Unfiltered Sharing!

Not everyone sees you the same way—and that’s okay. In the right eyes, you are not a mistake to be corrected or a flaw to be highlighted. You are an art—a work in progress, evolving, learning, and becoming. Some people notice every small change in your behavior. They sense when your smile is a little quieter, when your energy shifts, or when you try—silently—to be stronger than yesterday. They may not always ask questions, but they understand.  They encourage you when you doubt yourself, support you when you feel weak, and care for you without placing conditions. Their love is gentle. Their support is judgment-free. They don’t try to fix you; they simply stand beside you. These are the people who see growth where others see delay, effort where others see imperfection, and intention where others see mistakes.Then there are those who notice only faults No matter how much you improve, they focus on what is missing. No matter how much good you do, they highlight one flaw.  They se...

  Once, during a bus ride to college, a colleague casually remarked that I seemed to spend too much time on pooja. She suggested that if I had used that time for something more “productive,” it might have been better. I was quite surprised to hear that from her. Because she had known very little about me as she had joined the institute recently those days. And whatever I knew about her; her family was practicing Christian religion as her mother is Christian and her late father was Hindu. When she said that I really got angry but I couldn't express it at that moment. I calmly asked her what she meant by “productive.” She replied that it involved activities like reading or writing. I then asked her a few questions in return—what about peace of mind? Where do we find relief from life’s pressures, motivation to move forward, or the encouragement to keep going? I asked her what she did to seek these things. She had no answer, and the conversation quietly came to an end. That entire even...

Tea holds a special place in my life because it reminds me of many people and moments. This cold morning, as I sipped my tea, the warmth took me back to the chilly mornings at the  Ladies’ Hostel in Walwa during my undergraduate days at Krantisinh Nana Patil College.  In those days, tea felt like a secret treasure because it was not allowed in our hostel. Instead, our mornings always began with poha, upit, or shira, while our wish for a hot cup of tea stayed quietly in the background.  Our college was about a kilometre away from the hostel, and the road leading to it was lined with tall coconut and mango trees. On cold mornings, their shadows made the air feel even colder. My desire for a hot cup of tea would grow stronger with every step. But tea was like a forbidden fruit for us—it was banned in the hostel, and we weren’t allowed to have it outside either, not even in a hotel or canteen. Our college didn’t have a proper canteen then. There was only one small stall on ca...