The lost identity.

She constantly craved for acceptance. From her friends, from her extended family and from everyone else she knew.

For her friends, she needed to be the person she could never be. They wanted her to drink with them; they wanted her to ‘hang around’ with them at odd hours for all their visits to the latest hot-spots in the city. She felt out of place. She never understood how people who were once friends now saw and made her feel like an outcast.

Her extended family thought of her as an over achiever. She, for them, was a woman who was too ambitious, career oriented and strong. Strong women like her don’t make great wives or daughter-in-laws, they believed and said. She learnt to cook like a pro, take care of a home like a seasoned wife and to entertain guests like a trained hostess. Still, it was never enough. She was never good enough.

She kept juggling in her many roles. Spending time with her friends now felt like a burden. Going home wasn't an option on most days. She kept looking for ways to balance out the career-woman, homemaker and pub hopper roles.

Once when she looked back on her life and her achievements, she found nothing. She had no identity of her own. Trying to be so many people, she had stopped being the one person she had always wanted to be – herself…