(^1616) YOGA AND TOTAL HEALTH • January 2018YOGA AND TOTAL HEALTH • January 2018
We all have grown up hearing the
tale of Cinderella. A tortured girl, ill-
treated, goes to a ball, meets prince
charming, accidentally leaves a glass
slipper for him to be able to find her,
and then ultimately rides off into the
sunset with him. A very happy story!
Now imagine that same girl living
right now, in the 21st Century, in the
same conditions. What do you think
she will be like? What will she do?
Will she suffer the plight quietly like a
damsel in distress, as she is shown to
be? Or will she retaliate?
I am sure many of us would say that
she would be a staunch feminist. She
absolutely would not allow her step-
mother and step-sisters to walk over
her and treat her like a slave. She
would just file a case against them for
domestic abuse!
Or maybe (on the funnier side), like
a true evil sibling, she would just put
some itching powder in her sisters’
dresses and pink hair dye in their
shampoo. Maybe she would not have
cried over her torn dress. Instead, she
would have just gone to Zara, and
bought a new one instead!
There are so many possibilities that
we can think of in such a case.
So, frankly speaking, I am not a feminist.
I believe that there is another side to
this hypothetical situation. Now, think
over this. Do you think she would still
have been a sweet and friendly girl?
Would she have befriended those tiny
mice, who, I believe, are stars of the
story? In fact, she would have screamed
bloody murder at the sight of six mice
loitering around in her room.
There was so much magic and
fantasy in the story. Would the modern
day Cinderella have believed in that
magic? Would she have easily accepted
a normal pumpkin suddenly turning
into a beautiful carriage? Would she
not have just called the cops on the
weird sparkly lady who broke and
entered into her house? And please
tell me, what lady in her right mind
would wear glass slippers to a dance?
But that way she would not be
Cinderella anymore! She would just be
one of the billions of people populating
this planet. Can you imagine Cinderella
without her glass slipper? Or can you
imagine Cinderella as a cynic who is
not overawed by all the magic around
her?
hat If Cinderella
Was Alive Today?
W
Kushal Tatariya