The Plaster of Thought-walls: 136

Thought: Nine-Forty-Six

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1. Somehow your heart knows what you want. Listen to it, or you will suffer later.

2. Sometimes you need someone to sleep with under the roof.

Sometimes you need someone to sleep with under the stars.
Life is difficult.
3. I wish I had no one in my life whose call I have to receive. Obligation sucks!
4. Please don't reply to my messages! When you don't reply, at least some of my sins find atonement. There can be no greater sin than falling in love with someone after letting them go forever! You are that goddess whom I neglected, and so my entire life has become cursed. You are the regret of my whole life!
5. If you are poor, never underestimate the power of money consoling yourself, telling... Money cannot buy happiness... or such rubbish things. Only the rich people have got the right to underestimate the power of money. Of course, poverty deserves some silence.
6. In a country where becoming a BCS cadre is considered becoming wise, it's only natural that the pursuit of knowledge will be confined to BCS guidebooks.
What good did it do for Messi to return to PSG? He would have had a better chance of becoming wise if he'd enrolled in BCS coaching instead! And if he could have become a cadre, there would have been no question about it... thousands of disciples, millions in tips and bribes!
7. Stop telling me about your philosophy. People suffer for your practice, not for your philosophy. If your practice is tolerable, your philosophy is tolerable. If you're bad, your beliefs can't be good. What you practise is more important than what your philosophy teaches. Period.
8. You cannot forcibly demand time or advice from anyone. Whether someone will talk to you or not depends on their own specific reasons or interest. Calling a complete stranger more than twice in a row or sending continuous messages is not, in my opinion, a sign of mental health. No matter how urgent your need, you cannot do this. Endlessly telling someone about your problems means nothing to them if they don't want to give you their time. The value of your emotions or needs is naturally zero to them. Even if you love them with all your heart and soul, it doesn't matter to them at all.
This is how people cheapen their own emotions. If you don't have the right to something, and you try to extract it forcibly from someone, and they treat you badly in return, then you deserve it. There's a difference between rights and favors. Rights can be claimed, but receiving favors depends on others' willingness. Your problem seems big to you, not to others. You don't need to be a rocket scientist to understand this—just minimum common sense will do.
9. Height of Miserliness:
The man was so miserly that he hoarded everything, never wanting to spend anything... even when getting married, he was looking for a woman who already had children, so that after marriage he wouldn't have to spend anything on producing offspring!
10. One of the cheapest things in this world is a miser; for he has no worth of his own, nor does his money have any worth. One could say, every miser is essentially a petty person pro-max. Being around a miser means bearing the burden of one extra person's expenses. And free mood-spoiling comes with it! Does that make any sense? Better to walk alone than with such company.
A miser has only one refrain:

Whatever you all may say, brother,

I have no shame or honor.
Miserliness is fundamentally a mental disorder. Stay away from such senseless people for the sake of keeping your own mind well. Senseless people are utterly tiresome.
Let him who has made me an outsider without cause

Make his home with a miserly son-in-law.
11. Love not, suffer not.
12. I buy most of my books online. Through this, I have a bookish relationship with the courier delivery men.
13. From long years of teaching students and delivering speeches both online and on stage, I am a mic-less person... my voice is sufficiently strong.
14. Men

love their children,

fear their wives.
(Note: if you don't mentally add the word "their" before "children" and "wives," you'll misunderstand the point of this post.)
15. A personal library of over 12,000 books, right beside it a neat bed-dining-drawing room, and the office at a very close distance.
This is me.
16. I sometimes wonder, how do people like me who are defeated by winter, who simply cannot tolerate cold, manage to live in cold countries after leaving Bangladesh?! (I'm talking about immigration, not migration.)
Will someone share something from experience on this matter?
Also, do people suddenly become melancholy in extreme cold?
(I don't want comments like "land full of wealth and grain"; we know and accept all that.)
17. Never underestimate your boss's ability to underestimate you.
18. Why did Sadia's child learn to speak much faster than other children?
Natural! Given how bad-tempered Sadia is, how long could the poor thing suffer in silence!
19. On days when the house is clean and organized, when the fridge and table are full of various foods, when the cooking turns out well, when there's time to chat leisurely, no one comes home.
Yet on days when the house is unclean and messy, when there's little food arrangement in the fridge and on the table, when the cooking is just so-so, when there's plenty of busyness, that's precisely when guests knock at the door.
What irony!
20. The other day I suddenly discovered that night journeys are extraordinary. Insecurity, fear, loneliness... and yet a kind of exuberance too. The awareness that I could be imperiled at any moment... anyone who has never passed through this consciousness, what kind of life have they lived?!
Actually, life can't have all happiness; like jhalmuri, there must be a mixture of everything, otherwise life becomes unenjoyable. Without a little uncertainty, life feels like a cowshed. An organized life is always a very insignificant life. Happiness and greatness never coexist in life.
The life you live is lived by six hundred and ninety-nine crores and ninety-nine lakhs of the world's people. The remaining few thousand people are like me. We see faces on the wrong side of the mirror. There's a great distance between what is seen in the mirror and what must be seen in the mirror. The bridge needed to cross this distance is called sorrow. Sorrow is true wealth.
Reflection: Nine hundred and forty-seven

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1. Unless absolutely necessary, don't go about explaining yourself so much. Either (mentally at least) avoid it, or move away from it.
When we explain ourselves to unnecessary people, precious time is wasted and we grant them importance. Both explaining ourselves and not explaining ourselves are merely habits. With effort, habits can be changed.
At day's end, among all the things we must live with, they are not included. So if we give them a place in our lives, they will come and push out some necessary people and happiness from our existence. When they will do this, we won't even realize it until after it's done. What's the point!
If no one comes when you call, then walk alone... We live by cherishing this noble philosophy of the sage-poet. Even better would be... never calling anyone at all. Calling is where the trouble starts. The moment you call, people exploit your vulnerability.
The more people in life, the less happiness.
2. No, don't give me money now. Let me become completely destitute, then I'll ask again. I like asking you.
In childhood, when I used to go to school, my friends' fathers would lift them up midway, shower them with affection, and give them a rupee or eight annas. Why no one ever gave me money while going to or returning from school—thinking about this used to fill even that little me with deep melancholy. There was no one to lift little me up and give me eight annas.
That intense regret from childhood of not getting a rupee stayed with me for many years. Now I could fill both pockets with one-rupee coins if I wanted, but that little me's regret from childhood hasn't diminished even today. Some regrets never leave, not in an entire lifetime.
I will ask you for money like this occasionally, the way I could have asked a father; even if I become a millionaire through a job or business, give me a little money now and then. I lost my father before childhood could properly begin; I don't want to lose you and grow old before old age properly begins.
3. You're missing someone, but there's no open path before you to speak with them anymore. So you're sharing this loneliness with someone else. You're not really talking to this third person at all—you're actually searching for the shadow of your beloved within them.
Interestingly, this new person is also missing someone. They have no way to speak with the one they miss. They're looking for someone else within you. They're not finding them exactly, but still, talking with you doesn't feel bad. You're both chatting, you're both enjoying it. You're both essentially conversing with shadows. Humans are shadow-dwelling creatures.
This is how people eventually learn to live. To survive, one must learn to live this way. Those who can live with the very person they wish to live with are unbelievably, impossibly happy people. Most people cannot live with such good fortune. Yet no one dies from being unable to live with their heart's desire. If they did, the entire world would be filled with crematoriums and graves.
Perhaps humans are born to miss, so they live by missing. And because they live, humans eventually accept different people. What choice is there... one must survive!
4. People now live longer than before; and die with less peace than before. But why does this happen? What could enable people to live happily in their old age?
The answer is simple. If we don't stop doing what we love, if alongside other tasks we keep doing what brings us joy, then living won't feel quite so terrible.
Just as some love to sing, some love to paint, some love to write, some love to garden, some love to work with their hands, and many other such things. These very activities keep people well, help them forget the weariness of daily existence. Mental engagement keeps people healthy, keeps them away from unnecessary worries and preoccupations.
People age primarily because they cannot keep their minds well, because they fail to properly tend to their souls. The despondency that comes with the weight of years gradually erodes the strength of both body and thought... if we indulge the laziness of the mind. When doing what brings joy, people can generally forget various physical and mental sorrows and live beautifully in the present moment.
In the work of passion, even age admits defeat. Activities we love work like an infallible medicine for forgetting fatigue and despondency. Through the power of mental strength, they enable us to push aside all obstacles and remain productive, to stay cheerful even in old age with the accompaniments of happiness.
5. : I've a bad habit... I pee in the washbasin.

: I've the worst habit... I love you.
6. Your smile is a treat for my eyes.

Your voice is a treat for my ears.

Your face is a treat for my soul.

Your touch is a treat for my feelings.

Your absence is a treat for my existence.
Thank you for your beauty.
7. You are like the muted procession of raindrops scattered on the window frame...

Neither here nor there...

Yet everywhere present.
8. While giving quality time to a stranger, I usually check whether it adds value or pleasure to my life or not. If the answer is yes, I give time. If the answer is no, I simply ignore them. I usually prefer spending time with myself to spending it with someone else. Often, giving time to a stranger destroys our inner peace.
It's okay to make people happy only when for this you don't have to do anything that makes you unhappy.
9. When poor people buy, they usually buy goods and services satisfying their moneybags.

When rich people buy, they usually buy happiness satisfying their eyes.

You're rich only when money becomes the cheapest bargain to you.
10. People love to hate.
11. Small minds get attached to things.

Average minds get attached to people.

Great minds get attached to passions.
12. Women want love from men. Men want peace from women. And both of them get disappointed.
13. Cheap people are cheaper than cheap things. So avoid cheap people even when they offer you expensive things.
14. Whatever you have kept aside that will never serve any purpose, but causes pain from time to time... whenever you see those things or think about them whether they're before your eyes or hidden away... remove them, truly throw them far away or set them aside... or else deposit them with someone completely unknown, who doesn't know you, who has no judgment about you or if they do it will never matter to you... with them, perhaps even with me. When the opportunity arises to deposit one's sorrows, it's good to accept it.
At year's end, if you can manage this much even against your own inclinations, it will surely hurt for the first few days, but the coming year will pass well.
To touch memory, do not reach with your hand — reach with your heart.
Come, let us live like birds,

leaving behind everything unnecessary...
15. If you truly love me,

do not gaze at me this way;

instead, look where I am looking.
Reflection: Nine-Forty-Eight

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1. : The person you just shook hands with — have you forgotten how cruel he once was to you?

: I have forgotten, or perhaps never held onto it.

: Is it possible to forget such wrongdoing?

: Certainly possible, if forgetting itself can be remembered with perfect clarity.

: Have your wounds healed then?

: Yes, since no one picks at them anymore!

: And those painful memories?

: Those too... I left them long ago to be what they are!

: So you let him go just like that!

: What greater reward could there be than this — that the one who once had to live by causing me pain no longer forces me to live carrying that pain?
2. We wonder: why isn't he exactly as I want to see him? Why doesn't he walk the path I prefer? Why doesn't he think as I do? Why aren't his beliefs like mine? Since he's not on my path, he must surely be on the wrong path!
Thinking such thoughts, we simply waste time. Sometimes, trying to impose or propagate these ideas, we annoy and embarrass people. They assume our views and ways have given us unlimited license to irritate others.
If we suffer discomfort or irritation watching the behavior and lifestyle of those who don't match our preferences, the responsibility lies entirely with us. We deliberately drown ourselves in our own irritation and bad moods. Accepting would save time and allow us to remain well and keep others well too.
No one needs to be changed. No one's views and ways need our judgment. Far better to increase our own tolerance. If we let each person live exactly as they do, I won't be irritated or embarrassed by anything about them; nor will they be irritated or embarrassed by anything about me. Being able to accept people as they are — that's what being smart means.
3. : Try to learn Sanskrit.

: Why?

: It will make prayer easier.

: How so?

: All the mantras are in Sanskrit.

: I pray in my own language. It's never been a problem.

: Perhaps not, but this much is true — Sanskrit is the language of the gods, the language of God.

: That may be, but God speaks to me in my own language, answers my prayers in it. Why should I need to learn a new language to pray?
Yes, He understands all languages. His dwelling place is in the human heart... does the heart speak to its bearer in some other language? The heart belongs to someone, God belongs to them, language belongs to them. Without the heart awakening, God won't respond no matter how many mantras are chanted.
P.S. I've used the word 'Sanskrit' for clarity and simplicity. You may substitute it with the name of any language used in any religious scripture, if you wish.
4. "How long have you been rowing a boat on this river?"

"Oh, it's been quite a while! Twenty-five years have passed with the river..."

"Then you must know everything about this river!"

"You could say that... Every day it's a matter of life and death at every bend of the current..."

"Hmm... So you must surely know where the big rocks lie in the river, which places are about to form new sandbars..."

"No, no, I don't know that; it's neither possible to know nor necessary."

"Why, tell me?"

"It's enough to know just the depth of the water. Both rocks and sandbars shift their positions, but depth remains constant, fixed. I row the boat following the depth—that way the boat never gets stuck..."
The same rule applies to life. Once you learn to follow the path of depth, you needn't worry about shallow distractions. Those who are only intoxicated by the shallows will gasp and drown to death if they ever encounter depth.
5. Read poetry... to befriend wordlessness.

Read essays... to sharpen your reasoning.

Read love stories... to comfort your heart.

Read biographies... to experience great souls.

Read scriptures... to kindle conversation in the depths of your spirit.
6. Five captured soldiers were about to be shot and killed in a few moments when one of them said, "Friends, come, let us all spend our final moments singing together. They can kill us, but our melody will bear witness to our existence even after death."
And that's what they all did.

The two soldiers who shot and killed them could not erase that final song from their minds even many years after the incident. A kind of intense guilt haunted them until their dying day.
God has given us certain gifts that are forever immortal, undying, imperishable.
7. How shall I approach people?

Just remember six simple things, and that will suffice...

One. The most important six-word sentence: I admit I was wrong.

Two. The most important five-word sentence: You did an excellent job.

Three. The most important four-word sentence: I want your opinion.

Four. The most important three-word phrase: Please, a moment...

Five. The most important two-word sentence: Thank you.

Six. The least important single word: I.
8. A famous lawyer was asked: What is the secret of your success?
"My wife. No, she has never studied law. She never meddles in my work by mistake. She never seeks advice from me, nor does she ever give me advice. But her existence keeps me alive. She understands beforehand what I want; she can sense when my mood changes; when I get very angry, she patiently listens to all my shouting; somehow she always manages to say exactly the right thing at the right time.
In the evenings, when I'm shuffling through various documents, she sits quietly beside me knitting sweaters or doing some sewing. To ease the fatigue of the whole day, I have found nothing better than the sound of her needle. That familiar sound dispels all my anxieties and worries every day, and I feel a kind of infinite strength within my heart.
Without her, I could never have achieved anything in life. When she's beside me, I feel I could conquer the world."
Very few people have been able to express gratitude to their wives so beautifully.
9. : If you can, send me a book. A truly beautiful book... one that will be a joy to read; one that will stay with me long after I've finished it; one that stands apart from other books; one that you've enjoyed reading; one that makes you fall in love with the author...

: How about I send some flowers instead?

: Don't you want to read? Are you trying to avoid the burden of understanding what appeals to you?

: I wanted to send flowers precisely because I cannot take refuge in pretense.

: I spoke as I did because I want to see you in another splendid form beyond this already splendid one you possess. When someone who knows flowers also knows books, what could be a more beautiful harmony than that?

: Then what shall I do?

: Take your time... but I won't change my gift or its conditions.
10. Instead of being ashamed, some people are glad with their cheapness.
But why? Because they have more friends.
Thoughts: Nine Hundred Fifty-Nine

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1. People call upon God in so many different ways...
Just as we remove our shoes when we call upon Him, people in the West remove their hats when they pray to Him.
But does prayer truly depend on whether shoes or hats are removed or not? Or on whether feet or heads are covered or uncovered?
Not at all.
Prayer depends solely on the heart. Where there is no heart in prayer, God is never present.
Even if you burden your mind with thousands of books, if the heart doesn't awaken, all prayers remain dormant in the end.
2. When I go to a new office, I have various thoughts about the chair I sit in.
If I see a revolving chair, I change it. I don't like chairs that spin.

If I see a very comfortable chair, I change that too. Too much comfort doesn't make for good work. When I see a hard wooden chair, I check whether my back can rest properly against the backrest. I prefer a hard, smooth chair with the back slightly curved forward.
People are like these chairs. At first glance, we decide whether there's any need for a second meeting with this person or not. Some people are unbearable at first sight, others feel instantly familiar. We feel like talking to some, while others' faces irritate us immediately. We like some, fear others.
You decide what kind of person you want to present yourself as. After all, you're not a chair—you have life and consciousness, the ability to reveal yourself as you choose.
3. Don't pass judgment on anyone without knowing them well.
With the same tree...

Go in winter and you'll see it dried up, turned to wood;

Go in spring and you'll see it covered leaf by leaf;

Go in summer and you'll see it bowed down under the weight of fruit.
Everything depends on when and how you see the person you're talking about, or whether you've ever truly known them at all.
Before reaching any conclusion about someone, think with a cool head: do you really know this person?
Judging someone based on assumptions without clear knowledge and understanding is the work of the most contemptible people.
4. A little girl wrote in her school notebook: Everyone in our house is terribly poor. My father is poor, my mother is poor; they won't buy me toys as I wish. My brothers and sisters are even poorer; they only stretch out their hands to my parents. Our cook and driver are also poor; every winter they ask for extra money to buy warm clothes. Our maid is poor too; she asked for money when filling out her son's form. And the poorest of all is me; I could only watch silently from inside the car as children my age played with dust and earth...
5. Q: What might be the most beautiful thing to do at year's end?

A: Reflect on your own life, be grateful to God.

Those who are no longer here—could you not have been among them?

What you have—if you had received less, what harm would have befallen the world?

Think, and give thanks.
6. The stronger one's faith in the Creator, the lesser one's anxiety.

The greater one's anxiety, the weaker one's faith in the Creator.
What is there for even believers to worry so much about?!
7. When a calendar gets stolen...

The one who loses it, loses 12 months!

The one who steals it, gains 12 months!
Does the thief's lifespan really increase just like that?!
8. When I truly became successful, three things amazed me:

Those who seemed destined to fail—many of them had succeeded;

Those who seemed destined to succeed—many of them had failed;

Most amazed of all was seeing myself succeed!
9. You never even let me quarrel, and now I couldn't quarrel even if I wanted to... I'm leaving your life.
10. I love to live alone and unnoticed.
Who among you love to live like this?
11. If you must give invitations,

Invite me during Pujo, I'll come eat the sweets;

Invite me during Eid, I'll come eat the vermicelli;

Invite me at Christmas, I'll come eat the cake;

Invite me during Buddha Purnima, I'll come eat the rice pudding.

Or invite me to your home. Even better if you invite me to your ancestral village home. I'll gladly come visit.
Otherwise, don't invite me. I don't accept any other kind of invitation, and I become extremely annoyed and embarrassed when someone does. I know myself best. You practice staying with your own affairs. No one who isn't utterly idle and pointless keeps pestering someone else like this.
That's the end of it.
I have no headache over anything of yours. I have never meddled in any of your affairs, I'm not doing so now, nor will I ever do so in the future. If you had even the slightest bit of common sense and brains, you'd do the same. Whether I have knowledge or not, where I'll go after death, whether I'm on the wrong path or the right path... you don't need to research these things.
When even someone I would never have turned to for advice comes running shamelessly to force advice upon me, it feels terribly annoying!! I don't visit your wall, and there's no possibility of doing so in this lifetime. If I needed advice from you, you wouldn't be lurking around my wall, would you?
12. : From today, I'm calling you 'Rodasi.'

: Just like that?

: I felt like calling you by a new name.

: What a beautiful name! What does it mean?

: The meaning of what? The name? Or giving you a new name?

: Both.

: Rodasi means heaven and earth together. One in whom you can see both heaven and earth—she is Rodasi to you.

: Really?! Do you love me that much?

: No no, this isn't love at all—it's just anxiety and revulsion! When I look into your eyes, even when I just think of you, I don't want to live anymore, I want to die. How much more of this torment can one bear, tell me?

: It's because I'm the kind of girl I am that I've endured and survived all this time with a worthless man like you!

: Exactly, exactly... it's because you're you that I've been enduring all this time. The one who fell into your trap, forgetting himself one day—only he knows how difficult, how difficult it is to bear you... By the way, you've grasped the second meaning too, haven't you?

: You have no shortage of lovers! Why are you after me? Don't you feel ashamed? What a completely characterless man!
Thought: Nine-fifty

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1. I always keep my distance from three kinds of people:
Those who want to make me appear rich, even by force

Those who want to make me wise, even by force

Those who want to take me to their heaven, even by force
The reason: I see not generosity in them, but scheming. Perhaps it's my own faulty perception, but that's how I see it... what can I do!
My naive heart tells me again and again:

If I remain poor, what's it to their fathers?!

If I remain foolish, what's it to their fathers?!

If I go to hell, what's it to their fathers?!
When someone forces me into discomfort and embarrassment, I somehow feel pity for them...
2. If you can ever shake off all the prejudices about greatness from your mind... such as I am big, so-and-so is small, such-and-such is middling... then make time to visit an indigenous friend's home with a simple and generous heart. You'll learn life's simple lessons. You'll see how, setting aside all calculations, people still draw others close through bonds of love alone. You'll realize how expansive the human heart can be with very little, if you spend time in indigenous communities. What use is a world of riches if we've lost our very souls? To know people, we must go to them.
However, among indigenous people too there are some you may not enjoy being with, if you want to mingle with a simple heart. You'll find such people in every community, won't you? But from what I've seen, mixing with them is relatively much more pleasant. When mixing, bring yourself closer to the earth, give your mind and brain a holiday from all judgment (that wretched habit of lecturing others), and observe their lives if you get the chance. It will be a beautiful experience worth remembering.
Let me speak of myself. To spend my leisure, I usually stay alone, or sometimes stay close to people in whose company I don't have to bear the burden of calculations, prejudices, doubts, and expectations.
3. During the time you save by consciously avoiding certain people altogether, meet repeatedly with some other people. You'll see that life isn't quite so ugly.
4. Sorrow has visited this life only twice:

before I met you,

after I met you.
5. Never publicize the good deeds you do for yourself. Like all forms of private worship or prayer.

The good deeds you do for others—you may publicize them if you wish, though it's better if you can keep them secret.
People get annoyed and mock needless publicity, especially regarding your personal matters that concern no one else—it's better not to make too much noise about such things. Yes, if you feel that publicity might inspire some people, then you may do so.
6. Never invite small problems to invite big problems to solve those small problems.
7. The more you disturb others in the name of religion, the more you make your religion disturbing in their eyes.
Religion needs no advertisement.
8. One day you wanted to run away with me.

Today I understand—had I listened to you that day, you would have abandoned me and fled alone. Then I could neither have returned nor survived alone.

Sometimes, you must not listen even to the person you love most.
9. When someone keeps destroying your inner peace by advising you about the unnecessary people or topics, just tell them:
"No time to fuck the bastards.
I don't care about other people's love or respect. So, please stop caring about my personal issues. Surely you'll end up making a mess. I'm not an easy thing to digest and I'm happy with that.
And, please stop advising me. It just disturbs me more.
Clear?"
Sometimes, well-wishers are annoying. Stop them if they annoy you. Peace is more important than even the whole world. So, never invite or entertain people who destroy it.
Love is a trap, so is respect. To make yourself happy, stop caring about people's love or respect. Unnecessary people kill necessary time.
Always remember a golden rule: The fewer people, the more peace.
People hurt. People change. People replace. Stop expecting from people.
People hate successful people. Accept it.
10. While it's true that some people have neglected you, it's even more true that you yourself created the opportunity for them to neglect you.
11. Distance brought us as close as nearness had pushed us apart.
So this is better, after all!
12. Even after having a good position in the country... no one wants to flee the country, they want to flee the people of the country.
13. Just 3 rules to be happy:
Stop overthinking.

Stop being unnecessarily emotional.

Stop being judgemental.
That's all.
14. In this country, some people stand before you and stare at your face, while others stare at your face even from behind you.
The first group is called beggars. They do this for money. It's their livelihood. They don't do it for pleasure, but out of necessity.
The second group has no name. Whether unemployed or not, they have no work. Having no work, they stay preoccupied with other people's lives. They trail behind others and find mental peace even if they don't get money. Though this isn't their livelihood, it's their sole means of survival. They differ from pigs in one respect: pigs follow behind hoping for filth, they follow behind hoping for peace. Whether you know them or not, think about them or not, care about them or not, insult them or not, talk about them or not... none of this troubles them. Your rear end is their only path to survival. Where else would they go!? They have but one motto: Say whatever you will, brother, we have no shame or honor.
Reflection: Nine Hundred and Fifty-One

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1. Messi's smile—

How I love it!
Just as a person kisses their own child, that's exactly how Messi kissed the trophy! Indeed, achievement is as precious as a child! Seeing Messi's unbridled euphoria truly lifted my spirits! Such a beautiful farewell suits only Messi!
Dear Messi, you are as much a genius as you are talented! Throughout the entire tournament, you spread light. Argentina reached the pinnacle holding your hand. If you ever get the chance, come visit Bangladesh. You can't even imagine how madly we love you!
What joy there is in watching them receive their awards! This is where the beauty of the game lies. All our quarrels ended today. What an emotionally stirring World Cup! Truly, it's the greatest show on earth!!! From tomorrow we'll be poor again, or sad... or weary.
It's more glorious to lose playing badly than to win playing poorly. Dear Mbappé, I don't like seeing you with your spirits down. You're a very beautiful person. You made today's match beautiful. We'll all remember you. Today you won even in defeat! Thank you, maestro!! I remove my cap of pride in reverence...
Vuvuzelas are blowing, fireworks are bursting, victory processions are cheering! Tonight feels like a night of light! Bike parades in the streets, people's jubilation! We lack many things, yet we have a heart large enough to be swept away by joy. This is precisely where we are unique!
2. The most beautiful battle I've ever witnessed has just ended.
Congratulations, Argentina! Love for Messi...
I feel terrible for Mbappé. In my eyes, Mbappé was today's hero. How a magician can carry a game to such lengths—that's what Mbappé showed us today! France didn't play today, Mbappé played. Respect!!!
And finally, this World Cup is in Messi's hands!!!
From today onward, we won't have to wait long again to see the field magicians. The World Cup has gifted us some beautiful moments. Thank you!!!
3. One can drown this way too!!!
4. Your favorite team has to go to a tiebreaker to win the match, and you want... to get the job without even sitting for the exam if possible!!!
Watch! Learn!!
5. I just can't accept this miss!!!
6. France came level through the 'hand' of Maradona's worthy successor!!!
7. A goal of that level!!!
8. You're thinking I'm probably not an Argentina supporter anymore!

You still have time left to know me. You'll know after the match ends!
9. French girlfriend, French poetry, Mbappé... they look easy, yet are so hard to understand!!!
10. When the game turns to "survival of the fittest" principle...
Croatia's last-minute fire had burned Brazil's house, today France's last-minute fire burned Argentina's house...
11. What a save!!!
12. I received news from a reliable source that while the Golden Boot was ordered for Messi, it was mistakenly made to Mbappe's foot measurements. Well, what could be done!!!
13. If anything good can come from anger, then anger itself must be good!
My rage against France has still not subsided!!!
14. The master's beating was saved for the final night!!!

So Argentina played it light!!!
15. Brazil of the world, even if you're alone, burst the fireworks!!!
16. Mbappe, my heart is so elated that I want to go to your house and tutor you for free to make you top the civil service exam!!!
17. Falling in love with a foolish student and supporting France are one and the same thing. You feel wonderful loving both of them—right up until exam day!
18. Modern poetry was born in France.

Today modern football will also die in France.
Ever since reading Sunil Gangopadhyay's 'Waters of a Distant Cascade' and 'In the Land of Pictures, in the Land of Poetry,' I could never forget France. After today's match, France has become permanently etched in my mind!
19. Weak in crucial moments,

Football at France's feet!
20. I have a friend... who is simultaneously quite health-conscious and quite fat. Watching France play somehow reminds me very much of that friend.
21. The question may naturally arise: do people actually support this worthless France?!

Simple calculation! If an intelligent person like you can follow a fool like me, then why shouldn't France get some supporters?
22. I see you all have just one question on your minds: How did this France reach the final?!
Come on, brother, cool... cool! If a guy like me can top the civil service exam, then why can't a team like France reach the final?!
When luck is on your side, even a rooster lays eggs; when luck isn't, even a hen won't lay.
23. That candidate who aces all the coaching center mock tests but then utterly collapses in the actual admission test—from today onward, he'll be called: You're such a France!
24. If Argentina doesn't win today, this will be the biggest upset of this World Cup!
Absolutely mesmerized watching Argentina play!!
Did France really reach the final on merit? Or through quota?
25. Swooning from flower wounds,

The goal went askew!
Argentina is truly playing magnificently!!
26. If a domesticated hen doesn't lay eggs, what do people do?

Either they slaughter the hen, or they raise another one.
People don't usually raise hens out of pure love for chickens.

Those who do raise them—if you want to stay with them, just giving love is enough. But if you want to give eggs out of love, that's a different matter; the responsibility is the hen's alone.

Those who don't raise them—if you want to stay with them, just giving eggs is enough. But if you fall in love while giving eggs, that's a different matter; the responsibility is the hen's alone.
The pleasure of eggs lies only in eggs, the joy of love lies only in love. These two pleasures can coexist, but they don't have to—not at all. In this case, what works well is the give-and-take policy. The home that feeds you and keeps your body alive—it's better to lay your eggs in that very home. Eating from one home and laying eggs in another—such hens have much sorrow in their fate.
27. Four brothers have come to the visa processing center. Their names are somewhat dangerous types. The eldest is Dhola Miah, the second is Sona Miah, the third is Nunu Miah, the youngest is Chan Miah.
Sona Miah is talking with the visa officer.
Visa Officer: Nunu is your younger brother, right?
Sona Miah: Yes madam, Nunu is indeed my younger brother. There's Nunu standing right behind me.
(In Chittagong, they affectionately call people 'Nunu.' Like Nunu Uncle, Nunu Mama... and so on. Small children are also lovingly called by this name. Even after growing up, many have to endure this endearing nickname from family and relatives, even in public!
Are there similar strange 'name-calling' customs in other regions?
Feel free to share other regional terms of endearment if you know any.
I don't know, by the way, whether those four gentlemen are from Chittagong.)
Thought: Nine-Fifty-Two

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1. I receive countless WhatsApp messages on my page like this: My boyfriend did this to me, did that to me... he's so terrible, I'm so good... how could he do this to me... I can't find peace, everything keeps flashing before my eyes day and night... how can a person be such a deceiver... I'm going mad from crying... what do I lack that he/they have... I just can't forget the memories...

... thousands of messages with elaborate descriptions of incredibly complex situations!
They all want solutions from me. They expect it as if I'm sitting here eagerly waiting to solve their problems.

I usually give one solution: Leave and move on. (In few words, this is the world's most practical solution.)

They're not happy with that. They want me to drop everything and keep typing out pathways to solutions, as if they're my acquaintances or I have some stake in their affairs! They don't understand that I have no reason to give them personal time. I'll give it if I feel like it, I won't if I don't. There's no give and take here that would compel me to spend time or make me want to spend time, right? Time that matters is never free.
When they don't get proper answers, they get upset again, some even resort to outright abuse. Where they get this sense of entitlement from, I don't quite know. Perhaps that's part of their emotional baggage too. They get beaten up precisely because they have so much misplaced emotion! There's no beating worse than emotional beating! Serves them right!
I'm thinking, from now on I'll give everyone the same solution: So what if your boyfriend is causing trouble? What's the big deal?! What am I here for? Am I your next... huh? Say "Dugga Dugga" and hang around my neck right now! I'll keep you happy, never cause you any trouble... he's rotten, I'm good... let's have our eternal love story now...
2. We abandon our own homes to seek heaven in others' homes. We abandon our own people to seek happiness in strangers. Yet the heaven that doesn't exist in our own soul exists nowhere else. Then why do we search like that?
It's quite simple to understand. Wherever we go, whoever we go to where our soul feels good, where living becomes joyful, people go there, go to them. Soul relationships and social relationships are different matters. In the first, people live; in the second, society lives.
Having to stay with someone my soul doesn't want... there's no loneliness greater than this.

Having to stay somewhere my soul doesn't want to be... there's no helplessness greater than this anywhere else.
3. As a conscious supporter of Argentina, in the interest of clean and fair play, I strongly demand that the World Cup final match be held on Facebook instead of the field!
When we have Facebook, why the field?!
4. Goooooal!!!
Vamos, Brazil... oops... France!!!
5. At first, I genuinely thought I'd support Morocco. But when I saw Argentina's supporters in droves, procession after procession, all rallying behind Morocco, I thought: no, I can't support Morocco after all.
Argentina equals contrarianism!
Vamos, France!
6. What a spectacular goal-miss!!!
7. What a spectacular goal!!!
8. Sometimes, stand alone in your room before the mirror. Look straight into your own eyes. Avoid blinking as much as possible. Give the rest of the world leave from your mind for a few moments. Search for the 'I' within yourself. Look at your own face and smile. Tell yourself clearly: "Could there be anyone more beautiful than this in the world? What do I lack that's needed to stand against all the world's cruelties?"
You'll see that a river flows perpetually through your heart, and at every bend of its current lies only joy, love, faith, and strength. Just as clouds part at the scent of sunlight, all your old fears will slowly drift away in that blessed moment. You'll feel a kind of happiness, a sense of weightlessness. In the river's waters, you'll glimpse the reflection of that 'you' whom you've been waiting years of your life to meet.
9. Goooooooal!!! East or West, Argentina is the best! Let the naysayers eat dust! This cup is ours! Vamos, Argentina!!
Statutory warning: Flip-flopping is very bad.
10. That's it! This cup is ours!!
11. Messi's smile,

I love it so!
12. On the playing field, both teams have equal claim to the ball. The ball... someone will get it, someone won't—this won't do, this simply won't do! Forty-sixty ball possession... I don't accept it, I won't accept it!
13. I don't understand—why didn't they give the penalty?! Doesn't it hurt to fall down?!