There was a girl who always smiled.
Everyone thought she was happy because she was always laughing, helping others, and making jokes. But nobody knew that behind that smile, she was quietly falling apart.
She had friends, but somehow she still felt alone.
One day, after a terrible day, she went to a quiet place and started crying. She didn't want anyone to see her. She didn't want questions. She just wanted to disappear for a while.
But one friend noticed.
She didn't ask, “Why are you crying?”
She didn't say, “Don't be sad.”
She simply sat beside her.
For a long time, neither of them spoke.
Then the girl whispered, “I'm tired.”
Her friend replied, “Then you don't have to be strong today. I'll be strong for both of us.”
That sentence broke something inside her.
She cried harder—not because …
I spend most of my days sitting in front of the screen. Code meetings bugs more good that's my day.
By evening my body feels like it has aged a little even though my mind has been running all day. So every morning before the city wake up completely I try to run.
Not because I love running but because I am scared of becoming someone who can build everything except I healthy life for himself.
Some days it's a slow run some days it's a gym somedays just getting out of bed feels like the biggest achievement.
Then I said back at the computer for another 8 to 10 hours, it feel strange spending my day trying to make machines smarter while reminding myself to simply move.
But maybe fitness isn't about becoming an athlete. Maybe it's about making sure that the body carrying all your dreams…
There was a day when I decided not to check the time.
It sounds ridiculous.
We check the time when we wake up, when we eat, when we study, when we wait for someone, when we are bored and sometimes even when we have absolutely nowhere to go.
That morning, I woke up and instinctively reached for my phone.
My hand stopped halfway.
I don't know why, but I decided I wasn't going to look at the time.
I got out of bed, brushed my teeth, had breakfast, and started studying.
Usually, I would have checked the time at least five times by then.
"How long have I been studying?"
"How much time is left?"
"Am I wasting too much time?"
"Should I take a break?"
But without knowing the time, those questions disappeared.
I studied until I felt tired.
Then I stopped.
Later, I went outside for a while. I sat there watching people pass by. A woman was buying vegeta…
She stopped believing in love after someone she trusted taught her how painful it could be.
He stopped believing in love after someone he loved made him feel like he was never enough.
They were both broken in different ways.
And then, one ordinary day, they met.
There was nothing magical about their first meeting. No dramatic moment. No love at first sight.
Just two people sitting beside each other, quietly carrying things they never talked about.
At first, they became friends.
She learned that he always smiled when he was hurting.
He learned that she always said "I'm fine" when she wasn't.
Slowly, they started talking every day.
"Did you eat?"
"Did you reach home?"
"How was your day?"
Small questions became important.
His presence became her comfort.
Her voice became his favorite sound.
N…
There was a period in my life when I felt that I was falling behind everyone else. [1]
People around me seemed to be moving forward. Some were getting jobs, some were starting new businesses, and others were achieving goals they had talked about for years. I was happy for them, but I could not stop comparing their progress with mymorning, I made plans to change things. Yet, by evening, I often felt that I had achieved very little.One day, after spending several hours worrying about my future, I went for a
walk. I met an old friend who asked me what I was doing these days. Instead of giving a simple answer, I started explaining all the things I was worried about.He listened quietly and then said, “Maybe you are spending so much time looking at explaining all the things I was worried about.…
For a long time, I believed that I needed the right circumstances to start something meaningful. I kept telling myself that I would begin when I had more confidence, more money, more time, or when everything around me felt settled. Somehow, there was always a reason to wait.
One morning, I was sitting near my window, watching people leave for work. Some looked tired, some were in a hurry, and some were simply trying to get through another ordinary day. I suddenly realised that everyone was dealing with something I could not see. Yet, they were still moving forward.
That thought stayed with me throughout the day.I decided to start with something very small. Instead of spending hours thinking about what I should do with my life, I made a simple list of things I could actually control. I chos…
There were days when I smiled in front of everyone and went home feeling completely lost. I never told anyone how many times I questioned myself, how many nights I stayed awake thinking about my future, or how often I wondered if I was doing enough.
Some battles were invisible. Nobody clapped when I got through them. Nobody knew when I had to convince myself to keep going.
But I kept going.
I learned that strength doesn't always look like confidence. Sometimes, strength is waking up with a heavy heart and still choosing to try. Sometimes, it's crying for a while, wiping your tears, and continuing with your life.
Today, I don't want to be proud only of the things I achieved. I want to be proud of the version of me who survived every moment that once felt impossible.
Maybe the greatest achie…
Sometimes I feel like being a girl comes with a list of conditions nobody ever officially gives you.
You can go out, but not too late.
You can dress how you want, but make sure it’s “appropriate.”
You can have friends, but be careful who they are.
You can talk to boys, but don’t get “too friendly.”
You can have opinions, but don’t be “too stubborn.”
You can be independent, but don’t forget what people expect from you.
And somehow, every choice comes with an explanation.
If you stay quiet, you're considered shy.
If you speak up, you're considered disrespectful.
If you care too much, you're emotional.
If you don't care, you're heartless.
The frustrating part isn't even the rules themselves.
It's how naturally everyone expects you to follow them.
Nobody says, “You have to live this way.”
They…
Is the person we are in private the most authentic version of us?
There is a strange version of ourselves that exists only when nobody is watching.
It is the person who stays awake long after everyone else has gone to sleep. The person who rehearses imaginary conversations, laughs at their own thoughts, stares at the ceiling for no particular reason, dances when there is no audience, cries quietly, dreams about a completely different life, and sometimes wonders who they would be if nobody expected anything from them.
Nobody meets that version.Not completely.The people around us know the version we allow them to know. Our parents know one version.
Friends know another. Teachers know another. Strangers know another. Even the people closest to us may only know certain rooms inside us while t…
Aarav always knew the river by its sounds. In the morning, it was gentle enough to hear the temple bell across the water. In winter, his father took him there to wash their old motorcycle. During summer evenings, Aarav and his little sister Maya sat on the stone steps. They threw pebbles into it. That night, the river sounded different. It was almost midnight when Aarav woke to the smell of wet earth. Then he heard his mother. “Aarav, get up. Don’t ask questions. Just get up.” He opened his eyes and saw water moving across the floor. For a moment, he thought he was dreaming. Their red plastic bucket was floating beside his bed. Maya was crying from the next room. Aarav ran toward her, but the water was already above his ankles. He remembered the little wooden box beneath his bed. It contai…
Call me a butterfly the way I love to stay wrapped up in my cocoon called the Comfot Zone. I'm scared of butterflies.
Its safe and familiar. If its satisfactory why should one venture out of their comfort zone? Everything is being provided for.
But that's a privilege. To stay within our limits and space without having to even think twice about leaving it. Not everyone can rely on safety to have a good life. I'm grateful to be fortunate enough to not have this worry over my head growing up. But now that I'm an adult i'm being forced to walk outside my comfort zone.
And its not as bad as I used to think. I'm learning so much that it feels like my comfort wasnt really comfort, just ignorance. Sure, I had a routine and I was taught whatever was set in the syllabus, but making my own craft …
It's weird how you can learn someone's habits without them ever actually explaining themselves.
I know when you're busy because your replies suddenly become shorter.
I know when you're tired because your messages start having random typos and you don't even bother fixing them.
I know when you're in a good mood because you somehow have a story for everything.
I know when you're annoyed because your replies become suspiciously polite.
And I definitely know when something is wrong when you suddenly stop using the little things you normally use.
No emoji.
No “haha.”
No extra letter in “okayyy.”
Just: “okay.”
And somehow, that one word says more than an entire paragraph.
The funniest part is, I never sat down and decided to memorize these things.
They just happened.
After enough conversations, …
The boy was his parents’ only child, the reason their small home always felt complete. They never imagined one ordinary night could change everything forever. That evening, he left home after dinner. Before stepping outside, his mother asked, “Where are you going?” He smiled and said, “I’ll be back soon.” He put on his helmet, started his motorcycle, and rode away. His father watched from the doorway, unaware that it would be their final goodbye. Later that night, he stopped at a familiar shop to buy a few things. He was slightly drunk, but believed he could safely reach home. While paying, he placed his helmet beside the counter. In the hurry to leave, he forgot it there, started his motorcycle, and rode toward home. The shopkeeper noticed the helmet only after the motorcycle disappeared.…
The first day of college, I noticed a girl sitting alone beside the window. I asked if the empty seat was free, and she smiled. She warned me that she hated talkative people during lectures. I promised to stay quiet, but somehow, that promise became impossible after we became friends. We started sharing notes, snacks, jokes, and secrets. I never realized when friendship quietly turned into love, until one evening, her absence felt strangely painful. She belonged to a Dalit family, while I came from a conservative Brahmin household. We loved each other, but our backgrounds made everything frighteningly complicated. One evening, she asked, “Will your family ever accept me?” I stayed silent, because I knew honesty could hurt her more than uncertainty ever could. I finally told my parents abou…
Today was so tiring , after a day's hustle now back on my bed, sharing my thoughts . Even though today was tough, everything was worth it. When we see the smile on others and knowing the reason is you , the struggle will become priceless. I'm so tired every morning before my duty but when I reach there everything tiredness just fades off and I'm back with the same energy I've everyday. Same way I'm still keep going and I hope all my dreams will come true..
Even when my entire body say you are not fit for this , my mind and my soul goes another way round.
I just want to free from all the tensions and problems and have some me time but still trying to have it. Still at my lowest even after all this hardwork. I wonders why I never succeed. Hope the day will come..
There is something deeply strange about being taught how to stay safe before being taught how to feel free.
A girl learns early.Don’t walk alone at night.
Don’t take the shortcut.
Keep your phone charged.
Share your location.
Don’t wear that.
Don’t trust strangers.
Don’t talk to unknown men.
Hold your keys between your fingers.
Call when you reach.
Text when you leave.
Be careful.And eventually, “be careful” becomes background noise.
It becomes part of growing up.Women are expected to carry an invisible safety manual everywhere they go.A simple walk home isn’t just a walk home.
It is checking who is behind you.It is pretending to be on a call.It is looking at the reflection in a shop window.
It is deciding whether a particular street feels safe enough.It is keeping your headphones out ev…
The Love That Came After HeartbreakClass 10th. That age when we don't know the difference between attraction, addiction, and love. I was in 10th, he was in 9th. One look and I was gone. I don't know what it was—his face, his attitude—but I got addicted to him like a habit you know is wrong but you can't leave. Deep down I knew he was not a good man for me. But a teenage heart doesn't listen to logic.That addiction continued until Class 11th, when everything finally broke. The breakup.
And that breakup didn't just break my relationship, it broke me. The girl who laughed loudly, who believed in fairytales, who trusted easily—she died that year. I became a different person. Cold. Practical. A girl who said, "I will never fall in love again."And then Class 12th came. The year of boards, of pre…
I always find it truly fascinating when people who have no prior relation whatsoever meet and fall in love and live happily ever after.
I mean, how truly beautiful destiny is!
To be loved unconditionally by the strangers to the point of building a family with them...that is so sweet and so unconditional.
I hope I can find love like that one day yet in a society like ours that is not possible. I heard them talk about people like us , they said we are mentally unstable, they drag out name through the mud,they regard our kind like we are the detrimental effect of our parents.
In the next life, I hope destiny to grant me that kind of love so fulfilling l can flaunt in in front of everyone.
In this life, I'll experiance the beauty of solidarity because I am just a coward who could muster up the…
I believe some of you must have heard the saying " if a place you have never visted calls to you than that means that something is waiting for you out there " and i feel this way about Edinburgh. Since i can remember, i have always wanted to live in Edinburgh. Now more than ever i want to be there , to experience my life in a place that is forever stuck in autumn. Idk if i will ever be able to move out of here but i am putting this out there in case god is listening to me 🤞🏻🦢.
During my college internship, I once prepared a presentation that I was quite proud of. I had spent several hoursworking on it and felt that I had covered everything properly.When I presented it, my teacher listened carefully and then gave me some feedback. She appreciated my effort but also pointed out that my presentation was too detailed and that I had focusedmore on providing information than explaining it clearly.Honestly, I didn't like hearing that.For a moment, I felt that my hard work had not been appreciated. I wanted to explain why I had included everything and why I thought my approach was correct. But instead, I decided to listen.
Later that day, I went through my presentation again. This time, I looked at it from the audience's point of view rather than my own. I realised that…
He never called himself an artist. He simply loved drawing. A pencil and paper were enough to make him forget everything around him. Drawing became his livelihood. He made portraits and commissions for people. The money was never much, but it kept food on the table. At home, his elderly parents depended on him. There was no brother, no sister, and nobody else earning for the family. His drawings were their security. He developed a serious illness that slowly took away his ability to work. Every unfinished drawing reminded him of what he had lost. His parents spent everything they had saved on his treatment. Whatever they owned was sold. Somehow, they brought him home and hoped the worst was finally over. Then the illness returned. The doctors gave them devastating news: he needed an operat…
They had recently married, believing they were finally beginning the most beautiful chapter of their lives, filled with dreams, promises, laughter, hope, and plans together. They travelled together along a quiet roadside, talking about ordinary things. Nothing seemed unusual that day, and neither of them imagined tragedy was approaching them. After some time, the husband needed to stop. He walked a little away from the road, while his wife remained nearby, waiting patiently for him. She probably expected him to return within minutes. Perhaps she was thinking about their home, their future, or simply what they would do next together. Then, without warning, a government bus came towards them. Within seconds, an ordinary journey became a devastating accident that nobody could have imagined th…
What is something you got wrong recently — and what did it quietly teach you?... I am a 40 years old housewife. I tried everything which could be done for making my family happy... But I lost myself in this plate... After spending 22 years of life trying to be a good daughter and 18 years of trying to be a good wife.. i learnt that I shouldn't lose my dignity for making everyone happy... I am guilty for making down to myself.. we should keep our dignity above of all.
I wake up and went to wake up my son and as he opened his eyes, first words he said "good morning mumma". I smiled and replied him by Wishing the same. But the thought reflected in my mind that what does it mean to Wishing someone for good if the happened or will be happened can't be changed?
Wishing someone a "Good morning" or "Good night" is to offer them a shield of positivity for the upcoming 24 hours in the day, isn't it?
Sometimes a person says a "Good morning" not because they know the day will be good, but because the desperately want it to be. These two words are smallest form of emotional support we can offer someone without knowing he needed it or not.
We all wake up and wish everyone a "Good morning" without knowing what is hidden in the upcoming twenty four hours. And this is …
Never thought I would write this but nvm.. let me tell you my story in Muslim cousin marriage is very common so I grew up with my cousins like my dad used to live abroad and my mom used to mostly live in her mom's house my grandma's house. Both my mamus also used to live there. All my cousins grew up together my khala's kids, my mamu’s kids we all grew up together. After my dad came back from abroad, we bought a house here and lived here, but most of the time we visited each other's houses.
Time flew by. I was in 8th class when lockdown started i downloaded Instagram and added my cousins. But never knew what I was doing my elder cousin brother basically my khala's elder son, was three years older than me so he was in his clg 1st yr. We used to talk normally but eventually he started flirt…
Funny how someone can be a part of your story long before they actually become a part of your life.
We were from the same school, but somehow, we had never seen each other. I was his senior, but after 10th, I changed schools while he stayed there. We had no conversations, no friendship, nothing.
Then, when he was in 11th and I was in 12th, he found me through one of his friend's following and sent me a request on Instagram.
He tried talking to me, but honestly, I barely cared. I was busy being completely obsessed with my society crush, so his messages usually got very late replies.
Then one day, he asked me something I never expected:
Would I want to give him 80–90 years of my life?
I said no.
But strangely, after that, I started noticing him.
After my 12th, I joined college—and the funn…
I always want to let it go but doubts whether it hurts me or what like I'm totally scared of letting my comfort zone being gone. I wanted it to keep for myself but it was never mine, and never ever does it chose me.
Letting go ,, it always hurts but it will be better to push ourselves forward
It was never easy for me and it never will be easy for me . I tried to say to myself 'no no it's not like that , you are always my priority and still does 'but it was never like that , not because as for fighting for the priority but understood they are not worthy of having you .
They might never even understands they was hurting you or they chose not to acknowledge our feelings.
Their priorities always changes, once it was you and the next second that will entirely be someone else. Not sad because t…
What if people came with expiry dates?Not birthdays. Not anniversaries. Expiry dates.Imagine meeting someone for the first time and knowing exactly how long they would remain in your life.
Some people would say goodbye before getting attached.Some would spend every remaining second trying to create memories.Some would probably avoid people altogether.
And some of us would still choose the person whose expiry date was tomorrow.Because maybe knowing the ending wouldn’t make the connection less meaningful.Maybe it would make it more meaningful.
Think about it.If you knew your best friend had exactly three months left in your life, would you still waste an evening arguing over something stupid? If you knew a certain person would disappear after one summer, would you spend less time complaining…
She was the kind of girl who overthought everything.
A simple “okay” could make her wonder if someone was upset with her. A delayed reply could turn into a hundred different possibilities in her head. Sometimes, she didn’t even know why she was crying. She would just be sitting quietly, doing something completely normal, and suddenly her eyes would fill with tears.
And the hardest part?
She never really knew where to go with all those feelings.
Whenever she felt sad, she wanted to go to her parents. She wanted to sit beside them and say, “I’m not okay today.” She wanted to tell them what was going on in her head without having to explain every little thing.
But she stopped herself.
Because the last few times she had tried to share something, she had felt judged instead of understood.
“Why…
Sometimes, the hardest words to say are the ones we feel most deeply. They remain trapped inside us, waiting for courage and escape. I once knew someone who meant everything to me. We talked every day, shared our dreams, and believed our friendship would last forever. Then, without warning, life changed. Distance grew between us, conversations became shorter, and eventually, silence replaced everything we once shared together. I wanted to ask what had happened. I wanted to say that I missed those conversations. But fear always stopped my fingers. So I started writing messages instead. Every night, I typed something into my phone, read it twice, and deleted it again. Sometimes I wrote, “I miss you.” Sometimes, I simply asked, “Are you okay?” The messages were never sent, but writing helped …
