Thank You for Being My Worst Example: Lessons from Toxic Relatives
Indian family relations are a complex that needs to be studied. Some family members genuinely stick around for you. They drag you along, encouraging you, either silently or raucously, letting you soak up the flavours that life offers you or protecting you from every mild hindrance. At times, their love is as sweet as the sticky syrup of Rasagulla . Painfully sweet and tender. Other times it is the burst of a Biryani . The deep and hidden, guarded but explosive love. They are the better aspects of this complex. The others sit around, jealousy reeking off them, unhappily trying to stab you through. They are not your devils . They try to chip away at us, chipping us around our edges, compelling us to become the ugly versions of ourselves. They appear in our lives, offering nasty remarks masked by false sweetness. As children, we don’t recognise them. Then our innocent forgiveness runs out. Their ruthless monstrosity seeps through their sharp words and actions, and we’re left emotionally...