Lying on the bed in darkness resembling the skin underneath my eyes, I think about the irony of the booming world population. In a world inhabited by 7.8 billion people, sometimes all we need is a person to pour our heart out to, but grievously enough, a majority of the folks find themselves with only a deteriorating reflection to call as their companion.
How beautiful it would have been if someone noticed your presence, sensed the change in your actions, stopped by just to say, “Hey, I hope you’re doing good, just wanted to remind that if you need someone am there” and meant that for real.
With the race and struggle of landing in a perfect career intensifying every passing minute, we often find ourselves in situations drenched with grief and loneliness. There are times when all we need is someone to hear, someone to trust and help us get out of the overtly negative thoughts.
While feeling low and dejected is completely fine, there are moments when we just can’t take it anymore. Such emotions, though completely human, occasionally can affect one to the deepest core, which makes the creation of psychologically safe surroundings as an imperative need of the hour.
‘Being there’, may just sound like another two English words, but they can make a huge difference to the one going through a difficult phase. It isn’t necessary for you to give advice based on learnings or be the stepping stone to someone’s life; all it takes is lending a patient ear and respecting the trust bestowed upon you.
Some studies suggest that one of the many reasons for not opening up is a fear of exploitation of one’s vulnerability. This counts amongst the common happenings in present-day high schools. Being empathetic isn’t rocket science but it is another trait that categorises us as Homo sapiens, which often gets erased in a marathon to be the ‘best’.
Seeing the change, sensing the wrong but ignoring it blindly, because ‘its none of your business’ won’t bring you bliss, but will only mark you as another selfish person, who saw it all but never cared enough to inquire the why.
A few months back, an actor Prathmese Barge, shared a video monologue as Mukund Mishra, which got viral on social media platforms. In the short video, Mukund, a boy from Uttar Pradesh, who studies engineering in Mumbai, talks about how he feels used and left out by his classmates. He details his experiences and throws light upon the self-centred mentality of the present-day youth, who ties themselves in a pretentious bond of friendship, only until it brings them some sort of benefit.
The second-year student Mukund felt depressed as no one even bothered to text a hello as the lockdown commenced.
Struggling to sleep with all these thoughts running in my mind, I got recalled of what my mother used to say when I was a kid, “don’t be so shrewd, there might be days when eating ice-cream and chocolates won’t help and you would be sailing in the boat of misery. On those days, your compassionate attitude you stick by in your happy days would help you in your rescue.”