STANDARDS

No matter how much I ever try, I know I will never be able to meet, “The standards”. The way I speak, the way I look, all have to be in accordance with the standards set by the ugliest people. Living in the same house, being the children of the same parents, being told the same things, my siblings and I differ so much. “Be quick girls!” Mom calls from her bedroom. Maria, who is struggling to get her curly hair straight is literally on the verge of crying. Fariya, who is struggling to curl her densely straight hair, has a frustrated expression on her face, “Get aside” Maria yells, pushing Fariya aside. “Ow! I need to get ready too!” “Stop both of you!’ I say. “Maria and Fariya, your hair is going to burn due to those heated irons.’ ‘You wear a headscarf so you won’t understand,” Fariya exclaims, tired of her loosening curls. ‘I have to at least make my hair look nice, if not my complexion.” Her words make my heart stop for a moment. Maria, on the other hand, throws the straightener on the bed, enraged, and sits down aggressively. ‘I can’t even get my hair done. I want people to focus on them and not on my masculine height and long feet.’ She lets out a sad chuckle at the end. Both of them look down at their laps and fiddle with their fingers. I don’t even wait for an answer ‘Listen to me, you both are perfect the way you have been born.’ I hear a sigh, not sure from whom. ‘We are still growing up, we are learning, it’s not about rocking at the event but pleasing the one who has made you. Besides, nobody really cares, have you ever thought about anybody in that much detail? No, right? So nobody thinks that much about you.’ My words seem to have some effect on both of them as they turn to me with complete focus. ‘Maria, Fariya, aren’t you both thankful that you can see without any problem, breathe without assistance and you don’t have to walk with crutches? He creates what he pleases. He is pleased with you being tall and having long feet,’ I say to Maria. ‘And you being not fair skinned. He is pleased! And that is all that matters.’ 

Somya Ehsan Inter I (Humanities)