Why a butterfly tattoo?

I get asked this question many a times by friends and have responded a few times. Few have commented that it is one of the most tattooed image/ thing, few have said there are many hidden meanings and few have said it looks too simple for my taste and thought (really now!). Other than researching on where to get a tattoo from, which professional artist is good and which studio is safe and hygienic - I never researched on what the butterfly design commonly means. That is because the image and the idea to have it is quite personal and specific to me. I have always loved and been amused by butterflies, right from childhood. They are free, fluttering, vibrant but delicate, hardly stay still for long, are light and appear to fly without effort. They do no harm and is a delight to (most) beholders. Am yet to hear someone say they hate the sight of butterflies. And they are so easy to be hurt if not handled appropriately. While it is not too easy to capture one, a butterfly in the hands of an insensitive 'capturer' is as good as brutally sucked out of all that lightness, freedom and vibrancy. I relate so much to these. I love the lightness of being, the freedom and ability to ascend smoothly, being active and vibrant and not being easily locked by anything. And without knowing anything about my amusement for the creatures, an Upper Primary teacher of mine used to call me a butterfly for fluttering all around the class ;)

#SitWithMe Inaugural Session @ Infosys Thiruvananthapuram

The very short set of thoughts I had delivered @ Infosys Thiruvananthapuram as part of inaugural session for 'SitWithMe' initiative:

Be it the IT services industry that we are part of or, any other profession for that matter, I feel a woman is no less than any individual be it in intellectual ability, hunger to learn and, potential to perform. There needs to be acceptance of few facts in the first place. It is a fact that we live in a society and there are societal expectations that tend to overwhelm many - especially women. I feel a lot of men or at least a few too go through these expectation management and multitasking challenges. 

• Man or Woman - the first step is to realize and accept that you have no super powers. 
• Second is to ruthlessly prioritize on what is important for you to do and, do it - giving your best. 
• Third is not to feel guilty about everything else that did not get done. 
• Fourth step (one that has been pretty difficult for me initially) - is to learn and practice to "gracefully ignore" irritants. 
• Final and most important is to spend a little time understanding what makes you happy and try to give yourself that bit of true happiness. 

No one can limit our potential and ability to perform or, outperform - other than we ourselves.