My Story

Don’t Ask Me Who I Am

I wont be able to tell you anyway!

Photo by Edu Lauton on Unsplash

When someone says ‘tell me about yourself’ — I find it the most difficult question to answer. It feels like someone is posing the most difficult existential question to me - who am I?

I undergo a mental tussle in that moment. And as I comprehend the right way to answer, there are thoughts running through my mind like a gazelle running for its life.

Should I talk about my degree in environmental studies? Or do I need to be talking about what I do for a living? Should I be talking about the weekly newsletter that I write? Or should I talk about my hobbies and beliefs? Should I talk about being a working mom?

In a matter of a few nanoseconds, my mind scrambles for the right way to tell someone about who I am. And then I end up putting a string of words together as my own personalized 'elevator pitch'. Only to later reflect back a hundred times on what I could have said differently and how I could have been better.

Does it also happen to you?

This subconscious monologue.

This inner rambling. The mental buzz of forming words like building blocks, then breaking them apart, and reforming them again.

Though ultimately the word waterfall that spills out of your lips is different from what you wanted it to be.

Does it also happen to you? Or perhaps it is just me!

This overthinking that comes in the aftermath of introductions. There are so many things I wish I could have said. Right?

That I am a simple Indian woman brought up in a very middle class home in the 80s. That I grew up loved by parents who had limited means but big hearts. That I was always encouraged to want more for myself, than I ever thought possible.

That I am an artist at heart. And the art inside me spills out in the form of paintings, music, poetry and words.

That I am a romantic who wants to see the best in people, and sometimes ends up disappointed or cheated, but still never gives up. That I am a believer in the power of relationships and know how they can both make and break you.

That I am an introvert who shares my innermost thoughts only with a few people. But that I am also an extrovert with laughter in my voice, who can get to know a room in ten minutes.

That I am a dreamer who has big audacious goals. But also a pragmatist who makes to-do sheets and goal trackers.

That I am a thinker, a doer, a success, a failure, a mentor, a crybaby, a friend, a stranger, a pushover , a confidante— all wrapped in one.

I can be anyone you need. But for you, I will choose to be what I am, based on who you are to me.

But since I can’t ever say all of that, I settle for saying —

Hi, I am Roselin. A sustainability professional, working mom to a toddler, an amateur writer and an aspiring author. It’s a pleasure to meet you.

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