Life---an entirely different 'cinderella' story...

Pumpkins can never, not if the world depended on it, change into carriages...leave alone golden ones.
They are just big, plump vegetables that our moms would bargain with the vegetable vendor for, only to cook into the most disgusting concoctions which we were made to eat despite the ugly faces we made.
They would never serve any other purpose besides increasing our bowel movements and providing for important antioxidants and vitamin A.
But when we were told about the wave of the magic wand and the pumpkin turned coach, we BELIEVED!!!

And the mice?? The mice would NEVER turn into horses either, not even if they cross matched with another species.
It is just against the law of nature, you see. But then again, Biology was a subject we studied only in college.
'Magic' formed our childhood basis..and we BELIEVED!!!

And of course, life also taught us that the rat who turned into a coachman and lizards that were changed into footmen, was a whole lot of bull crap too.
Literally speaking, rats are just rodents which cause nothing but the plague and lizards, well...they are just ugly creatures which creep up our bedroom walls sticking out their dirty tongue at us---the suckers who were told the 'Cinderella' story and more importantly, who BELIEVED!!!
Metaphorically speaking, life taught us that the 'rats' and 'lizards' we met along the way would never change..no amount of magic could/can/will change them into something better---they stay just the same, forever 'rats' and forever 'lizards'.


Also, we learnt that there were no glass slippers being gifted to us---we would have to adjust to Manolo's and Jimmy Choo's (which would burn a hole in our own pocket) and yes, since they come in all sizes, we could not really rely on them for that 'exclusively ours' fairy tale end, either..sigh!

Yes, I agree it's a tad bit disappointing to know that the 'Prince' or perhaps the 'frog' you thought to be one, will never come running in an attempt to catch up with you, if you leave the ball like that. (That happens only in Yashraj movies and Dharma productions, nowadays.)

Rather, he might in all probability, get into an apparently (to your imagination only) compromised relationship with a beautiful and not-as-fussy unemotional girl he had met at the ball (before he saw you enter and was mesmerized by the light reflected by your glass slipper) convincing himself that 'time heals everything' and eventually you will see him happily grinning away in thousands of wedding pics posted all over his Facebook wall.

But time would heal that too..and soon enough one day, one extremely ugly picture (clicked and tagged by one of his jealous colleagues, when he apparently wasn't looking) is all that will take you to realise what a balding, pot bellied, spineless reptile he had always been.
So don't make a fuss. Life is like that.

Coming to the pumpkin turned coach, life managed to give us a harsh reality check on that too.
We learnt that we would have to manage all of it ourselves--be it a ball or your workplace, there will be traffic rules we'd have to follow.
There will be signals which will make us stop in the scorching heat and wait patiently till the light turns green.
There will be flat tires and petrol hikes, and needless to mention public transport strikes too, which will make us wish time and again for the pumpkin ride, we'd read about, as kids.

Shopping for designer labels make us feel better but only for a while.
Unlike the famous glass slipper, these wear out, go out of style and finally, we outgrow them.

and eventually we realised that there were no fairy god mothers, at least not one's without a selfish interest of their own---we had to work towards making our dreams come true, and of course leave some to luck and good faith.

Life is not just about ONE evening ball.So its not worth sulking if we cant make it to one such party.

Instead, we need to get out of the cinders, hang out with our friends and have a ball of a time as often as we can.
Its just one life and it does NOT allow us the luxury of being stuck on to one disappointment for too long.
Eat loads of ice creams and get over it, I say.
Keep low on the tantrums.
Break some rules, if you feel like it.
Do what makes you happy.
Sing, dance and please DO NOT depend on that shimmering gown and diamond studded crown to have a good time.

As for the prince, if someone needs to see us all decked up like that, to fall in love with us..then we might as well give it a second thought.
We are going to grow old and fat anyway--age is just a number, baby...a number which can change appearances but not the heart.
So if someone manages to fall for us in just a few hours of silent ballroom dancing---then we have something to worry about, don't we?
Compatibility is not judged on the basis of a few hours nor on good looks or financial status.
So ideally, we ought to go out there in our rags, our dusty slippers...our simple yet clean pair of jeans and a tee thrown on top---sans makeup and jewellery and see who we can relate to in mental wavelength, kind spirit and honest attitude, instead of letting a rich dude (who has the audacity to call for a beauty pagent to select a partner for life) pick us up like a piece of chinaware in an antique showroom.

All said and done, we got to be brave..take no shit from people (be it our seniors at work, relatives, boss, society) leave the 'cinders' that have us bound in shackles and go follow your heart.
Break free from the 'cinder' life and while you are at it, file a law suit and those bloody torturers who overload you with that inhuman amount of work. (to all you behind that computer screen, working your ass away, this one's for you)

Its a different thing that lady luck was always around in those 'once upon a time' days and i guess, a little bit of magic goes a long way to help an uneducated woman. Sadly only in fairy tales.
But life is not a Cinderella story, isn't it?

Now coming to the things I (and perhaps, even you) should learn from the story---
1) Patience and good temper---because she waited all those trying years...and did not burn herself or her evil step mother in the cinders instead.

2) Forgiveness---for she allowed her cruel step sisters to stay on, instead of banishing them from the kingdom or at least asking them to pay a small price for their cruelty (like gifting her the whole new collection of Jimmy Choo or Prada, as her wedding gift).
I mean, c'mon, I still think she let them go away easy.
But forgiveness is a virtue they say..sigh!

3) Last but not the least, hope---which she did not give up on, even after the party was over.
I mean, I dread to think what would have happened had she to throw away the other slipper in a fit of anger or frustration.that imbecile prince (who needed that as evidence to recognise his 'love') wouldn't have believed her anyway.

Yes, I agree that Cinderella was not quite the skeptic that i have turned out to be...blame it on her lack of exposure to the big bad outside world (C'mon, you cant blame the girl--she was locked in the cinders for like ever!) or dearth of common sense (How much can those twittering birds and doe eyed animals in the woods, teach you anyway?)

So yes, she did have a 'happily ever after' fairytale ending.

As for us, somewhere between fiction and reality, lies the truth---the truth we all know, yet refuse to see.

But we are happy for the moment. Yes, we are 'cool' like that! ;)