Raise your hand if you remember that anthem "I Am Woman." For those of you who were too busy doing other things to pay attention, the soaring declaration that made women all over the globe want to rally against injustice, macramé a belt, and stop serving meals cooked from scratch at dinner parties went like this: "If I have to, I can do anything. I am strong! I am invincible! I am woman!"
My anthem would probably go, "If I have to, I can maybe do lunch. I am responsible for Pepper, my puppy! I am woman!" This is the kind of lyric that explains why I am so seldom called upon to produce a hit single, but we'll save that for Oprah.
The women I like best aren't always strong, and they're certainly not invincible. They're creative, they're idiosyncratic, and they're around if you need them. They complain, they console, and they can shop their way through virtually any crisis. They know how to raise hell and they know how to provide comfort. They can spot a scam, a lousy doctor, and a crummy boyfriend in less than ten seconds. They've perfected the withering stare that makes a nasty salesperson, flight attendant, or co-worker fold like an origami swan. My favourite women may feel bad about their neck, but they feel pretty damn good about their legs. They do not trash their ex-'s new squeeze even if she happens to have ‘-12’ for an IQ count; they limit the amount of money spent on shopping; they try really hard to wish everyone well. They've never met a carbohydrate they didn't want to have a close personal relationship with. They brake for sleep, and solitude, cashmere, caffeine, and romance soaked novels. They've got nerves of steel, the courage of their convictions, and excellent footwear. They're sugar and spice and everything I aspire to. They remain cautiously optimistic. Here, in no particular order, are a few examples of the best and the brightest females I've come across.
She might have been born and bred in good old Teluk Intan, but Helena raised herself up to be an audacious woman who spends her life loving passionately. From the warm Milo’s to the gentle nudge to the right decisions she loves with her whole heart.
Long before those gorgeous Dove girls stripped down for the camera, real women of every age, shape, and colour dressed up in this designer's easy, modern clothes. Eva Marcia Jothi seemed to have learnt the trick in self appreciation. She teaches you to see the beauty in your freckles, the weird way you pronounce tomorrow, and to LAUGH OUT LOUD when tickled and cry when in pain. Were it not for her, I'd never learn how to break out of my shell and love soppy old me.
She understood female friendship, complicated men, and mechanical engineering better than most of us ever will. I don't love Lucy, and I never dreamed of Jeannie—but Anushya could probably get the U.S. of A out of Iraq and end global warming simultaneously. She reminds you never to loose your child-like wonder of the world.Affectionate to the core, she is never afraid to hug you just to let you know she’s there.
And speaking of child-like behaviour, I'd like to thank Radhika, Premila, and Shalini for appearing to be normal human beings when it would be oh so easy to go a different way. I thank them for letting me live vicariously through them, their little anecdotes and snippets of life made me laugh and cry at the same time. Making me recognize the lessons behind each mistake I made when I were that naive.
If ever there was anyone that could give Hillary Clinton a run for her money, it would be Gurreet and Gurleen. They force you to stay grounded, tell you what’s important and have no qualms in telling in like it is. They give brutal honesty a whole new meaning.
I know Roopi isn't apart of the group of women mentioned above, but she has played such an important role in my life that I've decided to bestow upon her an "Honorary Girl" title. She is my soul sister, my soft cushion, my yogurt-loving partner-in-crime, so I will hand her a DVD of The Way We Were, teach her the secret handshake, waive the membership fee, and start letting her into the meetings.
"My faith in the Constitution is whole; it is complete; it is total. And I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction of [it]." The late, great congresswoman Barbara Jordan said that. I only wish other Texas politicians shared the sentiment. I miss her. I miss nobility and wit and idealism and style.
I met these amazing during my wondrous 4 years in Multimedia University. Some of us performed our way silly for “Diwali nite” We read gut-wrenching books, we survived our French classes and rented cars, we broke up with boyfriends, buried our loved ones, raged at our mothers, erupted in geysers of emotion, survived crushes, got our teeth fixed and our complexions under control.
As I sit typing away on this rainy Wednesday afternoon, my friends are busy in living their lives. I'm restless today because it's pouring and because Raju misses Champa and I cannot wait anymore for the 19th. But then I remind myself that if we have to, we can do anything. We are strong, and when one of us isn't feeling all that invincible, the other will take the wheel. We are women.
