Unctuous
(Insincerely flattering or smug)
I used to get carried away by good praise,
Not stopping to see if it was said just for show.
I never paused to think or analyse,
If the sweetness I heard was unctuous though.
Once at a CA conference fest,
I was excited, eager, doing my best.
A tax book author was the chief guest there,
The audience could ask questions
so I dared.
I asked a few, then got on stage,
Part of a fun session, centre of the page.
My presence was seen, the attention came,
And honestly, I enjoyed the moment and fame.
A CA who once couldn’t take me in his firm
Later became family extended term.
At a function, my mother softly mentioned,
“My daughter is also doing CA,” well-intentioned.
He smiled and said, “Who doesn’t know her?”
Then came a line that felt unsure:
“She’s the one who asks a lot of questions, right?”
I felt taken aback it didn’t feel right.
I had done many things worth being known,
Yet that one remark cut me down to the bone.
From effort and work and things I had done,
I was reduced to someone who questions, not one.
Another time, with my uncle so near,
I clicked his pictures with love and cheer.
When I asked him how he liked them so,
He replied in an unctuous, casual flow:
“Why don’t you marry a photographer instead?
At least you will get free food,” he jokingly said.
It hurt - it was careless, easy to say,
But it taught me something clear that day:
When words sound sweet but leave you small,
That’s unctuous praise - not praise at all !!!
✍️ © Priyanka Kamath
22 Dec 2025
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