The Mask

It had been very long. It had protected me from doing things which otherwise could've ruined my life. All that, that wanted to get out of me had stuck to it. It helped me stay the very self inside without letting the outside world get to me. Yes ! I'm talking about the second face I put on in front of the world .. My mask !!


Now it was getting heavy. It was beginning to wear off. I didn't know how much longer I could hold onto it.

But I was not the only one wearing it. Everyone wore it and so successfully for so long that it had become a part of their self. Its a shield in fact, which one would get behind to protect that deep corner of one's heart which one would never dare to expose.

The mask was not the same. It took several colours. It gave me the liberty to choose who I wanted to be infront of the world, how I wanted it to look at me. It gave me a second me. I had grown into the mask. With every mistake and every fall, the mask grew bigger. By now, I had sculpted it to perfection.

The irony is that one cannot identify the mask of another so easily. Now I look at someone smiling at me and I cannot make out if its the mask or his genuine self that is smiling at me. Trust hardly makes sense now.

Ever had this constant nagging to throw off that mask and be yourself ??
But everytime you try to do that, you evaluate the consequences, the damage and back off. The stakes are just too big .. reputation, acquaintances, future .. phew !!!

The mask is a saviour indeed !
A saviour you'd never let go for reasons best known to your heart.