I am so excited to share this positive thought with you, but before I do, I’ll mention that a lot of us who speak English as a second language don’t always realize when our thoughts aren’t being expressed the way we want them to be. In Hindi, this is called “aatmat”, and it is very common.
This is a common Hindi phrase, and it means, “I cannot express it, but please understand.
It’s another way of saying that your thoughts are being censored. We can see this in the face of someone who doesn’t like something, but cannot speak back, or someone who is unwilling to speak in terms the community deems acceptable.
You can see this a lot in conversations around Hindi and English. So if you’re looking for someone to speak to, take a look in the mirror and see if you’re not being censored in terms of what you’re saying. If you want to be free to say what you want, you are going to have to do it in a way that’s acceptable.
The problem is that we have a culture of intolerance that has come to dominate the space of Indian English (as well as Hindi). And yes, if you are really looking for an excuse to not talk to someone, there are some very valid reasons to do that. But, we have to make the choice to be ok with what we say and not just shut down a person as a result.
Sure, it might not always be easy. In fact, it is often the only way to talk to someone. But, we can choose to not do that.
Yes, it can be difficult. But if you are really committed to being open-minded, then you might want to think about doing a little research, because the more you know about someone’s background, the more you realize that they might not be the perfect person for you to talk to.
There are two things that most of us tend to avoid when we talk with others. One is talking about ourselves or what we are doing. The other is talking about what everyone else is doing (or not doing). These two things are usually the most harmful to our relationship with others.
I think the most harmful thing you can do is to avoid these two things because they can lead to a lot of hurtful communication. If you are open to listening to what someone has to say, you will be respectful and helpful. If you don’t want to say something, that isn’t really a concern for you. If you feel that you can’t trust someone to be honest and open in a conversation, you might want to think about how to handle that.
We are, as a society, so very close to a culture of avoidance of the two things. This can be a healthy coping mechanism for us, as we are not very good at handling our feelings. However, this is a huge mistake that we need to avoid at all costs.
