But I Smile Anyway…

La la la la la la la
Fingers in my ears
If I can’t hear what you’re saying,
You won’t confirm my fears.

Burying my head in the sand.
Is this the best way to live?
If I don’t acknowledge it,
I’ll have no opinions to give.

Totally oblivious,
Like an ostrich bird
Sorry, what was that you said,
I don’t believe I heard.

By Ritu

I’ve never really been one to hide my opinions and emotions, we’re a huge family, and there is always something happening. Lots of people do this whole ‘ostrich’ thing, but is it the best way?

At university some of my fellow students and I wrote a short play with the above title, ‘The Ostrich Effect”. It was an account of the ways, your possibly stereotypical, Indians thought of homosexuality, and AIDS. At the time some of these issues were echoing in some of our lives and it felt like the right issue to write about. You know, the whole “Gay? My son/daughter? No, no. No,no, we’re Indian, don’t you know. We don’t do that!” People dying of ‘pneumonia’, not the HIV+ that caused it…

It’s still there, in different manifestations around me. From that individual who refuses to believe their partner is cheating, to the person who won’t believe that someone close to them is an alcoholic, to the one who, despite having been diagnosed, ignores all health warnings…

Why don’t people understand that facing up to their fears, meeting that truth head-long, may be the hardest thing you ever have to do, but quite possibly the best thing you ever do…

(By the way, I’m fully aware that those last few pounds I want to lose won’t drop off themselves, unless I lose a limb, or maybe go for a wax, (tmi I know, but ladies will understand the forests that grow in the winter… We can get away with tights, leggings, and trousers… No leg-sposure!) but that box of chocs last night, and that nearly full box of biscuits I devoured tonight… It won’t make a difference… Honest! 😜)