Bandages and Badtameezi

Healing is slow. It doesn’t start with kneeling or obedience. It starts with a sound. The grunt of giving in and playing cards with them, suffering the puns and smirking at the inside jokes. Soft-spoken instead of speaking with anger. Sharing in the music at twilight on the highway and not pulling your earphones, muting the world from beginning to end. 


Healing is not all-accepting. Sometimes, it means knowing that the scars will itch, and the heart will ache over the disagreements, when they can’t see how they hurt you. It means walking away when respect is due but not freely given: you will always feel the lightness of your years then. The difference remains the same. 


The only thing you can do is pull them aside from the battling crowds, sit down, and explain. No cacophony. No interruptions. A conversation in essence, rather than by name. 


Talking back is still ‘disrespectful’, make no mistake. It is still ‘rude’. It is still ‘wrong’. A friend once told me about the concept of a discount. Everytime a voice is raised or something is said that makes your blood boil, take a coupon out, validate it, and start again.


Dress each burn on their body because your body mimics it. Wrap it with care, put the ointment, laugh over each hiss and whimper. 


Badtameezi ke liye waqt hota hai. 


For now, enjoy the silence. Enjoy the calls which end with a smile. Bask in their love.


Don’t forget to love them too.

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