The Social Contract

              Today was nothing special- just another day of aimless wonder about some random things. And as per my current schedule, I grabbed some chips and started my ‘House M.D’ marathon. One of the episodes was about the social contract. If you Google it, the social contract actually means the mutual agreement between people living in a society n blah blah blah…

              I don’t want to go into the technicality of it. But on a more superficial level, social contract is the way we treat others around us. The way we say, “Pleased to meet you” just as a mannerism or when you go show off those new pair of shoes and somebody (who is just pretending to like them) says, “Those are great!”. That does not sound very positive, does it? But without it, we would all be facing a world of naked truths which hardly any of us would be able swallow. So it’s more or less necessary for us to function well with others.

              But while maintaining this social conduct, we often end up applying those rules to our own selves. We tell ourselves a few white lies to keep us going, something on the lines of- “I’m happy with the way things are”, or “I can go on another few months without exercising. I’m not even fat.” and so on. And all this works out perfectly till that one day when you realize that things aren't all that perfect or that you have finally gained a few kilos. That day you’ll feel like a mess and get into a long and unnecessary chain of thought about where you are headed and a whole lot of other nonsense. Trust me on this one cause I have been through it. But there’s just one simple solution to put a stop to it. Just stop lying to yourself. Accept facts. Be brutally honest with yourself because you are the only one who can get away with it without feeling offended. It takes a lot of time to accept some harsh facts. Things like “I can do simply anything I want to do” makes you feel really good but if they are coming in your way of accepting the facts, then there’s no shame in saying “Okay, maybe there’s this little thing that is beyond me.”.  

              And if you don’t have the guts to be true to yourself, that is when you should pick up the phone and call up that crazy person in your life who is incapable of lying to you even if it is going to make you  feel better. And by that I of course mean, your best friend.

              For those of you who are oblivious to House M.D, Greg House (a middle aged diagnostician played by Hugh Laurie with his fake American accent) and Wilson(an Oncologist) are best buddies, the kind that know each other so well that one can almost read the other’s mind. House is usually prying into Wilson’s work and lying to his face about petty things (most of which Wilson notices). But when it comes to Wilson’s life, House slams him with the cold, hard truth. Usually Wilson gets pissed off at House for not being sensitive to his feelings but at the end of the day (end of an episode in this case :P ), he comes around and thanks House and the usual bromance goes on..

              So what I’m trying to say here is that, it’s alright to be comforted by a few lies but its not really a good idea to live those lies. I am lucky to have not one but a few Gergs in my life who have helped me overcome a really rough patch by being honest with me. So, talk to your best friend.  I’m sure that it will prove to be right for you as well.. 

P.S: House M.D is a pretty good series to watch. Well at least the last 5-7 minutes of every episode is totally worth it.