The Evening Edition

I sometimes think that all the religions are praying ultimately to "shiv ji". Is it just me or someone else thought so too?

something quiet is starting here. no names. no profiles. no performance. just the things you have been carrying around in your chest that you never knew where to put. say it. we are listening. — Kain

I cooked my lifeee

I AM A WOMAN IN A SENIOR ROLE AND I STILL GET ASKED TO TAKE NOTES IN MEETINGS. I HAVE A TEAM OF TWELVE PEOPLE. I TOOK THE NOTES LAST WEEK BECAUSE IT WAS EASIER THAN THE CONVERSATION IT WOULD HAVE STARTED. I AM STILL ANGRY ABOUT IT.

my therapist told me I have been performing happiness for so long I genuinely cannot tell anymore when I am actually okay and when I am just doing the thing I always do

there is a specific kind of loneliness that comes from being in a city where you know hundreds of people but not a single one of them actually knows you

genuinely believe that the generation above us in offices is addicted to making things difficult on purpose. not because it makes things better. just because they suffered and cannot stand watching someone else not suffer.

the pressure to be grateful for what you have while also wanting more is genuinely one of the quietest cruelties of growing up middle class in india. you are always too much and never enough at exactly the same time

Saw a reel today of a 22-year-old 'entrepreneur' talking about his startup exit. I am 26, working a government job my parents chose, and I felt genuinely ashamed of my life for about an hour before I remembered his entire personality is borrowed money and filters.

the thing nobody tells you about grief is that it does not announce itself. it just shows up one afternoon when you are buying vegetables and suddenly you cannot breathe because you remembered your dadi used to make this sabzi

does anyone else find it impossible to accept a compliment without immediately explaining why it is not deserved. someone told me I was good at my job today and my first instinct was to list three recent mistakes I had made. I did not say them out loud. that is my growth for the year.

I have blocked and unblocked the same person eleven times in the last year. I know exactly what I am doing. I do it anyway. Some addictions do not look like addictions from the inside.

My parents spent their entire lives saving so I would not have to struggle. I am struggling. I have not told them. I will not tell them. Some things you carry alone so the people you love can keep their peace.

STOP CALLING IT WORK-LIFE BALANCE. THERE IS NO BALANCE. THERE IS WORK AND THERE IS THE SMALL AMOUNT OF LIFE YOU ARE ALLOWED TO HAVE AFTER WORK HAS TAKEN EVERYTHING IT WANTS FROM YOU FIRST.

I told my manager I was doing fine in my one-on-one today. I have cried in the office bathroom four times this week. Both of these things are true and I do not know how to reconcile them.

NOBODY TALKS ABOUT HOW EXHAUSTING IT IS TO BE THE FIRST PERSON IN YOUR FAMILY TO GO TO COLLEGE. I AM NOT JUST STUDYING. I AM CARRYING EVERY HOPE MY PARENTS EVER HAD TO COLLEGE WITH ME.

I have been in love with my best friend for three years. She got engaged last month. I attended the engagement, smiled for photos, and congratulated her fiancé. I have never acted so well in my life. I came home and did not sleep for two days.

I told my manager I was doing fine in my one-on-one today. I have cried in the office bathroom four times this week. Both of these things are true and I do not know how to reconcile them.

THE MOST RADICAL THING I HAVE DONE IN MY ADULT LIFE IS DECIDE THAT I AM NOT GOING TO HAVE CHILDREN. NOT BECAUSE I CANNOT. BECAUSE I DO NOT WANT TO. WATCHING MY FAMILY TRY TO PROCESS THIS HAS BEEN THE MOST HONEST MIRROR I HAVE EVER HELD UP TO THEM.

I QUIT MY JOB AT A STARTUP AFTER 14 MONTHS OF 80-HOUR WEEKS FOR A SALARY THAT BOUNCED TWICE. THE CEO POSTED ON LINKEDIN ABOUT HUSTLE CULTURE BEING THE KEY TO SUCCESS THE SAME WEEK. I REPORTED THE POST AS MISINFORMATION.

I told my manager I was doing fine in my one-on-one today. I have cried in the office bathroom four times this week. Both of these things are true and I do not know how to reconcile them.

My father worked the same job for 31 years without complaining once. I have been at my job for 8 months and I am already looking for exits. I do not know if my generation is more self-aware or just less capable of enduring things. Probably both.

I have given approximately 47 job interviews in the last 8 months. I have a first-class degree, two years of experience, and a very practiced answer to the question about my greatest weakness. The weakness is that I need a job and nobody will give me one.

sometimes I open my notes app and read things I wrote at 2am a year ago and I feel so much tenderness for the person who wrote them. she was so confused and so certain at the same time. I miss her a little. I do not want to be her again.

the relationship ended six months ago. I am fine. I am genuinely fine. but sometimes a specific quality of afternoon light comes through a window and for about forty seconds I am completely not fine and then it passes and I am fine again.

I told my manager I was doing fine in my one-on-one today. I have cried in the office bathroom four times this week. Both of these things are true and I do not know how to reconcile them.

I have started lying to myself with more confidence than I lie to anyone else. Told myself I was over it. Told myself I did not care. Told myself this was the right decision. I am a very convincing person. It is my worst quality and my most useful one.

I have a 9 lakh per annum salary, my own flat in Pune, and I feel nothing most days. I was supposed to be happy by now. I followed every instruction. I do not know what step I missed.

I genuinely think social media has made an entire generation of Indians terrified of having an opinion that cannot be defended in a comment section. We have confused being careful with being wise. They are not the same thing.

The Iran situation is terrifying and nobody in my circle is talking about it. We are all just watching reels and ordering biryani. I do not know if we have genuinely moved on from caring about world events or if the news has broken something in us.