Stories For My Soul

I like reading Sunday papers. Especially The Star. They have a certain feel. They make you happy that u actually woke up THAT early on a Sunday morning, yet give you the same "lazy Sunday" feeling. Laidback, light and easy. Aaaaaaaaah...

I enjoyed today's paper, particularly because:
-I bought it from a jovial Indian man by the street.
-I had just returned from jogging with my housemates, feeling energized
-I devoured the news with tasty nasi lemak (well, that kind of kills the purpose of jogging; but then, I'm not one who wants to shed kilos for the sake of vanity, but for the sake of preventing further depletion of my stamina (MAPCU tournaments coming up!!! Gotta get my body up and going to win!!!))

Despite the heaps of news from the election fever (I am not going to comment because I might be shoved into the cells by the ISA), I welcomed the StarMag, the weekly lifestyle section.

I was drawn to the picture first, a tiny boy with colourful clothes sitting on a dull, grey blanket of rough pebbles. Then the words, "What is precious to you?...for one little boy, it was a pebble". Go, read it- StarMag, Sunday 9 March 2008, Heart & Soul , The important things in life by Balamohan Yugenderan. Although it is short, I am sure it would touch you the way it did me.

Then below that piece was the "The Gap" column, with today's article starting with "Why was I born with such dark skin?"- the writer's question to her mother.
It related to me, but the only reason being the colour of my skin. I have never had any problems with it. Perhaps it was my upbringing, and the people i grew up with. Nobody ever pressured me to be "fair". I wasn't affected by the myriad of advertisements of fairness products. Nor did my friends' endless complaints of their own skin colour affect the way i thought of mine. Yes, I do use fairness products only because my face is darker than the rest of my body(which I find quite unbalanced), and that the face has much less surface area to cover than body (cost-effective way). I am happy with the colour of my skin. In fact, I think it is beautiful. (No, I am not in denial and no, I am not perasan. Please.) Well, I guess my parents and siblings have taught me well; to appreciate what God gave me. At least, I have healthy skin that i can live in comfortably, and can enjoy 100% when out in the sun without having to worry about not having enough melanin to prevent skin cancer. Of course, I am not TOO carefree that I expose my skin to the midday sun!(Besides, the heat would give you crummy feelings :P)

Having said that, mornings are nice. Cool and breezy with just the right amount of sunlight. Gosh, I am full of happiness today(yep, despite the fact that I have an assignment due in two days which i haven't started).

Okay, I better get started on my assignment. After I finish the paper, that is. And after lunch. And after...