Hold My Hand

Trinita Roy

1st Post.

Have you ever suffered from an identity crisis? Many of us have, knowingly or unknowingly.

In my case, both.

Our parents love us a lot, but sometimes they have a weird way of showing it. This is not my autobiography so I won’t go into my sob story.

We all feel the need to be accepted when we are at our weakest and most vulnerable. It is true when we are strong, even if lonely, there is a notion inside us that we will make it through against all odds. I used to make a big deal out of my day-to-day problems. I was always searching for that non-existent perfection. They say, the bigger places you go, the bigger person you become.

I truly learned the importance of this statment recently. Being at home, my ultimate comfort zone, I had no idea of the harsh reprecussions of the outside world. Going to the University taught me so many valuable lessons.

My problems felt quite small.

I want to share a story.

I watched a Norwegian series called Skam. ‘Skam’ means shame. You might not have heard of it. Anyway, there are four seasons and each season describes the story of one particular character. One of these seasons unfolds the story of Isak, a guy who struggles with his inner self to find his sexuality. He realises that he’s gay and becomes terrified. Feelings of abandonment terrorize him. Maybe his mom won’t understand or his friends will leave him. He even starts falling in love with a guy. This guy gives him mixed signals. Unable to take everything, he goes to meet his school counsellor and tries to explain about his confused emotions. He doesn’t know what to say. The teacher tells him to talk to his friends but he brushes it off. Then the teacher does something which has my mind completely blown away. Simple yet effective, the teacher and Isak stood with their backs pressed, facing the opposite direction. They stood in the same position for almost 10 minutes. All of a sudden, the teacher steps aside, and he falls on his back. He is confused with the activities of the counselor. Then the teacher bends down and forwards his hand towards Isak. That hand is the hand of acceptance. The counselor asks him again to talk to his friends.

All I can say is, that it helps him.

Sexual orientation and its acceptance is a commonly talked topic now. Yet I choose it as my theme because I have seen my friends struggle about it. Boy or Girl. It hurts to see them in pain. It hurts to see them vulnerable. It hurts to see the insecurity in their eyes. I dedicate this piece to them and…

I want to tell them, “Hold my hand, I am right here”.