Navya’s quest for a Barbie World 👸

The alarm rang for the fifth time. But instead of putting it on snooze, she turned it off this time. Even though barely awake, Navya looked too pretty and cute in her silken night suit, sleeepy eyes and a bit messed up hair. Making herself more presentable, she walked towards her ‘special closet’ for something which had become a part of her daily routine. She opened it and got immersed in her thoughts.

The closet was full of her childhood Barbie collection. Dolls, toys, accessories, elegant dresses…. everything one could imagine of was inside that closet. Since her childhood; if there was anything that Navya was obsessed for, it was “Barbie and her perfect world”.

“If only i could have a happy world like her’s….” She thought “But it exists only in fiction and it is far from the reality faced everyday”. As she ran her fingers through those childhood dresses, tears welled up in her eyes. She knew that now in her early twenties, it was important for her to let go off these things. Especially when she was frequently being reprimanded “Grow up Navya”.

She walked out of her room checking for pings on her cell phone. Yes, there were pings from Kevin!  It read:

Good Morning Babe. Have a nice day. Love you….😘😘

But for some reason, right now she just didn’t feel like texting back. Out in the living room she could hear sweet humming sound of a little girl. Like every Sunday, Swati the maid had brought her 7 years old daughter Usha with her. The girl was humming some rhymes and looked happy. Seeing the girl’s dull clothes, something struck Navya. 

“You have a sweet voice” Navya said, pulling Usha into an embrace. 

“Thank you” Usha blushed.

“Come, I have something for you” saying this, Navya held Usha’s hand and took her to the room. She opened the special closet and said “When i was your age, i used to play with these dolls, wear these dresses…. Do you like these?”

Usha nodded.  “Take this as a gift from me. Don’t worry, i will talk to your mother” Navya winked and embraced her.

“Thank you so much Didi” said an overwhelmed Usha for whom it appeared like a fairytale. And right now for Usha, Navya was nothing less than a fairy godmother. The next couple of hours went by as Usha tried each dress, they both clicked some pictures and played together. Usha was as always happy and Navya too felt better. Later, Navya ensured that everything in the closet reached usha’s house.

Next day Navya expected to see Usha in one of those dresses. Instead, what she saw was a same old dress. But Usha seemed to be as happy as and carefree as always. There wasn’t any change. Usha was holding a hand made card. As soon as Navya approached her, she beamed handing over the card to Navya and said “Didi.. my friends Chandni and Roshni were also very thankful for your gifts. We made this card for you”

“Why dear, those gifts were for you. Didn’t you like them?”

“I liked them very much. But Didi I already have enough of what all i want. So i shared my gifts with my friends. I have everything that i need”

Navya was speechless. For her, Usha seemed to be too mature given her age. Navya had realised the reason for her own dissatisfaction. Little Usha had taught her much today. Navya could notice everything around her changing. She could see herself wearing princesses gown, her house was nothing less than a castle. There was happiness all around her. She realised that she had a better life, a sweet cozy family, Her beau Kevin who loved her, put up with her and moreover he very often understood her childish side. All that was needed was her appreciation for all that she had.

Little Usha had taught her that she already had all that she wanted, it only needed Navya to believe that she had it. Navya’s quest finished, because she knew that she was Barbie herself and this was her perfect world 😊

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