For over a month now, I’ve been wrestling with an idea—quietly, personally, and now out loud: what does it mean to truly be friends with yourself? I don’t mean just “self-care” or “alone time” in the Pinterest-poster sense. I mean genuine companionship—with the self. Let me explain where this started. The Weight of Silence Most of us have never really been taught how to be alone—not just physically, but emotionally present without anyone around. We’re born into a society that celebrates connection and fears solitude. Of course, humans are social animals—we thrive in relationships, we grow through community. But somewhere along the line, our dependence on interaction has evolved into an aversion to stillness. ...
The Abundance Conflict
I’ve spoken about this before, and I feel the need to speak about it again. Some thoughts are like chronic itches—they don’t go away with one scratch. They stay with you, just beneath the surface, quietly tapping for attention. And this one is about abundance. Not money exactly—though that’s what it often translates to—but the whole relationship I have with having enough. Has it improved over the years? Yes. Am I more pragmatic now? Yes. Am I better off than before? Absolutely. ...
Where Does Love Begin
Earlier today, I was standing in my little garden, speaking to my plants. I asked them how they were doing—if they were struggling, if something felt off. It’s something I often do, like checking in with old friends. And somewhere in that quiet conversation, I caught myself saying, “I love you all because I brought you here.” The moment I said it, it made me pause. Did I really love them just because I brought them into my space? ...
My Takeaways From 12 Months of Therapy
Therapy had been a buzzword amongst some people I know and on the web. Honestly, I believed it to be a waste of time and money. I gave therapy a try first in 2021, but it was short-lived and not so great. In 2024, I again got curious about the mental health space and started paying more attention to the issues I was facing in my daily life. Things that are regular and normal, but when paid attention to, could be something deep. Some of these may even look silly at first glance, like getting angry when someone questions your choices. After 12 months of work with my therapist, I feel I’ve gained much, and there’s some inner work everyone could do. ...
The Indian Situation
As an Indian, I must say that we have our strengths, but there’s one thing that irks me so badly that I cannot overlook it - our civic sense. I will also humbly admit that I have also fallen low at times and done what everyone was doing. I need to hold myself to higher standards even when everyone around is doing the wrong thing. The situation becomes much more evident and prominent when you are outside the country. When there are other people to contrast it to, we appear so ill-mannered and inconsiderate that I feel ashamed. It’s a deep-rooted cultural issue that needs systematic improvement. A few things that I’ve noticed: ...
Raise a Child to Raise Yourself
I’m of the strong opinion that region, religion, language, caste, race, and like are all man-made barriers. It is a barrier that gives man a sense of false control. It makes things look limited, though in reality, it is limitless. We do not want to accept that we are no more significant than a stone or a leaf; we are just happening, and that is the purpose. These are all amplified reflections of the man’s ego. His belief in the I. The idea that I am important and things that happen to me are important. If you observe a little closer, you will realize that when you love someone, it’s because of YOU in that equation. When you feel bad about something, it is because of the I in the context. To humans, it is all about I. I don’t know if this is the case with other animals or if it is only a human phenomenon, but it must also have a purpose as it is given to us. ...
The Kind of Vacation I Want
I have been traveling a lot since my childhood. My parents fortunately had the genes of wanderlust which I inherited. They did it in their own way by planning trips around temple. Maybe it was their way of making it worth the salt. I nonetheless enjoyed it because it was all new to me. I have a lot of memories from these trips. The long cozy train ride, the overnight cold road trips, the long queue of the temples in the heat, the first plane journey, the bluest beach of my life, the tallest waves I had ever seen or the tallest building to have ever existed. Some of them were budget trips and some luxurious. In some I was on the beach while on some I was looking at the white snow. I can go on and on about all my experiences but what is the point? I wanted to emphasize to myself that I’ve travelled a good deal and seen a lot. ...
What Would I Say Before Goodbye?
If you know today is the last time you will see people you love and it’s a bye forever. Who would you want to see and what would your last words be for them? I’m writing this on a plane. Sometimes I get afraid of the height and the reality that this could be the last ride of my life but yet I survive and keep going. I wanted to write down these thoughts and all the people I could think of in that last day. There were not many people to list down! Also this list is in not in any order but the order in which they came to my mind. ...
Living the Remote Life
Life is confusing! Isn’t it? We envy what we don’t have, and what we have becomes worth pebbles. I started working remotely in 2017, way before when working from home was a thing. Friends and family were almost sure that I was unemployed and probably ran some scam racket and peddled drugs. They had no other answer on how I was staying at home, chilling and still getting a decent amount of money flowing into my bank account. 🤷♂️ ...
Question I Ask Myself on The Brink of 30
Life is interestingly chaotic. We die for that which we don’t have and then get bored of that same thing when we get it. I sometimes feel that what we want is a pursuit of something. The struggle and hard work make us feel whole. In the journey, we forget everything and focus on achieving that goal. This brings me to thinking - what do I want from life now? I have a loving family, a beautiful wife, a house to live in, a car that drives well, and now a child that won’t let me sleep(or let my wife sleep). ...