Dear Readers,

The world is not divided between good and bad people, it’s divided between emotional and hard core people. I fall in the first category, I am not just emotional - I cry at the drop of the hat. 

You must have guessed by now where this story is headed. So after the exhilarating win of Neeraj Chopra in the javelin throw final, we all broke into celebrations. I was quite proud of myself that I didn’t get emotional. While scooping out ice cream for everyone, I started reminiscing how I conceal my untimely tears in social gathering. What is the most common place where people cannot stop their tears - Yes! Movie hall. I never walk into a movie hall without tissues. I have learnt a few tricks of how not to let other people know that you are shedding copious amounts of tears - eat while crying, the chomping noise of eating popcorn is so irritating that people do not notice your sob.

One time it got very difficult for me to conceal my sobs; it was when I went to watch the musical ‘Phantom of the Opera’ with my sister. I have mentioned once before that we laugh in sync. Well as it turns out, we even cry in sync- so the cumulative effect of our sobs turned out quite intense. People sitting next to us offered us tissues and consoled us. We consoled them as they were crying too. It was quite beautiful. 

Coming back to the moment, as I took the ice cream tray out, Neeraj Chopra was graciously accepting the medal and we all stood for the national anthem. We had waited for this moment since the start of the Olympics. I started singing the national anthem when I felt a knot in my throat. My eyes too brimmed up and I lost control of my voice box. I could no longer sing as I realized that I was sobbing. Everyone was singing and so far nobody had noticed me, I hoped to escape everyone’s notice when my daughter cried - Mum, are you crying? And that was it. All the cameras were out in a second to make sure I never lived down the moment. 

Enjoy the edition

Priyanka