Unexpected Teacher

I spent the first half of the day crying and cribbing about my canceled vacation, recounting my woes to anyone who would listen. The second half, I sat sulking by the window, staring out at a life that felt unfairly on pause.

Suddenly, my niece appeared beside me.

"But Chachi, I don't understand," she said, tilting her head. "Why didn’t you just go to your mayka?"

I straightened up. "To teach your Chachu a lesson, of course," I replied quickly, trying to sound firm. "He needs to know how upset I am. I haven’t even left the house!"

She didn’t move. She just looked at me and said, "But I still don’t understand how Chachu is suffering. You’re the one whose vacation got canceled, and you’re the one sulking all day instead of visiting your parents. And from his WhatsApp status, Chachu seems to be having the time of his life."

I didn’t want to hear it. "You don’t understand, beta," I said quickly. "I don’t want to forgive him."

Very calmly, she replied, "But Chachi, I think you adults have it all wrong. Forgiveness should be for yourself. What’s the point of not forgiving him if you’re the one suffering? Not forgiving is more of a punishment for yourself than for the other person.

  This post is a part of Blogchatter Half Marathon.