New Delhi: A Kerala woman Arundhati on Saturday wrote to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, inviting him to her wedding in December, while recalling how she got inspired by the latter that “being emotional is not a weakness”.
In an emotional letter to the Uttar Pradesh CM, whom she considers an elder brother, Arundhati wrote: “With immense happiness and heartfelt respect, I am writing to invite you to one of the most precious occasions of my life — my wedding with Rahul, which will be held on December 20 at Green Park Convention Centre in Kerala’s Aluva.”
Recalling how the Chief Minister became her source of motivation, she said: “When I was young, whenever I got hurt or felt deeply about something, I used to cry. Some of my friends would tell me that being emotional was a weakness and that I needed to be strong. Slowly, I began to believe that showing emotions was something I should be ashamed of. I wondered whether I could ever become a strong person if I was someone who could cry easily.”
“One day my cousin brother showed me a video of you in which you became emotional and cried while expressing your feelings. He told me something that I have never forgotten: ‘Being emotional or crying does not make you weak. Be like Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Ji. Let your work answer everything’,” she mentioned.
She said that the words changed the way she looked herself.
“For the first time, I understood that strength doesn’t mean that we never feel emotions. I understood that being strong can also mean having the courage to feel them and a reason to stand back up and continue moving forward,” she added.
Arundhati recalled that since then, whenever she was engulfed in self-doubt, she reminded herself that “strength is not about hiding who we are”.
“It is about what we choose to do with our lives, our responsibilities and our challenges,” she emphasised.
Addressing CM Yogi Adityanath, she said: “That is why, for me, you are more than a leader. In a way, I have always looked upon like an elder brother, someone whose journey has given me courage and inspiration.”
She also added that the Uttar Pradesh CM’s “combination of discipline, determination, courage and the willingness to take responsibility” is what inspired her.
Before beginning a completely new chapter of her life, she said that she wanted to invite someone who “unknowingly became a part of her journey towards becoming stronger and believing in herself”.
Acknowledging the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister’s busy schedule, Arundhati has also written that if he is unable to attend the ceremony in person, even a message conveying his best wishes and blessings would be invaluable to her.
She expressed her gratitude to CM Adityanath for teaching her, through a single lesson, to accept her emotions rather than regard them as a weakness.
–IANS–
