Nerd Girl

The Merriam- Webster Dictionary defines the word nerd as-

: a person who behaves awkwardly around other people and usually has unstylish clothes, hair, etc.

: a person who is very interested in technical subjects, computers, etc

 

It was never cool to be a nerd before #Mark Zukerberg, the most difficult time being high school where like Lindsay Lohan in Mean Girls girls  faked their intellect in non-girl subjects like Mathematics and Physics.

Here's how most of my conversations went when I chose Mechanical Engineering

 

Aunty1- So beta, what stream you chose?

Me- Aunty, Mechanical

Aunty1- aaye hai ( Oh-My God) Computer IT nahi mila? Percentage toh acche hein tere! (You didn't get Computer/IT, I heard you had good percentage)

Me- No Aunty I wanted to do Mechanical. Don't want to do Programming. (No offence to people who do, it takes lot of patience which I lack)

Aunty 1- Oh really! Its going to be hard work you know, its for boys.

 

And as soon as I turn my back, the gossip went like this-

" She is crazy, will be difficult for her mother, she is such a tom-boy"

 

Bottom line is- The very first assumption with girls in Mechanical is, we didn't get enough marks to land in Electronics/ Computer/IT. The next assumption is that we are tom-boys by heart, which I am if we have to go by the strictest meaning of the word. But I am also a fan of Nail colours, and used to meticulously change and match my dress with nail colours every day! Does that make me a non- tom boy?

 

But still the term "nerd" is stuck to me, right from the time my would-be husband came to see my room and saw all the books I read. I am obsessed with books and can read any damn book! That maybe makes me a nerd. But its not easy to be labelled a "nerd" either. Google "Idiot Nerd Girl" and you will get the gist, It was a meme that peaked in 2010 and is a image of a "fake nerd girl". The idea is that a girl cannot be a "nerd" and if she says she is - she is faking it!

So that's the whole issue- Girls cannot even be labelled nerds! (*not crying sexism, time to prove them wrong*)
 

 

And if I want to self-label myself a nerd I have to pass many tests made by self- proclaimed territory protectors (Read Nerd-guys) So I thought let me make a list of things I am obsessed with as obsession with something is a prime requirement of being a nerd.

So as I mentioned already,

1.I am obsessed with books, chick-lits, biographies, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Classics. It could be any genre.

2.Next comes Comics- mainly the Avengers & X- Men. I was obsessed with them before they were made famous by Hugh Jackman.

3. WW2- My obsession started with Anne Frank's Diary back in school and then I had to educate myself with all the documentaries from Discovery Channel and the books.

4. Supernatural- The series and the genre. Plain obsession, nothing else beats it. Yet to find anyone as obsessed as me irrespective of gender.

5. Bikes- Again, being a girl I am supposed to fake my knowledge in it from fear of being ridiculed at or being labelled a wananbe-cool. But I am obsessed. I just cannot not (use of double negatives for emphasis) show interest in a features of a Cruiser /sports Bike. Latest obsession being a Thunderbird 350cc.
6. Linkin Park - I did not suddenly wake up to them but like any average teenage girl graduated from Enrique, Boyzone, Backstreet Boys to MLTR and finally Linkin Park. I have this weird habit of always checking where they are performing next and my bucket list includes wanting to see them perform live once!

7. Football- There was a time in my teenage I never missed a League Match too, Now with a baby and all, its difficult to follow, but I do know Barcelona won this year! That's about it, In my age (I speak as if I am 100) I could name each and every player of each and every club & country with the records the players held, and it wasn't a knowledge acquired for show-off. I was genuinely interested. I would still any day take a 90 min football match over a one-day. And think of it, India is not playing so no emotions, no heart-break!

8. Harry Potter- Can watch it endless times.

I made a mind map of how my thoughts run when I come across anything which pretty much sums up my Gemini thought process.

Here goes-

 

Then there are things I am not obsessed about that supposedly throw me right out of the nerd category

1. Star Wars/ Star Trek- Never seen, not even interested.

2. Lord of Rings- Not interested again

3. Fast & Furious- Never Seen, only Vin Diesel movie I like is Pacifier :-)

4. Matrix Revolutions- Seen but not obsessed.

5. Game of Thrones- Yet to watch.

 

And then there are things I like which make me a truly feminine girl

1. SATC- Still watch re-runs

2. Grey's Anatomy- Loved the spoof on Supernatural and got addicted during maternity leave.

3. Crazy about nail colours- guess that puts me in dumb blonde category.

 

Point is whatever I might be, nerd or not, I take pride in being enthusiastic about things I love. I can hold a conversation and at least have an opinion about things. Not many people ( again regardless of gender) can boast of that.

Its time we all embrace our inner nerds and be openly in love with things that give us pleasure without being afraid of being ridiculed or bullied as the Idiot Nerd Girl.