The Grass is Always Greener on the Other Side

You must have heard of ‘The grass is greener on the other side’.

Now get ready for ‘The other part of the world is always the better part’.

“What’s the context?” you may ask.

My mumma had called up her friend in Australia to wish him a happy birthday. He’s been living there since January 2020 and hasn’t had a chance to visit India even once due to strict travel restrictions.

She asked him, “How’s the weather in the other part of the world?”

“It’s starting to get warmer here. It must be getting colder in the other part of the world, the better part.”

“For me, your part of the world is the better one.” said my mom.

“The other part is always the better part”, her friend joked.

And that’s how this version of ‘The grass is greener on the other side’ was born.

To the homesick, their homeland seems to be the best place in the world. But to someone living in the same country for all their life, it seems nothing extravagant.

But why is it that the other part is always the better part, or rather the grass always greener on the other side?

The grass is greener where you water it 

One of the possibilities of why the grass seems greener on the other side is because it is being watered more. The grass is better maintained on the other side than you are maintaining it. It is given manure, its weeding is done and it is mowed regularly.

The other side could be someone looking physically better, fitter, or stronger than you. There’s a slight chance they look that way because of genetics, but that’s rarely the case. More often than not, they give themselves better nutrition, exercise regularly, and get proper sleep.

The grass is just a turf

Even though it’s astonishing, it is possible. People can formulate their grass turfs and lives so well, someone passing by would assume that it’s real.

Even though there might be dull dry grass, it’s masked so well underneath the turf that no one would be able to know.

But the fake grass comes with a catch. The ones who view it from afar can’t tell the difference but the ones observing it closely can tell if it’s real or fake in a minute.

Similarly, if you see someone’s life from far away and it looks too good (or green) to be true, there’s a possibility it is. Maybe there’s a lot of problems you can’t see from far away and they are only discovered when one gets close enough. Only the ones who can see it closely know the reality.

The grass is green under your feet too – You just can’t see it

Yes, it’s true. The grass is green under your feet too, it’s just that you are not able to see it.

Your own shadow falling on the ground may make the grass seem dry and dull. You look at the small patch on which your shadow falls, and assume your entire lawn looks dull. However, when you look at your neighbor’s lawn, you look at it as a whole and think that their grass is greener.

This is a parallel of our life. We focus on the tiny minute imperfections of our life since we know our life better than anyone else. But when we look at someone else’s life, we look at the bigger picture. We fail to look at our own bigger picture and fall into the trap of thinking that the grass is greener on the other side.

Interestingly, even when standing on your neighbor’s lawn, the grass on which your shadow falls won’t look as green, and your own grass would look better.

Here’s a little snippet by Joanna Franklin Bell to illustrate my point better:
“But here I am in July, and why am I thinking about Christmas pudding? Probably because we always pine for what we do not have. The winter seems cozy and romantic in the hell of summer, but hot beaches and sunlight are what we yearn for all winter.”

Recap for memory:

1. The grass is greener where you water it
2. The grass can be a fake turf
3. The grass is green under your feet too – You just can’t see it

P. S. Even though the main post is over, here are a few things I wanted to share with you. I didn’t include them in the post cause I didn’t want to make it too long. If you have some extra time on your hands, be my guest.

A Poem

“What if grass is greener on the other side,
Because it’s always raining there,
Where the ones who never fail to give,
Hardly have enough to spare,
Where the people with the broadest smiles,
Have pillows filled with tears,
And the bravest ones you’ve ever known,
Are crippled by their fears,
It’s filled with lonely people,
But they’re never seen alone,
Where those that lack real shelter,
Make you feel the most at home,
Maybe their grass looks greener,
Because they’ve painted on its hue,
Just remember from the other side,
Your grass looks greener too.”
Erin Hanson

A Short Story

The Magic In Your Life is a short story along similar lines. I had written a few months back for a magazine competition. The results aren’t out yet so I don’t know if it’ll make it but it fitted here so I thought why not.