A Revealing Life Lessons Story Unveiling Shadows!

An Insightful Series of Life Lessons That My Life Provided As I Lived Understanding Its Psychology and Philosophy Improving My Mental Health in The Process.

Jul 02, 2026

LIFE LESSON STORIES SERIES

A Revealing Life Lessons Story: Everyone Is the Same Way Naked Under One’s Clothes

A Revealing Life Lessons Story Unveiling Shadows!

I was 27 when I shifted from my hilly hometown to the valley below to join a theater group there. I was an aspiring writer and soon I got a mentor named Rohit Roy who was an established writer himself. Luckily, he was also a member of the same theater group and appreciated my writing style a lot. He was all out to help me whenever he could, wherever he could. I was welcome to his place all 24 hours of the day. At times I slept there at night as well. His wife took me as a family member too.

I revered Rohit to the point of having an unquestionable faith in him. Therefore, I said nothing when he directed a play written by me and changed its subtle end with a gimmick. It was despite my feeling that doing so had robbed it of its real soul. But I kept mum.

A Revealing Life Lessons Story: I Start Writing A New Play As Does Rohit

Anyway, I started writing a new play. At the same time, it coincidentally happened so that Rohit started writing a new play too. Two new plays were going to come into existence and hence everyone in the group was excited to welcome them. We both took around a couple of months to complete our scripts.

Incidentally the script completion coincided with Somesh Garg’s visit to the group, a theater activist from National School of Drama. Being an extra-intelligent person, he enchanted the group with his presence. As the new plays had already been completed, Somesh suggested a play reading session for both of them together. Rohit offered to host the session at his place with tea and snacks to make it more enjoyable.

A Revealing Life Lessons Story: The Play Reading Session

At the specified time, the session started. Somesh was ready to take notes in his notebook while the session was in progress. The first part started with the reading of Rohit’s play giving him the due respect of being a senior writer.

After the reading was over, it was time to review the play by everyone present in the session. A detailed discussion went on concerning different aspects of the play. Somesh’s notes had been the most elaborate ones as he was professionally trained in theater genre. Hence his participation in the discussion was also the most vocal. His opinions seemed to affect others’ minds as well.

In the end, everyone was supposed to give a star rating to the play in a step of half-a-point out of 5.

Rohit’s play received a whopping 4 out of 5 stars by the members of the group and Somesh.

After a refreshment break, the next was the turn of my play to be read. The same procedure was repeated again. Tea kept being served continuously by Rohit’s wife through the session.

After the reading was done, a lengthy discussion followed. In the end, the star rating was given.

I was hardly expecting 3 or 3.5 out of 5 at the most. But to my utter astonishment, my play received an exceptional 4.5 out of 5!

A Revealing Life Lessons Story: Star Rating

I wasn’t emotionally ready to ingest that much of appreciation and that too in comparison with my mentor’s play. Although it wasn’t a comparative review but it turned so as the two reviews were placed back-to-back. My eyes automatically fell on Rohit’s face and I could clearly see it turning pale. But he kept his composure and congratulated me. I wished the two plays shouldn’t have been read back to back together. But the arrow had already been shot. What had happened, had happened.

It had already turned quite late at night. Everyone took leave of one another and left. Since I lived alone, Rohit’s wife suggested me to stay back as I wouldn’t get food anywhere at that hour. She said I could stay there overnight. I agreed.

It wasn’t that Rohit’s play was criticized or got any bad reviews, but everything got centered on the star rating. Even his star rating was exceptional, but its sheen had gone paled when kept along my star rating.

We had a relationship of a mentor and a mentee with the mentee revering the mentor. It needed a gap of levels and a distance between the two as far as the creative skill levels were concerned. But all the gaps had been bridged and all the distances had been vanished in that day’s play reading session.

Rohit didn’t speak much while eating and soon after the dinner, we all went to sleep.

A Revealing Life Lessons Story: Rohit Wakes Me Up At Night

At night, at around 3 o’clock, I heard someone waking me up from my deep sleep. As I opened my eyes, I saw Rohit standing by my bed.

“What happened? Is everything okay?” I got worried.

“I just discovered why your play got 4.5 out of 5-star rating. It’s because you have used a gimmick in your play at the end that everyone fell into the trap of. But gimmicks never make a great piece of art. I think you should change the end and get another reading done for your play,” mumbled Rohit.

Although I didn’t agree with what Rohit said but I apparently acted as if I fully agreed with him. I didn’t want him to keep feeling bad about his star rating not being as good as mine anymore.

I didn’t even tell him about what he had done to the end of my old play while directing it recently. I hadn’t liked the end because he had replaced its subtle ending with a noisy gimmick himself that time.

I also didn’t want him to realize the awkwardness of telling this to me by waking me up at 3am!

I just kept mum and acted as if I fully agreed with him.

When my acceptance convinced him about the validity of his assertion, he felt relieved and went back to sleep peacefully.

But I learned a precious lesson from this entire episode. I learned that reverence was not a right thing to have for anyone anywhere on earth. I learned everyone was the same way naked under one’s clothes.

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