Disha Diaries

Part I

Disha had been hunching over the monitor for most of the past 2 hours. She felt a slight pain shooting up her back."Maybe I've managed spondilitis..finally",she thought.She leaned back and flexed her fingers. It was 7 p.m. But being a developer in the IT industry,it only translated to 'the day was still young'. 'And you are growing old',thought Disha,cynically.

"Age is just a number. A state of the mind.You are as young or old as you feel".Disha remembered having endorsed these words very earnestly,at an extempore.The words that captivated the audience back then,somehow failed to impress mommie dearest.

Mom had taken to chanting -"Why won't you get married? We aren't getting any younger you know?Your dad will retire next year.Don't you want to settle down? I have seen this boy for you...really handsome..your horoscopes match too......"...and mom went into one of her irrelevant tangents that Disha had skillfully learned to tune out now. Disha smiled wryly to herself.

Disha,at 23, had dark circles around her eyes,once she relieved them of her glasses. She had a perennial smattering of acne on her face. She never knew whether to attribute it to pollution,stress or her genes.(Genes were a poor excuse.After all,her sisters had very clear skin.) Her hair,in her own words,"was a nightmare".Limp and lifeless."But then again," she wondered,"aren't they dead cells anyway?".

She was often told she needed a "makeover"."Yeah right",she'd scoff at them.And then discreetly check the next object capable of reflecting her face.The reflection merely scowled back at her."Stupid mirror!It is the inner beauty that really counts",she affirmed to herself.For the umpteenth time.