Summary

Bhavna Narula reflects on personal life experiences, values, and aspirations through the Proust Questionnaire, revealing a candid self-portrait.

Abstract

Bhavna Narula has been prompted by Dr. Preeti Singh to engage in introspection by answering the Proust Questionnaire. In her responses, Narula defines perfect happiness as a combination of good health, company, food, and weather. She expresses a profound fear of life-threatening diseases and acknowledges her struggle with impatience and trust issues. Narula holds those who maintain dignity in high regard and questions the virtue of ostentatious charity, preferring practical donations. She admits to lying for self-preservation and frequently uses colloquial, potentially offensive phrases in a humorous manner. Her greatest love is Lord Ganeshji, and her happiest moments were spent with her mother. Narula aspires to be more assertive and tech-savvy, considering her triumph over depression her greatest achievement. She dreams of living in Canada or Switzerland and values friends who support her unconditionally, citing Shashwat Agarwal as an exemplary friend. Her heroes are individuals with strong willpower, especially her mother. Narula's biggest regret is not spending enough time with loved ones, and her motto is to work hard to compensate for time lost to depression, emphasizing her resilience and refusal to give up.

Opinions

Narula believes that true happiness comes from a harmonious blend of health, social connections, enjoyment of food, and favorable environmental conditions.
She views the fear of contracting a serious illness as her greatest fear, indicating a strong concern for her health and well-being

The Proust Questionnaire Answered by Bhavna Narula

I have been tagged to answer questions about myself by Dr. Preeti Singh. It is called the Proust Questionnaire. So here it is :

Q1. What is your idea of perfect happiness?

The perfect happiness would be when I am in good health, experiencing a good day, with good people while relishing a good meal under good weather.

Q2. What is your greatest fear?

The fear of contracting a life-threatening disease.

Q3. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

The only trait that I consume is impatience. So much that someday it will consume me.
I have difficulty trusting people. So my guess is my past experiences are still up in their haunting game.

Q4. Which living person do you most admire?

I admire those people who hold their heads high at all times. They have great values which makes them one of the most amazing people to be with. Such people are rare these days.

Q5. What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

Donating loads of money to the needy. It’s more of a show-off than a charity. I would rather prefer donating books, clothes, or food that can be directly consumed.

Q6. On what occasion do you lie?

When the question is of survival of my integrity. I don't exaggerate my lies. I just say one statement and cut it off, making it obvious I lied.

Q7. Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

Are you fucking kidding me?

What the _____ Hell?

Just get lost?

These may sound offensive but the way I say them makes people laugh. I fear blurting it out in front of my family someday. They won’t believe I use swear words.

Q8. What or who is the greatest love of your life?

Lord Ganeshji. I absolutely love him. Even at this moment, we’re a conversation.

Q9. When and where were you happiest?

I was happiest when I spent time with my mother. We used to sing, dance, laugh, cry, and enjoy life, like two crazy drunkards.

With her, life’s challenges seemed like a laughter riot.

Q10. Which talent would you most like to have?

Giving it back to people, especially those who screw my life for their selfish reasons.
Also, I would love to be more tech-savvy. I find myself struggling with the most basic features of technology which often embarrass me.

Q11. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

Impatience. I can see it affecting my life negatively and I am trying each day to get it under control.

Q12. What do you consider your greatest achievement?

Fighting severe depression for ten years and emerging out of it as a winner. People often say they would have long given up if they were in my place. So I guess I put up a great fight there to reach this moment where I am happily filling a questionnaire on my life.

Q13. Where would you most like to live?

I often imagine myself living in either Canada or Switzerland. These places take my breath away.

Q14. What do you most value in your friends?

So many qualities that my friends possess and I feel proud of that.

Putting up with my nonsense
Being with me through my thicks and thins
Accepting me the way I am
Respecting my struggles instead of showing sympathy
Giving me the correct advice always
Encouraging me and pushing me out of my comfort zone

(Shashwat Agarwal is one such friend whom I cherish each day.)

Q15. Who are your heroes in real life?

My mother who had the strongest willpower I have witnessed in my life.

Q16. What is your greatest regret?

This one almost made me cry. I always wish I would have given more time to the people who meant everything to me instead of wasting time on things that never mattered.

Q17. What is your motto?

I have lost 10 precious years in fighting depression. Now I want to work triple hard and earn all those years back so that I am at par with people my age.

I have never given up in life and I never will.

When life presses me down too much, I cry my lungs out in the night and move on the next day as if nothing happened.

Dr. Preeti Singh, I can’t thank you enough for this beautiful opportunity. Filling this questionnaire was like reflecting on my life in a systematic manner. I loved every moment of it. Regards and love to you.

I would like to tag a few people who have come across as wonderful souls to me ever since I joined this platform —

Salitha Nirmana Meththasinghe Shashwat Agarwal Upasana Sharma Genius Turner Neha Ravindra Terry Mansfield Dr Mehmet Yildiz Fatim Hemraj Whitney Rose Jordan Mendiola Daily Thoughts.