Monday, May 24th, 2021, 22:00 IST

I couldn't think of anything. So I'm starting this by writing about my partner.

Understanding and adjusting for a whole new person just because you like some of their attributes - felt like an alien scenario. Above all, dating a Punjabi person is a re-birth to self. I must (WARN) tell you.

We try. Things go right and left. We mess up. He teaches me things, I learn. I do things, he acknowledges. Some days I feel we are best of friends, other days I feel like ..well you know. But at the end of the day, he is like my that favorite schoolmate who I want to compete with, go to picnics with, grow plants with, make him meet my parents, and do homework-like things with.

I'm convinced love is crazy.

Making him understand me is tough. But wanting to be understood is not enough. It took me approximately 180 days to know that listening is the most vital part of any conversation, instead of talking. Walking a mile in his shoes, I realized I am missing on so many perspectives. And this is just one of the 100s of people I meet every year.

Taking a step back to understand any situation as a third, impartial being and listening to people WITHOUT interrupting is a way to acknowledge them, empathize with them. It helps me form (close to) an unbiased opinion about the problem instead of attributing the problem to an individual.

He is not bad, it might be the circumstances that made him do or act so. The ability to understand a problem > finding a solution to it.

Even others want to be.. Understood.