Dad, the only way i can be a Princess is if you are a King!

It was magnificent, the bed-room i was in. The huge bed, the jewel studded clothes, the tiara, the accessories! I was in a daze. The grandeur of this room stunned me. It would be an understatement if i said i was amazed by the royalty of the whole palace, the Mysore Palace. I was nine years old when i first visited this place. It was one of the places in the itinerary for the South-Indian tour we had gotten ourselves into with one of the reputed Travels in town. It saved us the trouble of researching into the places we should visit. They took care of it all. All we had to do was enjoy while they made sure we had a great time.

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With all this comfort lined up for me, my father was happy to have provided his little daughter with some merriment, some fun, some frolic. He looked at me admiring the princess' room and it reminded him of the 'Soja Rajkumari' lullaby he sung to me as a baby. But his peace was short-lived when his girl took one more look at the magnanimous chamber, turned back to him furiously and started crying!!!!!

Yes.. i started crying. Not tears of joy. Those were furious tears. When asked the reason,i snapped back at him, "Why aren't you a King? If you were, i would be living here!" It was followed by a few moments of silence which was broken by a guffaw by dad. As i stared back puzzled, i realized there were more people laughing who had probably overheard our conversation. I was maddened! I hated it when elders never took youngsters seriously. (I don't blame them now! :P)

I continued, "I'm not kidding. The only way i can be a Princess is if you are a King. Now i can never be a Princess in my life!" Seeing more tears on the way, finally daddy dear stopped laughing and told me i'll always be his lil princess. He also told me i could always marry a king and be his queen. But i didn't want to be a queen now, did i? I wanted to be a PRINCESS, plain and simple! Not a Queen, a Princess! Nothing would calm me down. I stopped crying later with some persuasion. But that day stuck with me for a long time. I was obsessed with the whole concept of being a Princess.

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As a kid, it was connected to having all the comforts. The best clothes, maids, jewellery, tiara, palace etc. I read more and more about princess stories. Their delicate nature, their beauty, their grace. When i watched The Princess Diaries, i sooo wished some day someone would tell me i'm a princess too! But that day never came and i knew it would never come. I found my own way of treating myself as one. I called myself 'Princess Pranita' for a loooong time. Even my Orkut profile carried that as my profile name! LOL.

As i grew, the obsession grew. But along with the obsession, realization dawned too! With every passing year, i predicted Princess in a different way, til i reached my present decipherer of being one. For a long time, i've lived my life being a damsel in distress waiting for Prince Charming to save me. I've wanted to be the sleeping beauty, waiting for my prince to kiss my hand and save me! All those fairytale princess stories are very beautiful to read. But i recently realized that's not how a princess is supposed to be in today's times.

This is the generation, where we fight for equality of men and women. So why should i wait for a prince or anyone else for that matter to come and save me. Being a princess is about having the power. With great power, comes great responsibility. I'm not a princess. I'm not born with a golden spoon either. Being a princess wasn't something i could help, but acquiring the power, being responsible and acting the way a princess should, that i can help myself with.

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I can always live my Princess dream. Being one is not about being delicate, it's about being strong. It's not about depending on others, it's about being independent. Isn't about having maids work for you, it's about working for the people. Not about making your materialistic life comfortable, it's making this world a happy place to live in for all. It's not wanting people to love you, it's about caring for others selflessly. Being a princess is not about wearing a tiara and showing off, but keeping your head high with dignity and modesty. It isn't about being the damsel in distress, it's about being happy and bringing happiness to others. It isn't about being beautiful from the outside, but from within.

With this realization came peace. I finally am close to realizing my childhood dream. The meaning, the image has changed, but that lil girl from the Mysore Palace still remains with me, reminding me to pursue my dream.. to never give up!