Dear Me: I thought 2021 would change us but..
Dear Me,
This year was supposed to be different, I had high hopes. I had thought that with last year being this annus horribilis we would have all learnt to be kinder, have more gratitude, be content but Nah ! back to being the same. As someone just put it, Hum nahin sudharenge (we will not change). We are just the same. I had thought that the covid would have an expiry date and all the bleakness and darkness would go away and the weariness of last year would just disappear. Why did I have hope for this year? Why did I think people would become kinder or have more empathy towards each other? I kept on hoping against hope that things would change, as leaves fall and seasons change. I had complete faith that humanity would have a sea change this time because we had witnessed the hardest times of our lives. I don’t know why, it seemed as if life would change. The pandemic had brought all of us closer, life was becoming humane and we were considerate and kinder and then ugliness reared back and we are back to ourselves. I don’t absolve myself, it’s like we are all sucked into this sea of despair and anger and short tempers. We all want the cloud of doom to go away but it seems to be darker and descending on us and sucking us into a vortex of evil. All the fake smiles and the cheer we feed ourselves and thinking that the close brush to death would make aloof us less into the rest race and more into living and being kinder to each other. It didn’t.
I need to take the hint that if someone isn’t going to call or text they really mean it and they aren’t busy. If they aren’t taking out time for you, accept it. Don’t hold out that they will call or text. Notice the change, notice the excuse but don’t mention it. If someone uses harsh words, believe them, they really think less of you. If someone in jest says I am just kidding and makes fun, believe and read into the words. What they say is what they mean, they just try to sugarcoat it. If someone says stuff when they’re angry, believe them, when one is angry, the truth comes out. It’s where they get the courage to say what they feel which they couldn’t. Don’t settle for second best. Don’t settle for half promises.
Today, is National Girls day and I saw a lot of tweets and posts of hugging and embracing the girl but when it came to a ruling that pressing breast without skin to skin contact is not a sexual assault by the Bombay High Court. Believe this to be the state of the country. I think what the honourable justic is aligned that we need to bare our breasts, be touched and pinched then only it is an assault, not when its through clothes. So groping is allowed. Women, I honestly want you to believe what is dished out to you! Don’t side sweep, or brush it under the carpet or just think its a one-off. And no one told you to be strong or shoulder everything,you’re allowed a breakdown and you’re not exaggerating. We all need a hug sometimes. And
Ps: this is a rant.
Featured image: Markus Spiske
Views expressed are the author’s own.