People often say, "Just be kind."
But what they don't talk about is how memories shape kindness.
When someone has hurt us before, even their good actions are filtered through old wounds.
And when someone has been good to us for years, we often excuse mistakes we wouldn't accept from others.
We don't respond only to what people do today. We respond to the history we've lived with them.
Trust isn't built in a moment, and neither is doubt.
Have you ever felt like everything was already written… and we are just quietly playing our parts?
I don’t know if it’s true. Maybe no one really knows.
But sometimes life feels too aligned to be random.
A moment. A meeting. A delay.
Something small shifts… and everything changes.
It makes you pause and think—
Was this meant to happen?
Maybe life isn’t fully written.
Maybe it isn’t completely in our control either.
Maybe it’s something in between—
a story with a direction… but space for us to feel, choose, and become who we are.
However, there will always be people who don’t believe in this.
And there will always be people who do.
But, I think, you are what you believe, so, even if life is a script, you still have to perform your part fully, whether it is written or not. Isn't?
Comment down your thoughts.
Before I dive into the full conversation, here’s a quick snapshot of how it began.
I have an Indian friend here in Adelaide, Noor. We met over coffee, and she started talking about an executive manager, Carol, at her office—someone who, according to her, does almost nothing at work.
She apparently watches series at her desk, comes and goes as she pleases, and is only 20, without even a graduation degree. It turned into a stream of corporate-bashing comments.
So naturally, the question came up—why is she still employed? Because she’s the owner’s daughter. That’s where the discussion really started.
Noor: I don’t understand why she doesn’t realise she should study. She doesn’t work, yet still gets paid.
Me: Hmm.
Noor: She’s always talking about her manicures and the new BMW her mom is getting her.
Me: Hmm.
Noor: She should do something on her own, stand on her own feet. And stop saying “hmm” to everything.
At that point, I laughed. Honestly, why does it matter so much? Why should Carol be bothered about what others think, as long as she’s happy?
Not everyone is raised with the same values we are.
In our culture, the conversation doesn’t just stop at basic manners—it stretches into bigger expectations: standing on your own feet, proving your worth, constantly achieving more.
We’re raised with a kind of pressure that pushes us to outperform—even to outdo the imaginary “Sharma ji ka beta.”
But not every culture operates that way. Some people grow up without that constant scrutiny—no one questioning or judging what they earn or how they earn it. And maybe that’s why they move differently, think differently, and live without any weight of expectations.
So while it may seem frustrating from the outside, I don’t see it as something to judge. If she’s content in her world, untouched by the pressure we’ve always known, maybe that’s just a different kind of freedom, I said.
After that little “lecture,” Noor never brought up Carol again. 😄
Cannot believe, Just 15 days to 2021.
World has had
enough of 2020, everyone is very much looking forward to 2021. Having said
that, we should first acknowledge and empathize with all the departed souls
this year and the sacrifice they made in this pandemic battle. This year will indeed
be remembered by all.
However,
this whole thing could not stop us from keep moving. Three cheers for all those
who still made their life events grand by embracing the situation and
compromising the loud celebrations, they are the people who got married this
year, who delivered their baby, who even got into a new job, who are passed out
this year in spite having a continuous stress behind their head. Kudos to them.
And we cannot
thank enough to the healthcare frontliners who worked day and night, keeping
their own family at bay just to save the mankind. Hats off to them.
This year
has been difficult for each one of us, including very young kids but we are
still moving up in this battle, a battle where we all are in it together
against this evil virus. The time is not far where our life will go back to
normal.
But I
contemplate? Are we still same? I do not think so. We all have grownup together
in this challenging situation, where it taught us to stay positive together, to
fight in the battle together, to work together, made us aware of the
significance of maintaining hygiene in our daily lives, made us aware of the importance
of friends family and taught us to value relationship even more, celebrating
life no matter what. We grew up together in this, so a big pat on our back
itself.
We are the survivors;
we are the winners. Celebration for the same is due but hope never dies.
May this
2021 bring good health and happiness into the world.
Happy new 2021
everyone.
It was a long tiring day in the office, and I couldn’t think of anything better than a good sound sleep.
As I was approaching my steps to home, I could hear the loud soap operas’ hilarious background music on television. Laughing in my head, I rang the bell, my mother opened the door with a shining smile and said, “Come beta! you must be really tired, I will get you a cup of green tea" and went to the kitchen. "Oh! Maa, what would I have done without you", I said and laid down on couch. and there it was:
"Sirf chaar hafton me paaye gora nikhar" featuring a girl face in Ravana head style with different shades of skin tone and where the smile keeps on extending with the fairer tone. I was grinning seeing that pictorial portray of shades and how the smile is directly proportion to the lighter skin tone. It was so funny yet dangerous to see that a national commercial gets to decide which skin is no good skin and moreover, misusing their power to guide the Indian population that fair is beautiful, and brown is not.
How naive Indians could be to believe and follow such products from ages.
Indians are brown skinned people. Period. What’s so unacceptable about it? I really don’t understand, what’s the big deal owning brown skin? I think it’s the preaches from ancestral generation which was blindly followed by the people till today; preaches to make brown skinned people uncomfortable with their skin just because they don’t like their skin color. And, that’s so wrong. Commenting on your own people’s color is just disgraceful, it’s like you are making your own community pollute, unsafe, uncomfortable to live in.
Moreover, why do people are even obsessed with fair skin. This is one thing I guess I would never understand in my life. Why do people run after such products to get a fairer skin? Every human being is god's beautiful creation, disrespecting them on basis of looks means disrespecting god himself.
Audrey Hepburn once said:
"For beautiful eyes,
look for the good in others.
For beautiful lips,
speak only words of kindness
For poise
walk with the knowledge that you are never alone
and I believe happy girls are the prettiest
because elegance is the only thing that never fades away"
Then why do you need fair skin? As long as you are smiling whole heartedly, I bet no other makeup or skin tone can brighten up any face in that matter.
Listen girl/boy, if you ever have been felt insecure by the sick hater’s comment, don’t care about it because they don’t care about you.
Well I am not here to say what should be done on these haters comment, but I am here today to emphasize on this whole skin color discrimination first place.
Try to make your community comfortable and livable
for all types of skin color, and that’s not too much to ask for.
Let’s celebrate beauty beyond color and learn to respect all skin color.
Do your bit and encourage people around you for not being biased based on skin color.
Be responsible and do your part, rest will make
the world a better place to live and breathe.
You are the change. And, remember….
Brown is Beautiful!
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| PC: Google Image |
