Life Lessons Learned From Gossip

Women love to gossip, be it at a wedding or a railway station. We make fun of it, dismiss it and make memes about it. But can they provide life lessons?

Sunday, 9th June

I sat down at my bench and waited for my older classmates to come.Some married, some single and some with too much time on their hands, looking for another chance at life to revive them a career or an identity.

I waited and started checking my phone. Soon, the class was filled with people from all walks of life, the men started talking about well- men things like work, cricket etc. The women started talking about their lives and soon gossiping about their in-laws and their families. One thing all women had in common was the survival instinct while they were busy chattering about the hilarious acts done by their sister-in-law or some else. They were also here to work for the future of their child.

They started talking about their lives and the amount of suffering they had to tolerate from their in-law family.Chetna told us about the trauma she had to go through. She was already a working woman when she married her husband but soon started to get pressurized by her in-laws to quit and have a baby.

But she was determined and vowed not to turn out like those poor women suffering from the misogyny. She refused and learned to be tactful, I was amazed by some of her acts she did to defy the system laid down for her. They adopted a baby girl which led to more distaste by her in-laws; she was already in her 30’s and wanted to give a home to an abandoned life.Though her determination cost her to be abandoned by her mother-in-law and forced to move out. She remained like a rock in the middle of a storm; she took her baby and left.

Now finally, she is stable and happy to be a single parent. She motivated me to never surrender and if needed to, just leave.

I sat there, stunned processing the reality check I just had, suddenly I felt to be more cautious to be a woman. I sat there contemplating my future while they started talking again, gossiping again. It was a way to let their suffering heard. Not all gossips are baseless and not all are serious. When people talk we get to know their mentality and sometimes, their journey.