The person you honor by sharing your ‘shame storm’ with, must be non- judgmental, to accept you completely with all your imperfections and confusing contradictions. They must give you the space in which you can stand naked without wondering what they might be thinking. They must be someone to whom you can confess your most terrible fears.
Worthlessness
Of Apples and Applesauce (I)
The huge seminar hall was packed to capacity. The three-day seminar hosted an illustrious list of speakers. The last session of the third day was about to begin. It was as if all the speakers of the past two days had been priming the attendees for this session. The excitement was feverish; the anticipation was […]
Children Take Notes
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdC-cehHN6k&w=450&h=330] This video is banned apparently; don’t ask me why. Perhaps it was banned because we abhor ugliness. As all sensible people know, nothing brings ugliness home- up close and personal- than a peek in the mirror. We’d rather think ugliness is out there, away from us; external to us. We try hard to deny […]
Fragile
Raman’s heart sank as he feverishly searched his pockets. With rising trepidation, he turned his bag inside out- another blank. He ran his classroom and searched there. He even lay flat on the floor and peered under the ancient wooden cupboard. Almost hysterical now, he asked all his friends, begging them to end the cruel […]
Unlimited
Shane Koyczan was bullied when he was a child. Children are cruel at times… without meaning to be. To carry that pain, to ‘obey’ the perceptions of those whose world view is immature and miniscule, to shape your life with words used by those who had no idea of their power, to live out someone […]
Nuisance Value
I read something today that stunned me as if I had been hit between the eyes with a wet towel. There is something about yourself that you don’t know. Something that you will deny even exists until it’s too late to do anything about it. It’s the only reason you get up in the morning, […]
Counterfeit Virtue
Every virtue- diligence, honesty, fairness, integrity- has its antonym representing the opposite pole. Diligence has sloth , honesty has dishonesty, fairness has unfairness, integrity has lack of integrity and good has evil. A person can be fair or unfair. They may be scrupulously honest or grossly dishonest. They may be diligent or slothful. They might […]
Imperfectly Perfect
Many years ago I read a heart-opening account written by a father, of how they learned to embrace and celebrate the the Imperfectly Perfect completeness of their teenage daughter. The girl was overly emotional apparently. The slightest things would hurt her and she would either dissolve in floods of tears or blow every one away […]
Betrayal (V- Conclusion)
Continued from Betrayal (IV) Vasudha’s reply to Chandini’s last mail was a lot more positive in tone than all her previous mails. She seemed to have realized that a blow might have knocked her to her knees, but to stay there was an act of choice. She had bridged the fine gap between considering ‘on […]
Betrayal (IV)
Continued from Betrayal (III) It had barely been a few hours since Chandni had written her last mail to Vasudha. She had a sense of waiting. Somehow, she was sure Vasudha would reply. She waited online, mucking around listlessly, unable to call it a night and go to bed. She left the machine running and […]