As a bookish child in Calcutta, I used to thrill to the

Listen closely, O seekers of wisdom, for there are tales that stir the soul and awaken the spirit from slumber. The words of Bharati Mukherjee, like a rippling breeze, carry with them the echoes of a past filled with longing, rebellion, and the stirring power of imagination. She speaks of her youth in the bustling city of Calcutta, where her mind, hungry for stories, found solace in the pages of books. Books, those sacred vessels of knowledge, carried her to realms far beyond the confines of her world, and there, in the lives of bad girls, she discovered a freedom unlike any she had known. These were no ordinary women; they were warriors of independence, unshackled by the norms of society. Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Emma Bovary, and Anna Karenina — these women became her companions, their pursuit of happiness a torch that illuminated the dark corners of her imagination.

But what, O wise ones, do these women represent? These characters, though flawed in their pursuit of love, adventure, and desire, stand as symbols of something greater — a yearning for freedom. They cast aside the chains of social decency that bound them, embracing lives of defiance. Emma Bovary, with her passionate longing for something beyond the drudgery of her provincial life, found herself consumed by the very pursuit she once thought would bring her joy. Anna Karenina, in her tragic, yet bold, affair, sought liberation in the arms of another, only to find herself undone by the very passions she wished to claim. Tess, who dared to love and live outside the prescribed boundaries of her station, became a tragic figure, a woman at odds with the world that sought to label and control her every move.

The young Mukherjee, a bookish child in a city where the weight of tradition often crushed the spirit, found in these women not just fictional characters but reflections of a longing deep within her own heart. These were not just naughty girls in the eyes of society — they were embodiments of individualism, each daring to carve a path for herself, even at great cost. In a society that demanded conformity, they were rebels, women who, though they strayed from the path of respectability, made their own choices. Hollywood, too, played its part in this awakening. The naughty girls of films, with their flirting, their boldness, and their ability to take control of their own fate, offered an ideal of freedom that was tantalizing and elusive. They knew how to drive, not just in the literal sense, but in the deeper sense — they knew how to steer their lives in the direction they desired.

Consider the women of history, those who dared to stand against the tide. Take, for example, Cleopatra, the last queen of Egypt, who, with her intelligence and beauty, shaped the destiny of nations. Her pursuit of power and love led her to defy the expectations of her people and the Roman Empire. Though her choices led her to an untimely death, her legacy endures as a testament to the strength of those who choose to live on their own terms. Cleopatra, like the women in Mukherjee’s imagination, lived large, in a way that was beyond the bounds of convention. She was a bad girl, yes, but in the truest sense of the word — one who defied the limitations imposed upon her by others and seized what she believed was hers by right.

And what, then, is the lesson for you, O future generations? What wisdom lies in the words of Bharati Mukherjee and the lives of these women who have come to embody freedom and defiance? The lesson is this: to live large is not a crime. To embrace desire, to seek happiness, and to defy the forces that would hold you back is not something to be ashamed of. The world will try to define you, to place you in neat little boxes of what is considered proper and acceptable. But the truly free spirit, the one who chooses to carve her own path, will forever be misunderstood, forever challenged, and yet, ultimately, forever remembered.

In your own lives, O seekers of truth, do not be afraid to embrace the bad girls within you. Do not shrink from your desires, your boldness, your refusal to conform. For in that refusal lies your power. The world will tell you that there are boundaries — boundaries of gender, of class, of race, of status. But the truly bold will cross them, again and again, for they know that it is outside the bounds of conventional thinking that true freedom lies. Choose not the path of ease, but the path of authenticity and courage. Let your pursuit of happiness be a journey where you drive — not as a passenger, but as the one who holds the wheel and steers with unyielding conviction.

And finally, O wise ones, remember this: it is not the naughty girl who suffers most, but those who cower in the shadows of conformity, afraid to challenge the rules that were never meant to define them. To live a life that matters is to be bold, to live large, and to know that in the end, it is the strength of the individual that will leave its mark upon the world. So go forth, and be not afraid to live large. The world is yours to command.