Indian families will notice you gained 2kg before they notice you’re mentally exhausted

I came home after months recently and within the first 15 minutes, people had already commented on: my weight, my skin, my sleep schedule, my appearance. But not one person asked if I was actually okay mentally. And honestly, I think that says a lot about how emotional struggles are treated in Indian households. You can be completely burnt out internally… but as long as you look “normal,” nobody really notices. I think many of us became experts at hiding stress because vulnerability is usually treated like weakness. So instead of saying “I’m mentally exhausted,” we just say: “Bas thoda tired hoon.” And then continue functioning like robots.