Bakuɭ

On a random weekday, my best friend texted me. He was stuck on a decision and wanted to talk about it. His dilemma was simple on the surface. He had to choose between going home or staying back at his workplace. I read his options, shared my opinion, and thought the confusion was over. Half an hour later, he was telling me the consequences. If he went home, he knew he would relax for a while and start working. Worst case, he would just procrastinate and feel guilty. If he stayed back, he would sit there unable to focus because he was doing it for the past few hours. Probably, sitting there he would wonder if resting at home would have made him more productive later. After an entire hour of agonizing over this, he finally chose the exact thing he wanted to do in the very beginning. He realized he had wasted an hour. A few days later, a very similar thing happened. I was going to meet a childhood friend. We easily decided on the day and the time. I then asked her to pick a place. She had...

I have been reading a book about mathematics recently. It is a subject I used to avoid like most people. Ironically, it is somehow coming back into my life as a total game-changer. It is only the second or third math-related book I have picked up outside of my research. Somehow, it was enough to make my father wonder. He asked when I started reading 'such books.' His tone carried that familiar, subtle sarcasm. It felt like classic rage-baiting. When you are the youngest in the family, though, you learn to adapt. You either ignore it or offer a quiet comeback. Dealing with this kind of family dynamic is just exhausting. Ignoring the rage-baiting takes way more effort than a physical workout. I didn't pay much attention to his comments at first. Later, I got two classic Marathi poetry collections as gifts, and his reaction was exactly the same. I couldn't help but pause. It made me realize something funny. People, even those closest to us, don't always know who we are...