A Love Letter to my Younger Self

Dear Younger Me,

All my life in India, I grew up surrounded by people who looked like me. I never questioned the colour of my skin, the way words sounded when they left my mouth, or the reflection staring back at me in the mirror. I grew up watching Madhuri Dixit’s eyebrows dance to music, seeing my mother drape her sarees, speaking Hindi, and losing myself in Bollywood songs. I didn’t know I was different. I didn’t know there was anything about me that made me stand out.

But everything changed when I moved to Australia. Suddenly, the culture I carried with me the music, the dance, the language set me apart. It made me noticeable in a way I didn’t want to be. For the first time, I felt different.  And I hated myself for it. I wished I could bury the parts of me that made me stand out, the very parts that drew eyes to me in a crowd.

All I wanted was to blend in. To be nameless, faceless, invisible, anything to stop feeling so out of place.

But growing up taught me something you didn’t yet know: you were never meant to fit in. You were born to stand out. The parts of yourself you learned to loathe were, in fact, your strength. They were the roots of the confident, resilient woman you would become.

And so, I chose to embrace them. To take what made me different and put it proudly on display.

That is what Gehna is. A love letter to you, my younger self. And to everyone who has ever felt the need to hide who they are just to blend in: know this.

You were never meant to disappear into the crowd.

You were born to shine. You were born to stand out.

With love,

Me