Pratishtha: An Invisible Cage
One evening, my friends and I were discussing how strange 'Pratishtha' is.
Pratishtha—reputation, respect, status. The invisible prison.
We can do so many things, but we don’t. Not because we lack the ability, but because 'Pratishtha' doesn’t allow us to. People chase it like it’s the only thing keeping them alive. "Log kya kahenge?" That one sentence has killed more dreams than failure ever could.
Families live in fear of it. If their child chooses an unconventional path or fails, they see it as a blow to their status.
-If you're born into a family of government employees, you're not expected to enter the corporate world or in other sector.
-If you come from a well-to-do family, you're not supposed to make mistakes.
-If your family has a legacy, you can’t start small.
Again, they see it as a blow to their status. But their fear is not your destiny.
You spend your whole life building an image, maintaining a name, making sure no one points a finger at you. And in doing so, you stop living for yourself. Every word you speak, every move you make, every decision you make-it’s not yours. It’s theirs. You wear what they approve, you act how they expect, and you even die carrying their weight on your shoulders.
And what do you get in return? Fake claps, a little fake applause when you succeed, and a lot of gossip when you fail. Isn’t it?
The real tragedy? You don’t even know you’re a prisoner. No chains, no ropes—just invisible expectations wrapped so tight around you that you can’t even breathe freely. You think you have a life? No. You have a script. A script written by society, directed by judgment, and performed by you.
Here is one of the first books that come to mind when I think about escaping this invisible prison "The Courage to Be Disliked" by Ichiro Kishimi & Fumitake Koga.
This book teaches how to live freely without being trapped by society’s judgments. It is a deep dive into breaking the invisible cage of reputation and expectations.
So, the question is are you going to keep playing the role they’ve assigned you? Or will you tear up the script and write your own?
Because the moment you stop living for their approval, you start living for yourself.
"प्रतिष्ठा में प्राण न गवाएँ।"