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(NOTE : 'AMOUR PROPRE' is a French word whose literal meaning is 'loving one's own self')
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“A day will come when these noises of reprimands will get silenced by the echoes of appreciations”, his mother’s words reverberated in his ears as he joined his hands and closed his eyes.
Today was the day of Anant’s dreams. He was free to be what he desired the most and for once there wouldn’t be any remorseless chatter, no faint murmurs, no deafening whispers, and no nefarious gazes like before.
For all his life, he had been striving for other’s acceptance, pushing himself to be what others wanted, but losing his own self instead. But somewhere deep within, a small corner of his heart always screamed, ‘this wasn’t what he wanted.’ What others wanted him to be, could never define him.
“Aren’t you ashamed of the way you are? The ones of your kind mustn’t even step out of their houses.”
That was something he had always heard. But was that his fault? If given a choice, would he had ever chosen to be a transgender?
Ever since the day he was born, he was locked inside a room. His father had a reputation to protect. Attempts to kill him; too frequent!
But his mother was always there for him, like a shield.
One day, sitting in the dark room, he had come to call as his own, he heard the most melodious thing ever. Sneaking a peek through the keyhole of the door, he saw a girl gliding like a swan as people cheered for her.
He smiled. How wonderful it would be to have these cheers for him?! That day onwards, Anant had a dream. To be a ballet dancer.
Then one day, even his protective shield was snatched. Still immersed in grief, that night he faced another attack, more brutal than ever before.
“No legs, no dream”, was the last thing his father said before leaving him almost dead by the roadside.
Rescued by a transgender community, he came to know how compassionate they were. They held his hand and cherished his dream as their own.
His trance got broken as his name got announced as the first ever transgender ballet dancer. And people did cheer for him as he glided across the stage gracefully!
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Here's my entry for the contest organized byTheStarRangers
