Thursday, May 12, 2005

The letter

Dear kid,

I noticed your letter peeking from a corner of my in-tray today. I had received it a few weeks ago. No name, no address. All the envelope had was this crumpled piece of paper with the question "Why do we sometimes cry, smile and angry?" on it.



I had been really busy then, and not knowing what to do with it, had kept it in my in-tray because there was something about it that had struck me, in spite of the many 'Dear Editor' letters that I get.

And today, when I rediscovered your letter, I read it a couple of times more. You have asked an amazing question. Neither my writers nor I have the answer you're looking for.

I know there would be some nerdy scientist out somewhere who would be able to answer the question from a scientific point of view. But sometimes, scientific explanations take away the beauty of things. So I am gonna answer it the way I will. And I am answering your question here, because I cannot possibly publish the unscientific answer that I am about to give you.


Ok here goes (God help me.)

We cry. We smile. We get angry. That's because we are people. And people cry, smile and get angry. That's our thing. That's what makes us, well.... us.

I know I probably did not answer your question the way you wanted me to, but I still want to thank you for your letter.

Thank you for making me think about this.

And I hope no one tries to give you a scientific answer to your question. Ever.



11 comments:

Anonymous said...

hmmm.. we do this because we're us, and thats our thing. hmm.

Personally, I think all these emotions are a true reflection of the soul. We smile, when something pleases our own set of values that we hold dear. We cry, when something has hurt those set of values - past a certain breaking point [which varies from person-to-person, or gender-to-gender], and we get angry when something goes against our values.

Anyways - now that i wrote that, i think my own explanation deserves a "hmm" as well.

btw - like the photo of your hand.

Sayesha said...

Anonymous, your answer is clearer than mine but try explaining the term 'values' to a 9-year-old.

Aye Kay, yeah, you're probably right. I just did the best I could. When I was a kid, I never really asked anyone this question. Somehow, over the years, I figured it out on my own, which is sometimes the best thing to do :)

Anonymous said...

Questions like these are most feared by parents. Most of them don't have an answer, not the questions but parents.

Anonymous said...

oh - my bad. didn't realise the question was from a kid.

Sayesha said...

Yep yep, I work with a kids' magazine. So all my mail is from the li'l ones :)

If you notice, the letter starts with 'Dear kid'.

Anonymous said...

I think emotions are a natural response of our body with the aim of "protecting" us to a certain extent from gettin hurt further.
Whether its anger or tears

Anonymous said...

but as Sayesha has written in one of her previous posts 'The real Sayesha', its more important to know how to not withdraw into your shell for fear of getting hurt. Guess the l'il soul would learn that over time...all part of growing up. And the fact that to know the value of a smile, one has to cry, to know what peace is, one has to be angry and that life is all about balance...

Anonymous said...

I see u have a fan club here sayesha. Good on you.

Yes, I didn't realise the "Dear kid", nor did I realise you work for a kid's scientific magazine.

... and then he was enlightened.

virdi said...

well very pretty hand i should say... :-) no i am serious... arre saachi yaar...
V...

Anil said...

Sayesha,

I don't have anything to say about the post (in fact, I didn't even read it), but I have to mention that someone is really mad about your hand.. in fact that someone has even blogged about it here!

I guess you could end up as a hand model

virdi said...

anil, u dog... cant you keep your mouth shut?? but this mallu big mouth cant...
hey sayesha... its the prettiest hand i have ever seen.. arre i have seen movies and even the beautiful actresses dont have such hands...
phew....
no exaggerationg... promise...
anil shut up dont show your teeth..
V...