Sick at Heart

For the world, you appear like a perennially sick person — someone always suffering from one or the other disease. But only you know where the real problem lies. It is not in that knee that doesn’t stop giving you trouble or that unsettling cough or the floaters in your eyes or your a little too much hair-fall. It lies in your heart.

All your physical ailments rise from the pain that your heart is suffering from. But no one recognises that as the real cause. “If only you were more careful…” is all you get.

But you know, better than any doctor, that the day your heart’s suffering stops, so will all your physical ailments. So will all your medicines. So will all the unnecessary trouble that your near and dear ones are going through for you. Then and only then, will you be completely fine. Then you will no longer be sick at heart.

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A World Free of Guilt

Don’t you wish if the world we live in could just let us live & not throw on us the heavy weight of guilt of so many kinds? Well, I certainly do! Come on, think of it. There are so, so many types of things that all of us would go ahead and accomplish, if only others wouldn’t judge us. Here’s a list off the top of my head. Feel free to add to it!

• Eating a high in calories something, knowing that it would add to your already overweight self.
• Falling in love with someone years or cultures apart.
• Letting oneself out without any makeup at all, with all of your marks, dark circles and acne on display because you are just not in the mood.
• Stealing a little “me-time” for yourself, even though your family screams for attention.
• Not replying to a colleague because hello, that is why you took a holiday. That is what an “off” means.
• Binge-watching the silliest stuff on TV or internet and discussing it with your friends.
• Celebrating your birthday with the same fervour that you had as a child.
• Crying your heart out in public because you can’t hold yourself all together anymore.
• Laughing out loud on the faces of those you find ridiculous.
• Saying no to your loved ones and going ahead with what you think is right.
• Wearing what you like, anytime and anywhere.
• Saying what you like, anytime and anywhere.

• Doing what you like, anytime and anywhere.

But maybe not today. Maybe not another day. Maybe in another life. Maybe in another world free of guilt.

Hurting Someone

What’s the worst that could come out of hurting someone? They would never talk to you? They would never do anything for you later? They would never think of you in the same way again? No, that is not certainly it.

The worst thing would be when you get hurt yourself too. At times, even more than you actually hurt the other person. And then, you can’t forgive yourself for it.

That’s the case when you hurt someone you love.

So spare yourself.

The Right Time

It is said that there is a right time for everything. So exactly when is it?

When is the right time to get married?

When is the right time to have a baby?

When is the right time to move in or move out?

When is the right time to quit?

When is the right time to say yes?

When is the right time to further your educational qualifications?

When is the right time to ask someone out?

When is the right time to pursue your hobby?

When is the right time to finally take that trip?

When is the right time to make a big investment?

When is the right time to tell the truth?

When is the right time for a change?

The answer to all of the above questions and many, many more is this — WHEN YOU ARE REALLY READY.

That’s it. Nothing, I repeat, nothing else matters. For when you are truly ready in your head and your heart, you will find a way even in the midst of the worst of situations. Plus, you will not have anyone else to blame. After all, it was completely your call. It was all you!

When Words Fail

Have you ever been in a situation where no matter how hard you thought, you just could not come up with any word? When you went BLANK? It happens when no amount of words, strung together even in the most beautiful manner, seem just “right.”

Today, I heard of a colleague who had a miscarriage. She and I were not even on talking terms for very long. But when I heard of what happened to her, something inside me felt quite strongly for her. It might have transpired from the fact that one of my closest friends recently had a baby and God knows how happy I was for her! Having seen her get through that entire journey along with her share of struggles gave me a sense of how big a deal it was for someone — especially the mother. So setting apart all my differences with my colleague, I decided to text her as she rested at home. That is when it happened.

No words came to me. None. Nothing seemed just enough. Either to soothe her or tell her how I empathised with her. Yet, I sent her a short message.

It is in times like these that hugs work wonders. A single warm hug says what a thousand words never could.

You Will Be Just Fine

Not a clue
Of how to go along.
Not a star of hope
In the dark sky.
Not a sign
That something will happen.
Still, you will be fine.

Not a person
By your side.
Not a situation
In your stride.
Not a thing
To make you smile.
Still, you will be fine.

Just a voice
To keep you going.
Just a heartbeat
To keep you pushing.
Just a hope
To keep you hanging.
Yes, you will be just fine.

Starting Afresh

“What? You want to leave everything you have got till now and start over? From scratch?” they asked.

“I want to start afresh,” she said.

“It’s the same! Plus, it’s insane,” they emphasised.

“What if it will make me happy?” she asked.

“What if you end up disappointed?” they asked back.

“At least I would have tried. I would then be fine with whichever way the result swings,” she said.

“We don’t want to see you fall,” they softly said.

“What if I fly?” she wondered aloud.

After that, she started afresh.

Call Me My Age

Call me my age
Because I won’t have it any other way.
Treat me my age
Because I have earned it anyway.

I am a lady,
No longer a girl.
It’s no longer “Sadie,”
“Sarah” can’t be taken for a whirl.

My looks might deceive
But my words will not.
What my past did receive,
My present will not.

I do still have within
Happiness, confusion and rage.
But how they have changed out and in!
So call me my age.

Tying Her Shoelaces

An army officer for whom his uniform, duty and country are everything, during an earthquake rescue operation, sees the girl who rejected him thrice volunteering as a doctor. In the midst of all the commotion, he walks up to her, as she stands stunned herself. Without a word, he bends over and puts down his army helmet that he had been carrying in his hand on the ground at her feet, and goes on to tie her open shoelaces. After that, he leaves.

That is one of the best moments of Descendants of the Sun, a South Korean TV show. If this won’t make you see it, I don’t know what would!

What’s in a Name?

The name we go by becomes our identity. It is something we hear innumerable times each day and every single time, we pay attention when it’s taken. It is what we are introduced as to people we might have never even come across. So many emotions connected to us ring in the hearts of people who know us when our name rings in their ears. Still, what is in a name?

Even with all the above taken into account, I believe one is more than their name. Way more. A few syllables may introduce us and help with the first impression. But they have no control over the lasting impression we make on someone. Just like our appearance, our name also has its limitations.

At the end, it all boils down to the fact that people forget what we say or do for them but they never forget how we make them feel. That is why names are forgotten easily but the person beneath one came to know remains firmly imprinted in the mind.

So what is in a name?
A jasmine would retain its fragrance even if called a cactus.