And, sometimes, when I’m being the best version of myself, I will remember that bullies are created—that bullies seek to torture because they’ve been tortured. When other Indians—friends, acquaintances, or strangers—talk shit about me, I try to remember they are acting out of their own weakness, their own crisis of self-identity, their own pain and fear and paranoia. I try to instantly forgive them. I try. I try. I try.
