The Masks We Wear

Everyone has something to hide, their 'little secret'. A mask is defined as a covering for the face as a whole or a part of it, usually worn as a disguise to amuse or scare people or in reality, to hide something. Everyone as of today, have something to hide even from the one person who they are bound to be with forever. There isn't a big difference between a mask and a cloak, both are used to cover the truth. Everyone wears a mask of some emotion to hide the truth, if not then their mask has become their true face out of a habit. There are 7 billion people in this world and 14 billion faces.
These masks serve their purpose of hiding the truth but add to the problems of others because these masks inflict fear. One does not know which side is the mask, which side to trust, what to believe in and what to stand by?

Some mask their hideous intentions of breaking you by wearing the mask of innocence, some mask their pain behind a smile, some mask their smile behind pain to save it from being lost, some mask their desire behind doing what the society wants them to. Mahatma Gandhi once said, "It's better to show the violence in our hearts than using non-violence to cloak our impotence." One hides the truth for various reasons, I for one, hide the truth to avoid mockery, the innumerable questions, the baseless accusations, the judgments. Others hide it because they prefer solitude or not letting people in. Some just want everyone to respect their privacy. Is this what the world has come to? Disappointment masked by encouragement? Envy masked by pride? Hatred masked by roars of claps? Where one does not know what is the truth? Is this why masks were made? To make a lie their 'true' face? How is one expected to believe in love when the person he loves is with him not because she loves him back, but simply because she is afraid of losing him as a friend and has been masking the truth behind 'love'?

When it's the truth you seek and not what is in front of you, it's disappointment that you are bound to find. You can mask your greed behind ambition, your motives behind a helping hand, your wish of seeing them fall behind being there for them, but who you are will never change. When the hidden motives are out, it's you who hurts. That's the thing about masks, eventually, they fall and take friendships, relations and love with them. You know it's time to end it when you have to start relying on anything other than honesty to save the relationship.

Masks a way of hiding the truth which arises from the fear of being left or walked out on and being alone. The moment this fear is gone, so will all the lies and masks. 

Back To Reality

"Life is what happens when you are busy making plans" - John Lennon.

Have you even been out of your home for a long and relaxing holiday and missed home while you were there? I doubt it. No one does, although at some point, you do wonder about what all has changed ever since you left, I'm sure you do. What happened in the episodes of the sitcoms you missed? What were the reviews of the movies that you wanted to watch but released while you were away? What is going on with your friends? How much work will you have to do when you get back? These are a few of the common questions that spoil the famous 'holiday mood'. The way I see it, you can either worry about the big things and ruin your time off or enjoy the little things and genuinely make do with what brief moments of relaxation you were able to steal from the cruel world. Ever entered into your house after the long holiday and thought,"Ah I am back home finally, Phew"? No one does. The first thought that enters into everyone's minds is "Back to reality. Darn". So why is it this way? Some people call it 'escapism', some people call it 'being anti-social', more prominently people say "he lacks a life". I say "we people are too good for reality". Reality is what often slaps you down when you are in the skies thinking about how relaxing your holiday was. Reality is what that stops you from enjoying your holidays, because perhaps you have a lot of outstanding work. Reality is what stops you from getting too attached to things because everything does come to an end. Always. Be it holidays, stress, pain, love, happiness... it all ends.Trying to have a good time is not escapism. Being content with the tiniest of materialistic gains and not having the same tastes as everyone in your age group does not make you anti-social. Everyone is different. The uniqueness is what separates us from one another. Reality is when you make plans with a special someone after you start going out and they turn you down. Reality is when you wish to sleep for hours at en end and realize that no matter how much you sleep, you have to wake up. Reality is when the person you like is looking for a "Mr.Perfect" and ends up with the exact opposite. Reality is the thin line between being a boyfriend and a boy friend. Reality is what you return to after watching an amazing movie and feel lost. Reality is the misery you face when you are done reading a book and do not know what to do with your life anymore.

The elders always say that procrastination leads to the piling up of work which leads to failure in one or the category. Society on the other hand, has a very rigid outlook on this matter, i.e people who do their work early so they can enjoy later are "nerds" or "geeks" and the ones who keep piling it on until the last moment are "good for nothing". So what exactly is one expected to do to complete work, in the eyes of society, shall forever remain a mystery.Where the good and bad meet and where the light and darkness stand face to face, that is a 'perfect life dilemma' or as the elders cal it 'teenage'. Though we make the choices, it is eventually our choices that make us. Reality is what happens when you say "no" to drugs and "yes" to studies and yet your parents accuse you of not taking life seriously. Not that our parents do not understand us, it's our age and society that conditions them to question us. Reality is when grades attest your intelligence and your social behavior decides your capabilities and not your vision or your actual talents. One is not deemed worthy by his talents, but his reputation in society, that is how the world seems to be at the moment.

So what is reality? The curse that slams you on the ground when you are on the brink of achieving some true happiness? Or is it the blessing that keeps you on the ground so you can grow? Or is it merely The Almighty's way of adding some flavor to life? A question that we must all ponder over to get an answer. Someday and that day may never come, we will have an answer, until then it will be a curse for students procrastinating with their homework, the workforce avoiding office and a blessing for visionaries who survive in the hope of doing something, the aged people who know they are living a little owing to reality.