Apparently, not everything that spills forth from my mouth is verbal garbage.

Lately, i've been doing a lot of talking. Not at work, but outside of it. And not the oratory, but the advisory types. And it's not dotted with Assholes, sprinkled with Maaki and Bhenki gaalis, or even doused in a generous dressing of Fucks.

I've been spewing so much gyaan and emotionally intelligent sounding stuff that sometimes i think back and am amazed at how i came up with all that junk. It's true, life can teach you a lot of things and all that, but it's got to be one heck of an experience after another to be able to dole out so much, so much, so so much to people, helping them get their lives back on track. And i can assure you, my experiences are the same as those that happen to the average person - nothing out of the usual. (Wait, maybe a fling in the late teens with a going-through-divorce guy 19 years older might just about qualify as extraordinary.)

What must be different, is what i picked up from those experiences. Because suddenly, when i talk these days, i can see ears pricking up, waiting to trap every word i utter and eagerly trasnfer it to that part of the brain responsible for cognisance. And trust you me, they're heeding my words of wisdom.
Example 1: Friend going through shit with some guy she's totally in love with but who's married and has been caught by his wife chatting steamily with said friend. Shit has hit the roof blah blah blah, and now she blames herself for everything going wrong. Long story short, the point at which this whole mess is, she's not responsible for. And i told her that. And i fed her stuff to tell him. And she did. And now, everything's fine. Except for her broken heart, but hey, that's not something her intact self-respect can't help overcome.
Example 2: Yet another marriage gone terribly wrong - no love left between the two, guy pretending that nothing's wrong, girl freaking out that her parents will withdraw their support for her decision of ending it and all that. More than two hours of convincing later, i find her to be an emotionally stronger person who will only take so much from people and show her middle finger the rest of the way.

And so the stories go. Another friend who's sort of seeing this guy and cannot for the life of her hide anything from him, tells me that he asks for my opinion (yes! as in, "So, what does Nabila think about that?") on almost all things pertaining to them.

I can't decide on whether this is a good thing or not. Somehow, typing it all out makes me sound like an old maiden who can't do any better for her life than dish out stuff for people in need. And then i think that's it not true, because i can be ruthless and brutally honest. Correction, i am ruthless and brutally honest. And most times, i guess that's what intelligent people in trouble want to hear. They want to be shaken out of their stupor of helplessness and self-pity, given a sound smack on their tushes and pointed in the right direction.

*Sigh*

Whatever. Maybe i should just come with a Statutory Warning label:

CAUTION!

SUGAR-COATED ASPIRIN

Prescription Medicine Only.

To be consumed with discretion.

(P.S: A friend actually labelled me that 11 years ago. Seems like this thing goes way back into the past.)