Free Advice and the Free Advisors who make our life so colourful

In our daily life, we are bitten by people who have a piece of advice for all occasions. The list of such people is endless. Whatever be the situation you are in, whether good or bad, you will always find yourself surrounded by such people giving free advice.

Call them Wikipedia or Google but such people have a point of view on every aspect of life. If you are not doing an exercise properly in the gym be ready to get free coaching not from your regular trainer but a fitness freak. And if by any chance you happen to check about a nearby sweet shop address from your neighbor, you will get a free 15 minutes consultation on diabetes.

Free advice to the author

I have started my blog recently and love to introduce myself as a blogger amongst friends and family circle. And mind it, the kind of free advice I get from people. It ranges from what topic I should be writing to how to get more readers on my site to how I can write to get better reader attention. At times I don’t mind the suggestions as I am always looking for an inspiring topic to write on my blog. Now you can guess how I am inspired to write this story.

Free advice comes from a whole category of people

I would like to classify these free advisors and their free advice into the following category:

The Economist

Such people have a piece of free advice on macro issues affecting our country. Given a choice, they can manage the RBI affairs on a day to day basis or decide the foreign policy of our government. The population of such free advisors has risen many folds in our PM Modi’s regime. Few experts recently had a piece of advice even for our PM that he should have avoided holding the hand of US President Donald Trump during “Howdy Modi”. They have a deep knowledge of the country’s history and can comment on Article 370, De-monetisation, and GST.

People who fall into such categories are generally males. The more grey hairs they have, the more serious and aggressive they are in their discussions. The debate starts early in the morning during a walk in the park. And it reaches the crescendo in the evening, especially over scotch. If by any chance the spouse is not keeping an eye on them, they can virtually come to exchanging blows.

Free advice from the Medical and Health experts

These experts exist within the family, the close relatives, the friend circle, the official circle. In other words, they exist in every part of the universe. Health is a subject which is their area of specialisation and they have a remedy for all the diseases affecting mankind. They may not have an MBBS degree but then who needs a degree to give free advice. It’s not mandatory by the government.

If by mistake you ask them for an opinion on which doctor to consult for your mother’s knee pain, they will give you a 15 minute non-stop free advice. They will give you a personal example of how their mother got rid of knee pain just by applying Ayurveda red oil in just 3 months. And god forbid if you inform them that you are following intermittent fasting or a keto diet and they will tell you all the negatives of such short-cuts to losing weight. The best part is that these free advisors and their free advice are never positive on any subject.

These free advisors remember the entire Diagnostic Laboratory blood test range by heart. They can give you tips on diet plan for diabetes to high cholesterol.

Relationship experts

Relatives in any family mainly fall in this category. They have an authority on family relationships. In the ’60s and ’70s, people belonging to this category played the role of what Bharat Matrimony does these days. They have tentacles like Octopus which are spread everywhere and with their strong suction cups, they can pick the minutest of the problem in any family. But their suction cups are extra sensitive and if you tell them to mind their own business, they may change colours by camouflaging.

The free advice is on topics ranging from mother-in-law versus daughter-in-law issues, husband-wife disputes, and brother and sister relations. If there is a rift between a mother-in-law and a daughter-in-law in a family, they will give a piece of advice which if their daughter would have followed, she could have saved her marriage.

My only piece of advice to readers is that please follow the path which you think is right. On the other hand, if you follow the free advice of such free relationship experts your ship may start rocking.

The Career Counsellors

These are people who are the Wikipedia on the best playschools, best primary and secondary schools in town. If you are confused between CBSE board and IB, they can guide you on which one to opt for. They can counsel you on your son or daughter’s career choice as they have the power of crystal gazing. They can look into the future and tell whether there will be a demand for more Engineers or Doctors 5 years from now.

The only people whom the expert career counsellor can’t advise are their family members. Surprisingly, the opinion expressed by these free career counsellors is diametrically opposite to what you are thinking. At times it shakes your confidence. So, if you are planning to send your son to the Vellore Institute of Technology for his engineering course, the career counselor will advise you to send him to Thapar Institute or SRM.

The Chefs 

Every family has at least one Chef and one Food critic. The job of the Chef is to prepare gastronomic dishes while the job of the critic is to find fault to make the Chef a perfectionist. The Chef’s role is played generally by Mom while the role of a critic is played by father. In some families, the role of a critic is also played by mother-in-law especially if the Chef is daughter-in-law.  But while Chefs are limited, the number of critics is unlimited.

The best display of free advice coming from the critics is during a kitty party at one of the member’s house. Imagine an assembly of ladies where every member is a Chef and also a critic. The host plays the Chef while the rest of the crowd plays critic. The friendly members try to encourage the host by asking for the recipes. On the other hand critics generally, recite how the same dish will taste better by adding a particular ingredient. And the contest “Who is a better Master Chef” continues.

I have categorized the free advisors on 5 broad categories but I am sure that you would have come across even more. Do give me your feedback if you find more such advisors. There is always a scope of a part-2.

You can enjoy reading more of such similar stories on my blog. Click on the link below:

Dining out with family and friends: An expensive affair

A Happiness Quotient with the festival season

The Diwali Party: It’s time to play cards though winning is hard