Why do we feel so elated when someone compliments, “You are unique. You are different from others.”?
What is special to those simple sentences, when in reality none of us aren’t?
It is safer to say rather than ‘We are what we eat, we are who we meet’.
In this world of 8 billion people, we come across 5 new people every day. Doesn’t that affect us?
That one lady who sat next to you in the bus smiling every time a raindrop fell on her hand or the guy you met at a party who kept on nursing his beer. They entered your head and are living there rent free. They haven’t even noticed you. But on a rainy day, you suddenly think of her. Has it ever happened to you?
I always believe the people you meet will affect you, in a way we never think of. I’ve often found myself drinking coffee from the saucer in the local café, as the pigtailed girl did. I distinctly remember her carefully sipping the coffee from the saucer, occasionally blowing on it. Since then, I’ve had my beverages that way, thanks to that stranger.
Or, the pregnant woman who thanked me wholeheartedly when I helped with her luggage in the railway station. Or my hostel mate whose laughter was funnier than the joke. Everyone has rubbed in on my personality.
It gets more interesting as you keep on thinking more.
A person who hasn’t even the slightest idea that you exist. But you have adapted a tiny bit of their habit. Unknowingly, they have influenced you. You think of them, they remain in your thoughts. It is a blessing indeed, to exist in someone’s mind.
The key to remaining humble is to realise you are a blend of different personas. You are not a single person. You are made of thousands of bits of people you have seen. You have developed this version of you with the help of many strangers.
The way you hold your umbrella sideways. Or the way you flip your hair. Or the way you move your chair, so dramatically to narrate a story. Those tiny pieces you gathered from them; that inner chaos and peace you have is not just you.
Whoever said humans are mortal beings is, in a way, wrong. We live endlessly. As fragments in someone’s habit, or mind, or an activity. Just like we are made of many others.
Numerous lives, interconnected, unknown to each other.
Remember, one cannot always be perfect, those tiny flaws make you.
You have touched lives, unaware that you did.
Miles away, people are actually smiling because of some bit of you, which you gave away. Someone is happy; you entered their life when they needed it the most. You are a million thoughts, actions and dreams.
But you are still you; cherish it, celebrate it!
Hello, everyone! If you liked this Poem, do check out the related posts. Comment and like if you would like to read more similar works from the author. And don’t forget to share this on your social media channels.
Hello! I’m Ashwini Balu, an architect by profession, but a hopeless romantic, artist and writer by passion. You can call me an ambivert, but the feelings reciprocate. Having a wide heart for travel, my best interest lies in creating memories with people. A sucker for being vocal and watering down my thoughts, I try to create a better world!
Instagram- https://instagram.com/ashwini_balu/
Email- baluash4@gmail.com
Editors: Mrinali
U N V E R B A L I S E 
2 responses to “We are Who We Meet”
Reading this made me go back in time and reminisce all those moments when I had seen something, met someone and absorbed their habits. It provoked a lot of thoughts in my mind, it’s beautifully written.
LikeLike
Makes sense because its totally relatable and true to self.
The perspective is well conveyed and I believe the feeling reciprocates to everyone who reads this.
Keep writing ambivert.
LikeLike