Do you know what it’s like to be a guy without friends? I do.
I’m not writing this is hope that someone else will read it. Honestly, I don’t mind if no one does. It’s for me to hopefully look back sometime in the distant future and hopefully things would have changed by then.
The curious thing is that I know some of my points are agreed with. I shall not mention examples here; there are quite a few. But I know for a fact that sometimes when I say or write something (my opinions that is), there are people who go, “Yes, that’s what I feel too.” Yet, no one will publicly side me. Because let’s be frank here, “Srinath Reddy is being an asshole/very extra/overly critical,” is a position that’s far simpler to manage than, “Hey, I actually think he’s right.”
I may make it seem like I’ve no qualms over that somewhat unfair way things in my world work. But I do. I get depressed over it, I sulk about it, I cry about it.
Some would say that public rejection has been an integral part of my life, for better or for worse. I’ll agree. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that this public rejection has shaped who I am as a person. I’ve been told that my frankness arises from the fact that I’ve nothing/no one left to lose. It’s more of the other way around. It’s because of my frankness that I’m now at this state.
My advice to anyone who reads this is not to forgo frankness in the hope of being more socially acceptable. Your life will still go on regardless of whether you’ve been frank with your opinion. Your frankness may make you an enemy, or two, or maybe eighty. But if that’s the cost of having something heard, then I promise you, at some point in your life, you’ll realize it’s actually worth it. Take it from someone who has almost nothing left to lose.
