I often try to read the sadness on people’s faces. Maybe the reason is that I myself have felt broken and exhausted from within many times. In a crowd, everyone appears to be smiling, but the fatigue and pain hidden behind those smiles never escape my eyes.
People live their lives every day wearing fake smiles on their faces. But if you look into their eyes, you’ll find stories buried there—of failed relationships, unfulfilled desires, or battles that were never shared with the world.
Such faces are like books to me. Every time I look at them, it feels as if they are teaching me a new lesson about life. Those strangers, who may never cross my path again, still leave me thinking through the words they never actually speak.
Perhaps that is why I remain so absorbed in recognizing sad faces—because somewhere in them, I see my own reflection.
Today, I don’t have a story, just a few thoughts that a stranger shared with me while drunk. But whatever he said forced me to think deeply. His name is Rajesh, and what follows is in his own words.
Every day, like always, I wake up in the morning. My eyes look tired, and my face… my face simply reveals the heavy reality of my life. Going to the office feels no less than going to hell.
A job… and that too a private one. Relatives got it for me through recommendations. But the truth is, this job has become a punishment for me. All day long, the boss’s words, the taunts, and the constant feeling that I am working just to survive, not to live. My mind remains filled with anger and tension.
Suman… my wife. She was someone I knew. We got married. Once, I thought there would be love, dreams. But now everything is limited to convenience and responsibilities. No romance, no warmth. Just two daughters, Priya and Neena, who remain lost in their own games.
Sometimes I ask myself—“If I die tomorrow, what will happen?”
People at the office would probably just say, “Oh, he’s gone.”
Suman might cry for a few days, then get lost in household responsibilities.
Priya and Neena… maybe they wouldn’t even understand, or they’d simply go back to playing.
My pockets are empty. No savings, no security. Thinking about this breaks me even more. Every night, I question myself—“Why am I not happy? Why is there no love? Why is my life filled only with incompleteness and struggle?”
One day, I was sitting in the park with my daughters. Priya was chirping, Neena was laughing. Watching their innocence made the pain in my heart grow deeper. I thought—“What will I leave behind for them? Nothing… just memories and emptiness.”
At that moment, I realized—if I were to die tomorrow, my story would become nothing more than a forgotten memory. A man who neither found love, nor happiness, nor security.
But that same evening, after putting my daughters to sleep, I sat alone in the room. I stared at the wall for a long time. Then I quietly said to myself—“Maybe something needs to change now.”
Because dying is easy… just a moment’s decision.
But living—standing strong every day while swallowing pain… that is real courage.
That night, for the first time, I both cried and smiled. Because I felt—maybe now I can change my life.
His words struck my heart deeply. I began to think that truly, God sends some reason into every person’s life—a reason to live, to stay happy. But we get so tangled in our troubles and exhaustion that we fail to see it. Sometimes that reason is our children, sometimes our parents’ blessings, sometimes a stranger’s smile, and sometimes a small gesture of care from someone close.
In truth, happiness is not in God’s hands; it is hidden in our own perspective. If we learn to recognize that moment, to embrace that reason with our heart, life suddenly feels a little easier and a little more our own.
This was the lesson life gave me—and perhaps this sense of belonging is the real relief.
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