My phone rang. I saw a number that was not on my contact list. I did not know who it was (note: this was before Truecaller). I assumed it could have been from the company where I had applied for a job. I answered the call.
"Hello," I spoke in my professional voice.
"Hello sir. I am calling from Service first agency. I want to talk to you about the car services we provide. May I speak with you for two minutes about what services we can offer to you", said the woman on the other side.
I was furious for two reasons. First it was not the call I was expecting. Second, despite hearing my voice the caller called me 'sir' instead of 'madam'. It was absurd.
I was fuming and I responded to let them know my feelings, "first of all, call me madam. Do you not understand whether the person is a man or …
turning 20 this year, and I feel this is the time when every decision that I ever took be it aggressive, emotional, sudden, out of pressure, out of fear, out of jealousy, out of hatred and out of anger, it all starts to hit back.
when we enter teenage, we all develope new interests and most of us have this urge to explore the world, explore the trends, live our life as much as we can. Same way, I too started to feel things, started observing people, noticing my surroundings, and somehow always felt that others always had a better life than me.
No matter what I had, no matter what I achieved, no matter how kind and humble I was, I started to slowly fall for the materialistic things that I shouldn’t!
Whenever something extravagant used to happen in someone’s life, I used to wonder,
“Go…
Struggling to order food?
“Sorry I am an introvert”
Feeling anxious at the billing counter?
“Sorry I am an introvert “
Afraid to share an opinion with a gang of friends?
“Sorry I am an introvert”
But what happens when there is no one to help?
You dive in
You figure it out
You save yourself
No techniques. No strategies.
Life simply teaches you to swim.
Being an introvert is never an excuse. Sometimes life pushes us out of our comfort zone and beautifully teaches to find our strength.
I think the saying, “ mil Gaya toh Mitti aur Kho Gaya to Sona” means “ if you have it, it feels like dust, when you lose it, it feels like gold” is actually very true.
Sometime we do not understand the value of a person while they are still around us. We get used to their presence, they cause their messages. They care and even the little things for us. Because they are always there, we start thinking that they will always be there.
Maybe that is where we make our biggest mistake.
When someone genuinely care about us, we may not notice it properly. We might take their efforts for granted because they become part of our life. We expect them to understand us, forgive us, listen to us and stay even when we do not read them the way they deserve. At the time, we may not think about it.
Then o…
17 May: I was going out. I got ready but I realised that I did not have a lipstick in my bag. I asked my colleague Lina to lend me her lipstick. She gave it to me and praised how amazing that lipstick is. "It will plump up your lips", she told me. I did not care about any plumping effect. I applied it and gave it back.
25 May: My lips feel excessive dry. As if someone is stretching the skin. It is a bit discomforting but I think it will pass soon.
26 May: My lips are still dry and the stretching continues. I believe there is nothing to worry about.
28 May: This morning when I looked in the mirror I felt that my lips looked a little bigger, not swollen though. They are still very dry. I guess I should use a lip balm.
30 May: Something is not right. My lips look bigger than they were 2 d…
I was working in the bedroom. It was a regular Wednesday for me. My dad entered the room, this is when I knew there is someone "elderly" in my complex who needs my assistance.
"Mr Joshi will come in the evening to meet you. He has to do something towards the netbanking. Should I ask him to come at 8 PM?" my dad asked me.
"Mr Joshi should visit the bank for the netbanking. I am not the right person. Does he know I am a medical professional and not a financial professional?" I was immediately irritated. Elderly people from my complex ask my assistance for everything from their broken laptops to their bank issues. Frankly I can only answer their queries towards medical and health issues, but apparently I am the "point of contact" for everything.
"He did go to the bank. They told him to get it…
"There was once someone who meant the world to me. I trusted that person without hesitation and believed every word because I never had a reason to doubt their sincerity. I shared my dreams, my fears, my happiness, and the most vulnerable parts of my heart, thinking that trust would always be respected. At the time, it felt like that connection would last forever. But life has a way of revealing people's true intentions. Sometimes, the deepest lessons don't come from strangers—they come from those we once believed would never let us down. That experience didn't just change my view of others; it taught me the importance of valuing myself first".
What is one small lesson you have learned recently that you want to remember? "An empty swing in a quiet park at sunset, a folded letter lying on …
Some people stay for years. Other stay for 5 minutes.
I was thinking about this on my way back today. It's funny how I can barely remember what I had for lunch last Tuesday, but I still remember a conversation between stranger from years ago. Human memories is strange like that. It does not always keep the biggest moment. Sometime it quietly protects the smallest ones.
A few years back, I was travelling alone by train. It was one of those long journeys where everyone's slowly becomes comfortable enough to stop pretending they are strangers. There was an old women sitting across from me. We never exchange names. We didn't not even ask where the other person was from.
At one station, she opened the steel tiffin and look that me for a second.
"You will eat?" She asked.
I smiled and said, "…
Sunday evening I switched off my laptop. I checked the time, it was 7:30 in the evening. It was dark outside. I was hearing bells everywhere, just telling me that it was the time for lighting up the oil lamps in front of our gods - the daily evening religious ritual.
When I got up from my seat I realised that my back was sore from sitting. Even though it was a Sunday I had still worked. This is how it has been going on for last 5 to 6 months. After leaving my corporate job and starting freelance work, this has become my reality and normalcy. Earlier I used to have Saturdays and Sundays of now I work on all days. With that thought I decided that I am not going to work on Monday. I kept my laptop inside my wardrobe. I was determined that Monday was going to be a day off.
On Monday I wo…
I have my personal space and it means a lot to me, like I can't imagine not having my study table decorated. Yes, you read it right, my personal space is my study table and not just that, my diaries, my private folder of photo album and my saved reels, evrything is a part of it and it helps me having a great mood. So, due to this personal space, I don't let people come in my that personal zone which I created for me. Let's say journaling, I was in 9th when I started liking someone and since I had no good friends, I used to tell my diary everything. Since then, diaries became my way to escape the world and I love the way I zone out whenever I either write something in my diary or read something from the past.
I saw one reel asking why do you write and my answer was "I write good memories t…
I work as a freelance educator with an education Technology platform. With each training session conducted now be received a feedback that is generated by AI. There is absolutely no human intervention for this AI feedback. For a session that I recently conducted I received and AI feedback. I take feedbacks positive. I always look for the room for improvement. I opened this AI feedback only to be disappointed.
The feedback told me that I did not interact with the student as per the expectations. The feedback gathered more around not correcting the student for their grammatical mistakes. In reality in my training I was told that we should not be correcting the grammatical errors of the participants. I followed what I was told in the training but I received contradictory feedback. Anyway I …
Finish this thought: "I used to believe... but now I know..."
I used to believe that this world is fair.
That if you were kind then kindness would find its way back to you. That if you worked hard then success would eventually arraive. That if you loved people sincerely they would love you the same way.
It was a beautiful beleif. It made the world looks safe. Predictable.
As though life followed and invisible set of rules where goodness was always rewarded and cruelty is always punished.
But I know that world doesn't always work like that.
I have learned the same of the kindest people carry the deeper wounds. I have watched honest people struggle while those willing to lie and manipulate seem to move ahead without consequences.
I have seen dreams disappear because of circumstan…
"Hi, will you please come to the conference room? I would like to have a word with you," said my team leader T with a strange smile on his face. I knew something was up, but I could not figure out what. Conference room discussions are never good, that has been my experience. When there is a discussion in the conference room with team leader, it is mostly about escalation. I think to myself what the fresh nightamre is going to be now.
"Sure, give me 10 minutes I'll be there," I said in an assertive tone.
" Will you make that faster?" said T impatiently. I was annoyed, I was working on a deliverable. It was more important than the pointless discussion. In my opinion, team leader should have known that.
" I am working on today's a delivery. Let me finish this else there will be some challeng…
Some people stay in our lives for many years, while others are only with us for a short time. It is surprisingly how someone can become an important part of our daily routine, and then slowly disappear from it. Life has a way of bringing people together and quietly taking them in different direction. When I was younger, I believe that every meaningful friendship would last forever. I thought that if two people cared about each other, they would always stay connected. As I have grown older, I have realised that life does not always work that way. People change, priority change, and sometime distance grows without any big argument or reason.
Looking back, I remember many people who were once a big part of my life. Some work classmates, some teachers and some were friends, I talked to almost…
The blame game. Where would one understand such a complicated game other than the corporate? I say this because I myself learned this in the corporate.
Let me describe a very particular incident which told me about the blame game in the corporate. When I had started my corporate career I was working under a team lead. Let's call him A. Most of the times A food appear very friendly. He would never scold or shout at anybody. If somebody made a mistake at work then he would take that person aside. He would speak with that person in a very polite manner understand what had gone wrong. He would understand the root cause and would tell the person that it is okay to make the mistake. A had a very good reputation with his team as well as with the management. It seem that he had no enemies. Ever…
This incident occurred when I was working with a corporate organisation. Our office had provided us with a shuttle facility. I used to take the shuttle facility because it was very convenient. This incident occurred in our shuttle bus.
I prefer to take a window seat. This is because in the travel I do not like to immerse myself into the mobile phone. I like to use my travel time as my off screen time. I tried to avoid my mobile phone while travelling. If I am not looking at the mobile phone then I like to see outside the window. I love watching the lives of other people. I enjoy watching animals from the window while commuting. Another simple reason why I love window seat is because I like the wind against my face. So if window seat is available I will definitely bag that. It does not ma…
This experience comes from my career in the corporate industry. I had joined a new company. Unfortunately I was a place today in the project that was under a lot of pressure and scrutiny. When I joined I was told that the client is unhappy with the work. I also was informed that by recruiting new people like me the management is trying to impress the client and win back the lost trust. It is needless to say that the stakes were high. The pressure that had put on me was tremendous. I was trying my best to live up to the expectations. I had work in corporate before so I was aware of the pressure and I also new how to handle it. I was not afraid or worried about the pressure that was being put on me. But suddenly I was exposed to a new experience.
Being in the corporate I had spoken several…
I always imagined growing up would feel dramatic.
Like there would be one morning where I wake up and suddenly know what I am doing with my life. I thought adulthood would come with some background music, maybe a little confidence to. Turns out, it does not work like that full stop it happen so quietly that you don't even notice it until one random day.
Mine happened at a grocery store, weirdly enough.
I was standing there comparing two packets of rice because one was 20 cheaper. I remember laughing at myself because of few years ago I didn't even knew how much rice cost. I would have just picked whichever packet looked nicer. Now I was actually calculating if saving 20 rupees was worth it. Maybe because it made me realise nobody announces that you're growing up. It just....happens.
There…
Today, I found myself thinking about how difficult it can be to say “no” to people. For a long time, I believed that saying yes was the best way to keep everyone happy. I worried that if I refuse someone’s request, they might think I was rude or selfish. Because of this, I often agreed to things even when I was already busy or tired.
Looking back, I realise that always saying yes was not making my life easier. Instead, it often left me feeling stressed and overwhelmed. I would finish one task and immediately start another without giving myself enough time to rest. Sometime I even felt frustrated, but I can’t expressed those feelings because I had made the choice to take on too much. Today I started thinking differently, I realise that saying no does not mean, that i do not care about other…
I used to think home wasn't address.
A place you could type into Google maps without even thinking I house with familiar walls, the smell of food coming from the kitchen, and a cupboard full of things you never really look that. That's what home men to me for years.
Then I left for College.
Nobody really tells you the hardest part is not leaving. It's coming back.
The first time I come home after almost four months. I had imagined it so differently. I thought everything would feel exactly the same. I even counted days before my train. I had already decided what I wanted to eat first comma my mother's aloo paratha with too much ghee, the one she always say are "not that good" even though they taste better than anything I can buy outside.
When I finally reached home, my mother hug me for …
