No filter. What has been frustrating you that you…
No filter. What has been frustrating you that you have not said out loud?
How people are so job-oriented when there's so much more to life. It's understandable that one needs money to survive, but i think that humans are so much more than just working a corporate job with a mundane routine.
Why must we already start thinking about future prospects while we're still teenagers? This should be the time to explore and learn about ourselves, not dive head first into internships and career opportunities.
I want to explore the world. I am so much more than what I am right now. A job will not solve anything when I'm so eager and curious to grow.
I wish I could stop getting bothered by it all.
I wish it was as easy to be expressive as to breathe for me.
But it's as difficult as to idk, it's just feels difficult.
Everyone loves expressive people and I can't easily do that. I can maybe but it doesn't always come easy to me.
It's feels suffocating knowing you're not liked more because you're not expressive or because you're boring.
"Aap bolna chahti hain lekin bol nhi paati hain." is gonna stick with me for long.
No filter. What has been frustrating you that you have not said out loud?
It was the sacred month of Shravan. Though I am a non vegetarian I tried to avoid eating non vegetarian meals during this sacred month. On some specific days (Tithi) and before and after them I make sure that I do not consume meat. On some of the days (Tithi) I fast as well. While not many people are aware of this I also do not openly talk about it.
Once it was one of the days when I was fasting. That day I had consumed only fruits and milk. While working I was approached by a friend Sagar (pseudonym). He had brought biscuits and he offered those to me. I told him that I would not consume them because I am fasting.
"Whoa. Really?" He asked me appearing surprised.
" Yes really," I responded in a close alignment with his question. I was completely unaware that it was going to be a heated d…
I have realized something in life- when something so drastic or horrible happens to us , we think we might break - but still the level of emotions does not reach that peak, we somehow survive it .
One of my closest relative passed away and all through while he was struggling to survive i prayed, i cried and i begged to the universe for a miracle
But when nothing of that sorts happened, and he went away - i don't know , i sort of became numb and now i have no more tears to shed
And i thought this made me an unfeeling person but i guess it's because , i have finally realised that some things are never in our hands - we can cry , we can yell but at the end of the day we have no control over it whatsoever
And the best thing you can do is to learn how to live with it. Ik it makes us feel help…
I had gone to the local market to buy fresh fruits and vegetables. I had stopped near a farmer who was selling fresh fruits. I was picking up the apples that I wanted to buy. While I was carefully examining the apples I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder. I thought it must be a friend or a relative who wanted to speak with me. I turned around to see a man. This man appeared to be someone from remote village. He had covered his head with a white cloth making a traditional pheta (traditional way of wrapping a cloth on head). He was wearing a kurta with dhoti in traditional way. This man appeared to be in his 50s. I had never saying this man in my life and I did not even know him. I could not understand why he tapped on my shoulder.
I looked at him angrily and asked him, "why did you touch me…
Being easily influenced means even when I hold a truth with 100% conviction—something I’ve personally experienced and read about—a single contradictory opinion can still spark random doubts.It’s frustrating when someone blabbers about something clearly wrong, yet it lingers in your head.I’m learning to treat my mind like the ground beneath my feet: it belongs to my own thoughts and beliefs, not the noisy opinions of others.
I was attending the wedding of one of my younger cousins. My cousin was approximately 7 year younger to me. All my cousins who wear from the same generation had been married. Now the younger cousins to were getting married. And then it was me who was unmarried at the age of 36. Whenever there would be any family gathering I had to keep my guard up so that I can fight for myself. It was one of such days.
I was joined by one of my cousins, Prarthana, who was elder to me by 7 years. She had been married for over 15 years and now had a quiet the typical mindset of the elderly relatives. She said next to me and said, "are you having fun?"
I thought it was a casual enquiry. I said, "yes. I wish other cousins had joined. It would have been a blast".
She smile almost smirked. Then she said, "o…
A couple days ago I was going through the old photographs. The photographs from the old times - captured on the camera roll and printed on glossy paper. I was going through each and every album from the storage. I was looking at every photograph and thinking about the time it was taken. I was reliving those memories. Some photographs brought the pleasant memories while other brought agony and pain.
One of the albums that I was looking at was from my fifth birthday. I saw a solo photo of myself. I was wearing a blue frock (blue was my favorite colour right from my childhood). I was standing next to the cake. I was smiling. I immediately remembered what I had been feeling when that photo was taken. I was happy not because it was my birthday; I was able to get cake or presents. Rather I was…
A couple of days ago I watched the advertisement featuring Kriti Sanon for the brand Giva. The ad showed that the woman used Giva's silver rakhi for Rakshabandhan. She also ties the rakhi to her pet dog. I watched it and I felt that the outfit in the ad was inappropriate. Somehow my instincts were telling me that this ad is going to create an uproar.
My instincts were right. The ad did create controversy. The ad was criticized for using inappropriate outfits and missing the festive symbolism. In my opinion the criticism was fair. I felt that the backlash was well deserved.
Then came the so called 'befitting' reply from the actresses herself who decided to stand up for herself. She called out the critics by saying who are they to tell a woman what to wear. I used to think that well educat…
It was the year 2022. The COVID-19 pandemic had come to an end. The masks were slipping. The life was coming back to normalcy. I had still been working from home.
One afternoon, dad rushed to my room. He looked worried. I got worried to by seeing him worried. He said, "Mrs Sawant just called. She said she needs your help and has asked you to visit her house".
I checked my calendar. I did not have any planned meetings. I decided to go to Mrs Sawant's home right away. I told my dad, "let me go first and see what has happened. If there is a health emergency I will call you. But don't come unless I call. If I call you, wear a mask and come," I instructed my dad like a school teacher. The danger of contracting an infection was still lingering around and I had to keep my family safe.
Arned w…
Two years ago, a new family moved into our society complex. Their home was on the same floor as ours. The new family, Joshi family, had one major setback though. Mr Joshi was working with merchant navy, who would be away for months. Mrs Joshi and their 2 year old daughter would stay back while Mr Joshi was on duty.
After moving into the neighborhood, it was the first time, Mr Joshi was leaving. Before leaving, he knocked on our door. I opened the door and saw my new neighbor in his officer's uniform. I was impressed.
"Ma'am I am leaving. Please assist my wife and daughter if they need anything," he requested politely.
"Sure," I replied. The trouble started the very next day.
I was leaving for the office. Mrs Joshi called me, "are you going out?"
"I am leaving for my office. My parents a…
I was having breakfast with my friend Sushma in the office cafeteria. We were joined by an uninvited colleague Rajesh. As soon as he decided to join us Sushma and I looked at each other knowing very well that this is not going to be a fun breakfast because everything we say, do, or eat will meet with an "expert" comment from Rajesh who had returned from the US after living their for 3 years.
I had apples and muskmelon in my tiffin for breakfast. Sushma had Upma in her tiffin. Rajesh joined us who was carrying cornflakes and milk for breakfast. He sat down and he did not waste a single second to criticize. He dived in straight with the breakfast.
"Hey buddy, are you on diet? Just eating fruits," Rajesh asked me.
"You may say that. I find it comfortable having fruits in the morning," I trie…
My mom came to my room. She had come with an agenda, "get in touch with Ruhi. She wants to go on shopping with you".
My energy and enthusiasm dropped by 40%. I hate shopping. Especially if I have to go to malls or local market to shop. I hate the insisting shopkeepers. I had no idea why my cousin Ruhi wanted to shop with me instead of my sister who extremely loves shopping.
I texted Ruhi, knowing very well that she hates speaking in the phone. "Hey, mum told me you want to go shopping. When and where?" It is good with Gen Z cousins that they do not want to receive full sentences. Just intent is sufficient for them.
Ruhi was online and was prompt to respond, "Saturday evening. Want to visit that closed market for drip".
I read "drip" and I read it twice. My heart was racing. Someone is un…
I was 4 years old. One day my mother told me that we were going out to get a nice plant of flowers. I was really happy because I always like plants, flowers, and everything that is close to nature. My mother and I went to a nearby nursery. My mother asked me to pick up the plant that I liked the most. I walked around to see which plants were available for sale. Finally I saw a plant of rose. It was bearing a small orange flower and a small bud. I immediately fell in love with that plant. I told my mother that this was the plant that we were taking home.
After leaving the nursery my mom gave me the pot and told me, "this is your plant now. You need to take care of it. I will help you whenever you do not know what to do but you will be responsible to take care of the plant". I was really h…
Some morning skills is different even when nothing special happens.
There is no exciting plan, no important event and nothing particularly interesting. Waiting for the day to begin. Still, there are mornings when I wake up and do not immediately feel like rushing into everything.
One morning like that started with me staying in bed for a few extra minutes. Usually, the moment I wake up i start thinking about everything that I need to do. Sometime I check my phone, look at messages, Think about college work on mentally make a list of things that need to be finished. But this time, I just stayed there for a while.
The room was quite and there was no real reason to get up immediately. I look at the ceiling for a few minutes and slowly become aware of how peaceful the morning actually was.
Ev…
"Sure I will ask her," dad was on phone speaking with someone while entering the room.
"When will you log off?" Dad asked me. I knew there was something out of ordinary in the store for me.
" 7:30 maybe, I am not sure," I responded and awaited what is going to happen next.
"Mr Gokhale wants to meet you," dad informed me that his friend from our complex will visit.
" Why would that be?" I could not see a reason why Mr Gokhale would want to meet me.
"He had some problem with his laptop and he wants to show it to you," dad revealing the reason for this visit.
"Why does he want to show his laptop to me? Does he know that I am a pharmacist and not an engineer? I work with an IT company, but does not make me an IT professional," I was explaining my position.
"Have a look at it once, he would fe…
It Still Looks the Same
I went back to a place I hadn't visited in a long time recently, and the strangest part was that almost nothing had changed.
The same buildings were there. The same road was still crowded. Even some of the small details I remembered were exactly where I'd left them. For a moment, I expected to feel like I had somehow travelled backward in time.
But I didn't.
The place was familiar, yet it didn't feel like home anymore.
That confused me more than I expected.
Maybe Places Don't Change
I've always thought nostalgia was connected to places. We say things like, "I miss that place," as if the location itself is what we're longing for.
But maybe that's not really true.
Maybe we miss who we were when we were there.
A place can stay almost exactly the same while we completel…
The Familiar Things
I've been thinking lately about how strange it is that we usually don't appreciate things while they're still part of our everyday life. A room we've lived in for years, a person we talk to every day, a particular road we take without thinking about it. Because they're always there, they almost become invisible.
Maybe that's what familiarity does. It makes things feel permanent when they're actually temporary.
I don't think we consciously believe that everything will stay forever. We know people move away, places change, routines disappear. But knowing something intellectually is very different from actually feeling it. Somewhere in our minds, we keep assuming tomorrow will look mostly like today.
And then one day, it doesn't.
When Something Becomes a Memory
I find it w…
It's july 24 , and I don't know what I'm doing with my life. It feels like a stabbing pain coming through my heart, teasing my eyes, wrinkling my head. I can't straightify my issues.
Nowadays it just feels too much. I'm not sure I can handle it. My smile is more forced than it has ever been.
Every little headache is overpowering my days and nights, the sleepless nights were never so heavy .
Every nook and cranny of my very being seeks a motive, inner peace which seems like I have never had.
Yes , it can be named as existential crises. Rightnow I'm powerless and I don't know how to separate myself from this constant agony.
When I was ten years old I had a clear idea of of who I would become.
It was never someone sitting behind a desk and staring at spreadsheets, answering emails or rushing between meeting. I didn't understand corporate life then. I didn't know what deadlines were, what office politics felt like kr how exhausting ut could be to spend an entire day pretending to have more energy than you actually did.
When I was ten I wanted to be someone completely different. May be an astronaut. May be an explorer who travelled to places that nobody has ever seen.
My dreams changed every few weeks. Sometimes it depends on the last movie I watched. But the common thing I had in all that is that everything was full of adventures.
Now years later I sit in an office surrounded by glass walls and artifici…
I participate in a lot of market research activities. As a result of these activities I received a lot of gift cards. These gift cards are use to purchase groceries as well as for shopping. I never had any problem with the gift cards that I had received and I was able to redeem them without any hassle. Until yesterday.
Last morning I received a gift card for Flipkart for rupees 300. I proced date to redeem that gift card. I visited the site of Flipkart and ended the details of the gift card there. It showed me the error that the gift card is invalid. I tried entering the details again but received the same error. I did what ideally should have been done. Iot hell with the virtual chatbot that has been made available on Flipkart.
I explain the issue to the chatbot in very simple languag…
Maybe We're Always Becoming Someone ElseThe Person I Used to Be
Every once in a while, I find myself thinking about the person I was a few years ago. Not because I miss that version of myself, but because they feel like a stranger I somehow remember very well. I know what they dreamed about, what they feared, and the things they believed would never change. Yet if I met that person today, I wonder if we'd even recognize each other.
It's strange to think that we're constantly leaving old versions of ourselves behind without ever saying goodbye. There's no ceremony, no final conversation, no moment where we officially stop being one person and become another. It simply happens while we're busy living our lives.
Change Rarely Announces Itself
When I was younger, I imagined change as something…
I work as a freelance educator with an online platform. With this online platform I had student called Pooja (pseudonym). She had signed up for classes with me for approximately 4 months. Now her classes are coming to the end. Pooja died had expressed that he wishes to continue however he hadn't mention to me for how long they wished to continue. As they haven't yet renewed their course there was a ceremony held for Pooja.
When I received the instructions towards the ceremony to be held for Pooja, I understood that it is not for celebration but an attempt to make Pooja's parents renew the course. It actually did not fit into my principal's have ever I am bound by the rules and policies of the platform. I made the arrangement for the virtual ceremony. A lot of things happened at the cerem…
The difference between missing someone and missing a time in my life.
There was a time when I thought i missed certain people very deely. Where i looked at old photos or read old chats, i felt emotional. I believed that what i wanted was for those people to come back into my life. But as i have grown, i have started to understand something different. Maybe i do not pnly missed the people, maybe i miss the time when they were part of my life. Some chapters of life have a feeling that is difficult to describe. My first year of college is one of them. Everything was new. Every day felt like a new experience. I was meeting new people, learning, new things, and slowly becoming more independent. There was excitement, nervousness, happiness, and even confusion. Looking back now I realise I miss that phase more than anything else.
Of course, the people from the tim…
Today I visited my favourite place to relax. For me, it is the small temple of Lord Krishna and Radha near my home. Whenever I feel tired stress on my mind is too busy with thoughts. I like to go there for quite time. The temple is simple and peaceful. There are beautiful idol of Krishna playing the flute and Radha standing beside him. They are dressed in bright colourful clothes with fresh flowers around them. The soft smell of fresh flowers always makes me feel calm the moment I step inside the gate.
I like to sit there on the cool marble floor for a while sometime. I close my eyes and just breathe slowly and deeply. The gentle chanting or quite sound of bells in the background feels very smooth to my ears. No one disturb me there. It is a place where I can leave all my worries and probl…
Today I realise my favourite time of the day is the evening when I talk to my mom and then watch Netflix. These two things together make me feel truly happy and relaxed about a long and tiring day. First, I talk to my mom. Hearing her familiar and lovely voice always feels warm and comforting. We talked about simple everyday things what we ate today, How work or studies went and small family news or just a funny thoughts or gossiping about the relatives haha. She listened very patiently and gives me good advice or makes me laugh with her own stories. Even if we talk for only 10 to 15 minutes, that conversation filled my heart with love and peace, but my mom is a chatterbox, so she talk to me all the day when I’m busy or I’m studying or I’m doing whatever, but she talks a lot, and I love he…
