Define intelligence?
Okay. But before we start, should I use a pencil or a painkiller?
Because every time I hear the word 'intelligence', I feel a headache crawling in; not because I don’t get it, but because I’ve spent years being measured by the wrong ruler. And maybe... so have you.
They say intelligence is quick thinking. Sharp logic. Clean handwriting in an exam.
But what about the kid who reads the mood in the room faster than the blackboard?
What about the girl who stays quiet in group discussions because she's too intelligent to waste words on people who only want to be right, not real?
Where’s the award for the boy who failed physics but figured out how to keep his broken family from collapsing?
Where is his applause?
So coming to intelligence..
Let’s talk about the ones who cracked the code of life without ever cracking an entrance exam.
Let’s talk about people who know when someone’s smile is fake, who hold their tears until the bathroom stall, who say “I’m okay” and still help others while silently drowning.
Let’s talk about the women who stay, not because they’re weak, but because they’re calculating the cost of leaving.
Or the men who cry behind closed doors because the world told them masculinity is the enemy of emotion.
Let’s talk about how much intelligence it takes to keep going when your dreams are dusty, your hands are tired, and no one’s clapping anymore.
We often confuse loud with smart.
Fluency with depth.
Marks with meaning.
You know what real intelligence is?
It’s not on your CV. It’s in your silence when you want to scream.
It’s in your ability to hold space for others when no one holds space for you.
It’s the 2 a.m. overthinker who’s designing an entire future in their head while pretending to sleep.
It’s walking into a room full of people and knowing who to sit next to and who to emotionally avoid like a crime scene.
It’s being brave enough to love again after betrayal.
It’s choosing peace over proving your point.
It’s deleting the paragraph you were about to send.
We keep asking people to be smart - but only in the ways that are measurable, markable, and marketable.
But intelligence?
Real intelligence is inconvenient. Messy. Untamed.
It can’t be bottled into a number or showcased in a TED Talk.
Sometimes it hides in a stutter.
Sometimes it lives in a poem written in a cracked diary.
Sometimes it sits quietly in the back seat, letting others drive; while secretly mapping the whole route.
And here’s the cruel irony:
The most intelligent people I know don’t even believe they are.
Because they were too busy "feeling to be validated".
Too sensitive to be seen as "smart".
Too deep to ever be easy.
So no, I won’t define intelligence in a sentence.
Because some things shouldn’t be caged in definitions.
But I’ll tell you this -
If you’ve ever survived a war no one saw,
If you’ve ever swallowed words to keep peace,
If you’ve ever rebuilt yourself quietly while the world kept demanding results;
You, my friend, are the kind of intelligent this world doesn’t deserve; but desperately needs.
Wishing you a great day ahead.
Thank you :)