The Definition of Beautiful

Prologue

Nidhi's POV

"I can't believe Mom is making me stay in the dorms this year! I was perfectly fine in the apartment by myself. But of course, Naina gets to use it because her college is closer to the apartment." I said to myself, as I lugged the last of my luggage to my new dorm room.

Then my phone buzzed in my pocket.

*1 notification from Facebook*

I opened Facebook up and there was a picture of me and Naina which Naina had posted on her account. The picture was taken just before I drove here to the dorm, where I would stay for the next year.

'Missing my sis already! How do I look?' read the caption below the picture. Typical Naina.

First there would be comments below that read Hot, and Sexy which I was used to. Then came the comments that said 'sexier than your geeky sister...no offense Nidhi.', which was something I was also used to. The traditional stinging behind my eyelids would come and I would blink them away, just like always. It was always like this. Through my entire life, I was always compared to my sister in terms of my beauty. Sure, I was smarter than her but nobody cared in today's society. Even Amma and Appa looked at Naina with more pride.

Naina studied Fashion Design and Technology at FDTU, a very honored school. Meanwhile, I joined the local Engineering and Health Sciences college, pursuing a Nursing degree. Naina was far more successful than me, winning 10 beauty pageants and modeling for top companies. Mom and Dad never minded that she was becoming so Americanized. They personally held it against me for acting so 'desi'.

Um excuse me, I am Desi!

I shook these thoughts away as I set the boxes near the empty wardrobe across my roommate's bed. She had a huge poster of a popular bollywood actor on her wall, which was accompanied by framed quotes of famous writers.

A girl hummed softly as she walked out of the bathroom. She stopped when she saw me.

"Oh, Uh...Hi!" she said brightly after getting past the awkwardness.

"Hey! I'm Nidhi. 3rd year Nursing."

"I'm Meera. Meera Ranawat." she replied as she stuck out her hand. I shook it.

"I have a feeling we are going to be best of friends Nidhi." she said, with a smile.

After unpacking and settling in, Meera and I went in search of some food. But on our way to the café, I spotted a board.

It read Professor Derek's Question of the Day. Seems Interesting!

It had a question on it. "Social Networking: Yes or No?" I decided to give my opinion and picked up the dry-erase marker and began to write.

It honestly depends. Social Networking can be an easy way to reach out to people for a good cause but at the same time when people use it as a place to insult people or to give out unnecessary personal information, it becomes unsafe. Some opinions are not meant to go out on social media because it simply causes an uproar. So again, I would mostly say that it depends on what you use it for and how much of your personal info you give out.

I finished and wrote my name under it in clean print. Meera said "Wow girl, I totes agree."

We went to the canteen and grabbed some sandwiches. We began to talk about ourselves. When walking back to the dorm, I saw a new reply to the debate question on the board.

Shouldn't people be entitled to their own opinions? -Randhir.

Meera gasped. "Randhir Shekhawat, the Randhir Shekhawat.."

 "What about him?" I asked.

"Engineering Student. Has a big brain but an ego that comes along with it. He is scary, I swear. He was in my second year Sociology class."

"Well I don't care. Let me answer this guy." I said, determined. I always liked a good challenge.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But it doesn't mean they can abuse social media to get their opinions across, especially when it's hateful and hurts the other person.

I finished and looked up only to see a handsome guy stand in front of me, his arms crossed. Meera had her eyes wide open at the sight.

"Well, I must say. You aren't completely dumb for a woman." he said with a smirk.

"And who are you to call me dumb? And who told you women are dumb? That is extremely disrespectful." I said.

"You never said anything about saying my opinion in front of you. You just had a problem with social media and people abusing it to get their own opinions across."

"I thought you would be smart enough to understand but fine, I will explain it to you. Opinions should be kept to yourself when they may hurt the other person or group of people. My mother taught me this in 4th grade. That's how smart women are." I said. Meera smiled.

"You, you clashed with Randhir?" Meera asked me in awe after we reached our dorm room.

"What does he think of himself huh? Insulting women like that. He's just a male chauvinist. I managed to not encounter him for 3 years of college and hope to never encounter him again." I said.

The next morning, Meera and I both had a lecture at 9:00 for Expressive Writing. I had straightened my unruly locks with the help of Meera and clipped my hair back. I wasn't much of a makeup person but I just wore some light make-up. Meera wore a little more make-up than me but she looked gorgeous even naturally.

We walked to the lecture hall. I sat down in an empty table next to Meera. Suddenly, I spotted Randhir walk in angrily after spotting me sitting down.

"How dare you to speak like that to me yesterday??" He said dragging me to the middle of the classroom.

"Fight! Fight!" The class yelled. Meera stood up shocked.

"Hey, hands off of me! What do you even think of yourself huh? Clearly you don't know how to respect women." I said, yanking my hand out of his hold.

"Hey, you-" he said but stopped as a young male professor entered the classroom.

"What is going on! Sit down you two." He said.

Randhir sat behind me, an angry look on his face. Oh, so he was in the class? Oh dear, I have to deal with his nonsense now all year!

Desi: Loose term for the people, cultures, and products of the Indian subcontinent or South Asia and their diaspora.