About Me:

My name is Pallavi Singh. I am a 20 year old from Hyderabad. I don’t really know what to
write about myself or what the objective of the assignment is to create a structured write up.
The concept of writing about myself feels uncomfortably juvenile and narcissistic. Mostly I
think there isn’t enough to write. I figured I would include how I feel about the assignment
as it would be reflective of some aspect of me. I could cover my life chronologically and
draw a detailed description of my time growing up but instead I will try to talk about things
that I struggle with and try to work upon because they define me and my disposition right
now more than anything else. Also, because it is a part of an assignment in an educational
setting, guidance of any nature and form would be really welcome and beneficial.

I think being a person is like learning to draw. You start drawing by mapping down on
paper semi-formed symbols of things around us. To learn to draw, really draw, we need to
learn to discard our preconceptions and observe the things around us. We start as a
collection of temperamental dispositions, associations, and perception of the things around
us. All children. We have fixed habits and responses to things built by years of conditioning.
And then slowly we start to realise that our belief systems are based on stereotypes instead
of facts. You slowly start to re-evaluate the beliefs you hold. Then you realise that there are
a hundred different faults in how you perceive and interact with the world. You realise you
are entitled, ego-centric, scared, and un-sure. Your perception of the world skewed, your
responses to people inconsiderate, your understanding of social context and norms
insufficient. I think that’s what defines me the most as a person. Somewhere, I randomly
started to observe myself and realised that huge parts of me growing up don’t align with my
sense of morality. I grew up in an extremely conservative religious family with very little
exposure to people different from me. The place allowed no room to deviate from rigid
social regulations. I had to sit down and really really think about who I wanted to be
because I wasn’t satisfied with who I was at all. I was hypersensitive, incapable of taking
feedback, demonised people with criticism, but primarily unkind. That’s something I didn’t
want to be. I had the time and opportunity to introspect and grow. I would love to say that I
figured people out, my goals out, fixed hurtful behavioural habits but it takes time and I get
a little better everyday. So that’s how I see myself, someone fundamentally flawed who gets
a little kinder, a little better everyday.

Things I am passionate about: Everything I make, Politics, banter about sociology, my little
sister (A conversation about her is an endless void of affectionate and goofy stories you’ll
not escape), food, and the doggies of our campus.
Politics: A centralist who leans towards the left but practically ultra left in the current
political scenario.
I can draw up detailed family charts of all the dogs that reside on our campus.

Things I struggle with: Social anxiety- I find it really scary to interact with large groups of
people and my definition of large can vary dramatically from ay-to-day. Social Interaction- I
am a high functioning autistic person. I’ve had the privilege of receiving a diagnosis and
support pretty early on but I still struggle with humour, social behaviour, and context. This
usually just results in awkward social interaction and jokes no one gets. I barely interacted
with people at school out of the fear go being picked upon and disliked. I am still learning to
loosen up and take pride in everything I am.