India: United We Stand

27M an average-looking guy with above-average social skills and currently studying. I had never been in a relationship, yet been friends with many people of both genders. The covid era had been a rough time for me and everyone else, and during that time, I started to carve that human affection and touch, to love someone and to be able to experience love. Many nights have passed since then, but a hole in my heart remains; sometimes, it inadvertently stings in the middle of the night, and I look outside at night desperately hoping for someone to cuddle to and to give someone love. Things started to normalize when I started going to a therapist and did a few things she suggested. There are a few things that I decided to do, to write stories related to relationships or love or anything which is coming into my mind, letting my energy to love someone flow through my pen onto the paper, which helped. One thing I also decided to do is to start complimenting people a lot on WhatsApp; I would randomly choose to have a conversation with my college friend and compliment them regarding anything like their WhatsApp status or their profile pictures or just the fact that I am missing he/she a lot. This helped not only in soothing the fire within my heart that is carving for love and affection but also for the somewhat selfish plan that someone might think about complimenting me down the line.

A couple of days back, a tweet of mine went viral, and many people commented on it. It turned out that the tweet was relatable to many people, and many were expressing their stories; I was busy acknowledging their replies on Twitter, thanking them for expressing their thoughts. The next day I saw a couple of messages on my Twitter, and there were a couple of messages from one of my few female friends who I know pretty decently. They said they saw the whole Twitter conversation on my profile and that I am a good person and someone would be lucky to have me. Firstly I didn't think of anything, but ultimately, it hit me; it was the first damn compliment I had heard in my life apart from my parents. I was totally inconsolable then and was surprised it took so little to push me over the edge.

There was once a time when I dreamed of being a very influential person, like a prosperous business executive making a name for myself, as I believed that was the definition of a successful life. A quarter life has passed, and I realize I am not someone who would do something extraordinary. I want to have a job that I love, a stable income, and a loving partner to spend my life with who I can love all my heart, and in turn, she also loves me. That's it; that's all I could ask in my life. So that one compliment is magical because it rekindled my dying hope that its still time that I can find someone for me, and with this newfound hope, I can't wait to see what the future holds for me

Thank you for reading this far, and please compliment people you love; please Don't hold back your emotions until the right time; express them before it's too late. Many people are carving for love, and your kindness and affection may very well bring a sense of magical feeling to the world.