🌷 Advice From A Stranger…
Poetess: Tilottama Vijay Lele

We're more comfortable with strangers
Than with our closest friends ever

Der’s something about strangers
That opens all of honesty's doors

N creates a space for clarity,
That our closest relationship is fuzzy

It’s not a bug in our social programming,
It’s a feature that is more concerning

D advice of strangers often cuts
Through d noise of our lives…

We find ourselves pouring out our heart
To those whom we won’t recall by far

When our best friend gives us an advice,
He's carrying d weight of possibilities

Every mistake that we’ve made.
Every pattern we’ve fallen into.

He's not wrong. He's just too right.
Too informed n aware of our tight spots

Psychologists call it a curse of knowledge
If we know, it's difficult to imagine

Our friends know too much about us
Stranger on d train has no such burden

They see us as we present ourselves
They hear d story d way we tell them

They offer advice based on present time
N not based on what has been.

Our best friend has skin in d game.
He can’t be ruthless as he’s invested ,

He’ll be d one picking up d pieces.
If he asks to quit n we’re jobless…

He might feel responsible.
If he pushes us forward n that fails…

A total fallout, he’ll witness…
This creates a precaution in his advice

Better not to risk making it worse.
So it’s better to maintain our status…

The stranger we meet at a conference
He won’t foresee d consequence…

He’ll never have to live with d end-results
In that freedom comes a certain wisdom

D ability to see what might be possible
If fear didn’t cloud d equation.

Friend’ll try to protect us from suffering
Strangers have an understanding…

It’s better to have a purpose n suffering
Than just d comfort without meaning.

Friend knows about strained relationship
He has seen d vanished joy over parties

He also knows d good moments...
D vacation photos n inside jokes

D stranger sitting next to us at show
Hears only what matters right now

We present various versions of ourselves
To different people as per convenience

With strangers, we can be honest
With people we love, we rarely do that

Stranger can tell us about correct action
He can call out our self-deception.

Stranger can name d things,
Our friends R too afraid of mentioning

Stranger says from depth of experience
So we seek Advice From D Strangers

🌷@Tilottama Vijay Lele
🙏🕉️🔆