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I love to cook in on the weekends. The colours of different ingredients, the aroma of each ingredient makes me feel like a chemist in an apothecary brewing interesting concoctions which make my heart swell with love and warmth.
When it comes to the ingredients, garlic is the toughest to peel, layers on layers to go through. But when you reach the base and add it to any dish, it adds flavour & the dish gets elevated to a different level. The beauty is, after a point, it will blend with everything that you cook but you can tell a dish has garlic and the one which does not. Not to mention the aroma (or stench depending on how you view things :P) stays with you for long. While I was cooking a thought struck me- I want to be like that as a person.
That even when I am part of the crowd, I stand apart. My personality is my own and not a continuum or an after thought of discussions around me. It's unique in its crooked, imperfect self. In a world which is always asking us to conform to norms or a way of thinking, being strange and weird is refreshing & extremely liberating. You will always get the occasional disapproval of the people around but after a point, it just does not matter, because when your inner voice gets stronger, it speaks for itself. Even in silence, even in chaos.
The other day a colleague pointed out that people are so afraid of having a discussion where there is no alignment or possibility of tempers flaring and everything going sideways. I remember thinking- why do we fear that? Why don't we want to surround ourselves with more people who aren't like us and have a different view of the world? Is it that we have become so comfortable in our little boxes, we have forgotten to every now and then step out of our comfort zone and just question why do we live the way we do? Why don't we have more passionate discussions? Why do we run in the opposite direction every time we disagree with someone? Are we so comfortable in surrounding ourselves with agreeable people that disagreement is uncomfortable and fearful even?
The garlic argues when its added to a dish. It does not let the crowd drown its opinion. It adds to the collective and makes it stronger, better even. Every voice is important, no matter how small, how crazy it sounds. It might just be our salvation or might make us look at the things in a different light than we are used to.
And while every voice is important, one must not forget to be part of a discussion when you are raw with emotion or have strong biases. Different or diametrically opposite views can sting too. The idea is to stay objective and try to understand- is there something I omitted in my view point, is there something valid in the observation made etc. Not only do we get wiser with every discussion, we are able to bring richness of experiences to our life and allow for conversations to have more meaning that being just something to get our mind off things.
In my personal opinion, when you interact with the misfits or rebels of the world, you are hit with a brick wall of opinions which makes you question more things than one, but they are the most life changing discussions you would have. The ones that stay with you long after making a difference in your life and even healing you in ways you never thought was possible.
We need more people who see the world differently. Every now and then I meet such people and I am always glad that I did. In a world where you can be anything, be a garlic.
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