Can we talk? Not about careers, promotions, or goals.

Not today.

I want to talk about something we don’t talk about enough—

The side of a man that rarely sees the light of day.

You see, the world doesn’t really like soft men.

Because somehow, softness has been mistaken for weakness.And that… breaks my heart.

Behind Closed Doors

Inside his room—his sacred, quiet space—a man breathes differently.

That’s where he lets go. That’s where the mask comes off.

He’s not thinking about being strong or being “manly.”

He’s just… being.

He thinks about his first crush.

Remembers her laugh, the way her eyes sparkled when she looked back one last time on the last day of school.

He still remembers that saree, the bindi she wore. Funny how one moment can live rent-free in your soul forever.

He opens his gallery and scrolls through old photos—

his family, his Maa and Paa.

And suddenly, there’s this ache in his chest.

Not because something’s wrong.

But because time has quietly tiptoed by, and they’ve grown older… and he misses them more than he admits.

He types out a love-filled message to his sister.

Wants to say how proud he is of her.

How much he misses her silly jokes and warm hugs.

But then… he deletes it.

“It might be too much.”

He checks the calendar for the fifth time this week.

Looking for that long weekend.

Hoping for an escape—back to that old bed, the kitchen full of smells, the people who truly know him.

In his quiet moments,

he closes his eyes and imagines holding the hand of the one he loves.

No noise, no performance.

Just him and her—swaying to an old Bollywood song in a room only they exist in.

He still remembers the perfume she wore.

How her voice felt like home.

How her touch made the world stop spinning for a while.

And in those memories, he smiles.

The Man You Don’t Know

See, in that closed room, he’s not half a man.

He’s all of him.

Raw. Real. Beautifully emotional.

But the moment he steps out…

The world changes him.

Because out there, nobody asks him about the last time he cried from joy.

Nobody asks him what his heart longs for.

They ask:

• What’s your CTC now?

• When’s the next promotion?

• What’s the next big achievement?

And slowly, silently, those questions take him away…

From himself.

From the side of him that feels.

That dances.

That writes love notes in his head but never sends them.

That misses home like a little boy in a big man’s shoes.

Dear Men,

If you’re reading this…

I hope you give yourself permission to feel.

To cry. To miss. To dream. To love loudly.

Not because you need to “prove” you’re a man.

But because you’re human.

You don’t have to hide the tenderness in you.

You don’t have to shrink your softness just to fit into someone else’s version of masculinity.

I hope one day,

the world stops defining you by the weight you carry or the goals you chase—

and starts seeing you for the beautiful, emotional, whole human being you truly are.

Because strength?

It’s not in your silence.

It’s in your vulnerability.

And your heart… it deserves to be heard too.

With love,

From one heart to another. ❤️

— Heart’s Talk by Abhishek Kandel

Where Every Beat Finds a Voice.