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Category: Personal

A unique relationship between woman & Kajal (Kohl)

“Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder”.

It is so true. Being an Indian, I am sure many of you will feel connected to the post.

I believe the prowess of harnessing the beauty of the black Kajal (Kohl) and adding it to the eyes imparts a transcendent power. Every person is unique, and so are their eyes. I think it empowers every spirit and lifts it to never give up on dreams. Perhaps its mystical presence gives the strength to steal the show and stand out in the crowd. Or perhaps its presence is enough to tell you to get up and brace yourself for a new day. 

When I was a teenager, I remember my elder sisters used to keep one small pouch handy all the time. They would put a few makeup products like Kajal, Lipstick, and eyeliner. All the items mentioned were limited to a limited quantity, to be more precise limited to a single number. It was about sharing it until used up entirely, and those are delightful memories to treasure. 

Seeing all my sisters and cousins using Kajal (Kohl) more frequently than lipstick or other beauty picks was very usual for me. Acknowledging that it is the only weapon to look beautiful was quite convincing in those days. 

It was a pretty common trend and trick to look beautiful for all girls back then and that trend is still on among the young crowd. As I grew up, I could understand the power of the dark Kajal eyes and the paradigm to look irresistible. So, I felt writing down why we all still fall for it that is simply irreplaceable. 

Those were the days when we had no idea what makeup meant, or even when looking at the “Bollywood celebrities” we could all see was Kajal, eyeliner, and lipstick.  

As I said earlier when I was a teen and was getting to know how to look more (and more) beautiful every passing year.  All I was doing was learning how to apply a Kajal more efficiently and correctly than giving importance to my career goal. Silly me!

Even today, I wonder why we still get drawn toward it. I would love to share my experience when I was working in Mumbai (Mumbai) from 2009-to 2012. A long story, but I will make it short. When I left Mumbai and shifted to Pune in 2013, one of my friends called and told me that a Tailor where I used to get my Salwar suits stitched in Mumbai was talking about me. Nope! he did not recall my name or remember any of my facial features except he vividly remembered that “Madam with very dark (Kajal) eyes”. Ha. Ha. Ha! That was it. We cracked up and could not stop. And then I realized how insanely I was using it and now wondering if it was good or bad, but eventually amazing to know that people still remember me by my bold eyes. It’s a great feeling. 

Also, when I was in Living in Mumbai, the moment I realized I am getting late for the office.  It was natural for me to fill my eyes with dark back kajal and then run to catch a local train. Hardly gave any importance to my hairdo or other facial beautification. Probably, it was the only thing that kept my confidence alive and made me the most beautiful girl in the world. Ha..ha!!!!.. Please don’t take it seriously. That I said in jest.

In India, people still love it, and I think that’s the only tool that wraps up the look before stepping out of the house. So why girls cannot live without it? Why Kajal is so important & an integral part of our lives?What could be the reason for its popularity that started centuries ago in India? 

Indian history is quite intriguing, reading about Raja, Maharajas (King), and emperors who ruled India before British rule and has charming tales of their  Maharani’s (Queen) & Princes’ beauty secrets and alluring personalities. Striking poses of Queens wearing Jewelry and eminent eyes were enough to illustrate their royal attitude. Surprisingly, many of them can be seen wearing kajal. And I believe they commenced the project of “bold eyes” that got famous among other women. Later, probably that craze spread across the nation, and people started giving so much importance and got smitten by the deep mesmerizing eyes outlined by black Kajal. More importantly, they knew the homemade recipe of it. Interesting fact, right!

I bet, still, people cannot get enough of it and just cannot let that magical wand disappear from their vanity. The moment they realize they are running out of it, there always be a backup plan borrowing from a friend or cousin until they figure out when they can buy it. At least I was one of them. 

This peculiar fashion where the eyes tell the story first portrays the unique bond between the eye and its magical relation with Kajal.

Feels great to write down our distinctive style of adopting elements of beauty that interprets our unity and strength. That’s amazing!

Share your thoughts and tell me if you are one of those who love it as much as I do. 

Thank you!

 

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How blogging helped me to pass my English proficiency exam

Photo by Tirachard Kumtanom on Pexels.com

Initially, when I started writing blogs, I did not know what I am doing or did not have any idea how writing anything (any content) would help me to accomplish a few things in life. I still write because I love to write, it helps me to focus on certain things that establish consonance between my mind and my thoughts.

Being said that, I am not over the moon but still, this blogging journey, especially writing has brought out some significant changes in me. Something has really helped me to realize that this is the right time to pursue some online certification courses (Short-term). But before that, I did not know I will have to appear for an English proficiency exam.

Now at this point, somewhere deep down I really wanted to quit the idea of getting into academic commitments, even if it was a short-term (6 months) course. As I was so insecure about my academic performance. I knew that, once I get a bad score in the entry-level English proficiency exam, I won’t be able to rise again.

My educational background

Here, I would like to go back and talk about my school days. I did not get a chance to join any convent school where students could speak relatively fluent English language or might have been able to write a good English article/Essay from an early age back then. I was a student where my native language was a primary subject followed by foreign language English. Since spoken English has become an integral part of Indian society, it was mandatory to crack the English examination for better prospects. So here I can say, I knew the grammar part very well as it was the only thing that mattered those days in the examination instead of how to use it in daily life. After that, I did my diploma in Electronics and Telecommunication. That was technical education with very little exposure to promoting language skills.

Therefore, looking at my educational background “English” was not an Alien language for me but understanding the phrases of the “Oxford” English exam was a bit challenging and tricky.

As a result, my own insecurities were dragging me down into some unknown abyss where I could see myself sitting in Pajama and chilling out with no future plans. Believe me, the pressure was immense because this was happening after 17 years. Yes! I was preparing to appear for an examination after 17 years (Yes! That was a long time).

How Blogging helped me to pass the examination.

One thing everyone will agree is that writing is like a meditation. When you write, you train your mind to concentrate on a specific area (Topic) for a certain period. Believe me, this practice has bestowed a cosmic effect on me.

After enrollment, being a citizen of a non-English speaking country, I got automatically registered for an English course. It continued for 8 weeks and then proctored exam.

As it was an online platform, they did not have an online classes facility. It was a purely web-based platform, all about self-study, self-evaluation, and improving performance using our conscience, except the grading part.

Now everything was new for me including how to write a “Thesis & Abstract”. I wish could write an entire experience about my 8 weeks journey.

Anyways, I started my blogging journey in 2020, April. In the beginning, I knew about my writing hobby that I happened to realize in recent years and this was the perfect platform for me to express my mind. Since I did not know what to write, I started writing reviews. As I have mentioned earlier, writing is like a meditation, we train our mind to stay focused on one thing at a time.

Likewise, when I was writing assignments, I could see that blogging is helping me to think actively on certain topics of the assignment. I still don’t believe that it has increased my thinking capacity.

For Example, reading the stories of Anton Chekhov or Sherman Alexie and summarizing them in just 4-5 sentences. Now I knew that instructor is going to check and analyze students’ level of framing the story in brief. This task used to give me goosebumps. Usually, before making a final draft, we make changes and trim down the superfluous information into meaningful content. Subsequently, I could use the same logic while writing for assignments but still could end up writing a 6-7 sentence summary of the story. Not that bad, right!

Not just I’m getting better at expressing myself via blogging, but somehow it’s mending my persona to become a reader as well. Nowadays, my eyes usually get hooked on good articles. My hunger to gain advanced vocabulary is becoming insatiable. And so all credit goes to “Blogging”.

And therefore, I can say that this habit of writing is somehow transitioning my brain into someone who always thinks before writing or speaking. It works like medicine for my wandering thoughts. It might not be as a professional blogger, but deep down I know that now I can sum up my thoughts way better than what I used to do before starting to write “Blogs”.

In my opinion, every individual should start to write their feelings, at least once in a blue moon if not regular. Why I am saying this? Because I was the person who never tried to pen down my thoughts and never felt the necessity of writing on a piece of paper except in exams. And I strongly feel that writing words really gives meaning to your thoughts, so your personality. It could be in any language, not necessarily “English”.

So anyway, this was the blogging experience that has turned out to be an English auxiliary guide and is indeed reforming my life.

Thank you.

Namaste!