭

It’ll probably continue to be the first thing someone notices about you, but it will never be the last thing people do. We’ve come a long way together, and you did good, kid. xoxo ❤️

Thank you Mitasha Singh writing A Letter To My 13 Year Old Self