Guess I'm Doin' Fine

I hate it when people judge me or give me advice without knowing my side of the story, especially when it pertains to my personal life. I am a very private person. I don't discuss my personal life with even close friends, so I find it very strange when people I know very superficially start doling out advice. I liken it to someone telling a person who has a prosthetic leg, to walk gracefully. In India where boundaries are particularly prone to osmosis, such advice barges its way through when you least expect it, often hitting below the belt.

If there is one thing I have learnt from my mother, it is to be graceful while being the object of criticism. So, I shall bide my time and smile and close my eyes and remember the baby smell of my nephew's hair, my mother braiding my hair when I had long hair falling below my hips, my sister's cuddly hugs, the comforting voice of my father telling me nothing was wrong on that awful awful flight back from Bombay, maroon mufflers.