Ever smiled so much that your face hurt—just so no one would ask if you’re okay? Sometimes, survival doesn’t look like strength.It looks like showing up with a fake laugh.It sounds like “I’m fine” said too quickly.It feels like collapsing inside, with no one noticing. For some of us, pretending to be okay wasn’t a…
Have you ever stepped into a room… and your stomach knew something before your mind caught up? Like an unspoken tension floating in the air.No one’s said anything, but you feel it — in the way someone avoids eye contact, in the quiet shuffle of a foot, in the stiffness of a smile. That’s not…
Can a machine really make you feel something real? I asked that question half-jokingly, on a night when everything inside me felt too loud. There was no one to talk to. My head was heavy. My heart even heavier. So, I opened my laptop. Not to scroll. Not to write. Just… to see if something…
“Stop walking.”The words weren’t a suggestion. They were a sentence. When life asked me to pause February 2012.That month is etched in my bones—literally. Avascular Necrosis.If you haven’t heard of it, good. I wish I never had either. It meant my hip bone was dying. Quietly. Without warning.No accident. No injury. Just a silent decay.They…
The Lie We’ve Been Sold About Discipline I used to think discipline was a punishment. That it meant waking up before dawn, killing all joy, and grinding myself into someone I didn’t recognize.And when I couldn’t stick to it? I thought I was lazy, weak — broken even. But what if I told you that…
How I Lost Myself While Trying to Be Enough “You don’t wake up one day and realize you’re gone.You slowly dissolve in rooms that never asked you to exist fully.” When did I stop choosing myself? There’s no dramatic music when it happens. No grand spotlight moment where you declare:“Today, I shall lose myself for…
This story begins with Aarav, who hated the girl with the perfect scores and a smile that felt like it belonged on posters, not people. It wasn’t just her handwriting — neat as a confession — or the way teachers said her name like it had gold edges. It was everything. Everything about her felt…
I used to think life had to be loud to be meaningful.That in order to feel something deeply, I had to do something wildly different.Travel far.Change everything.Be someone else. But the truth came gently—like soft morning light filtering through half-closed curtains.It whispered: “What if you don’t need more? What if you just need to see…
This story begins with a boy who was never supposed to come back, and a girl who never stopped waiting. It was one of those windless nights. The kind where silence hums louder than noise. Riya hadn’t slept in days. Something about that evening felt heavier than usual. She stared at the ceiling for hours,…
This story begins with a couple who still held hands out of habit, not love. They thought a weekend retreat might help. Just three days tucked away in a forested escape, promised healing, rediscovery, connection. The flyer had soft words — reconnect, reflect, release. And maybe that’s what scared them the most. The words felt…
