Note: When I started writing Tea O’Clock, a friend said that I was boxing myself in by sticking to a specific structure. What if I wanted to write about other things? What if I wanted to discuss life philosophies? I thought the structure would enforce much-needed discipline to my writing schedule so I argued back that this would work out. Happy to report that friends almost always know you better.
This is part rant and part life philosophy triggered by an Instagram reel about Frankenstein.
Nobody tells you what kind of person you should be when you grow up.
Nobody tells you how to deal with a classmate who has definitely stolen your new ice cream shaped eraser.
Nobody tells you how to treat yourself when you fail your first maths exam.
Nobody tells you how to respond to a friend’s or your mom’s spectacularly bad cooking.
Nobody tells you what’s the one must-have quality you should look for in your partner.
Nobody tells you how to treat the work colleague who adds you to a Zoom call without a prior heads-up.
Nobody tells you how to deal with the person cutting a ticket queue or any queue.
Nobody tells you how to deal with a friend who picked a ridiculously bad restaurant for the group meetup.
Nobody tells you how to parent your parents.
Nobody tells you what kind of person you should aspire to be once you have figured out that adulting is an illusion.
The answer is quite simple but not easy.
Choose Kindness. Over everything else. Because as Mary Shelly says “Honesty without kindness is just brutality”.
PS: Not applicable to people asking insensitive questions at weddings, serial honkers, responsibility shirkers, mansplainers, and generally rude people.
The way we say it matters as much as what we say!