Advice

“...Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth...” (Cortesy: Sunscreen song, Baz Luhrman)

The one thing there is never any shortage of, is advice.  We live in times when everyone around you thinks they know the best possible way to deal with a situation and they don’t stop and just revel in the knowledge of their superiority over you. No sir! They will actually sit you down and dispense advice more freely than the Indian government giving out Quota seats. They will tell u exactly how you should deal with the situation and go ahead and also tell you when to sleep, eat, talk, drink, stopping only short of telling you when to poop. Small mercies.

Problem is all the people giving you advice want you to believe they’re in this with you. That somehow the situation affects them as much as it affects you. Truth is, when everything’s said and done, none of them will care. Yes, they might show you sympathy, they might feel bad for you but the truth is they are not in this with you. The situation is yours and yours alone. The battle is yours too. Then why shouldn’t the victory and the battle scars be yours too?

This is not to minimize the importance of the advice people give me. I thankfully accept all your concern, love even, towards me. It reminds me that I have beautiful people who support me and that there are people out there who have possibly been through the same things as me and have a helpful word to say. However, just a suggestion, don’t talk like this impacts you. Give the situation and its impact on my life credit. Treat it with the same respect for privacy as you would my phone; the situation might be a manifestation of my dreams and those are mine alone.