How I do I tell her that I am just not that into her?

Dear Diana,

Three years ago I met this girl at work. We were friendly and everyone in the office would tease me with her. I was cool about it as I just didn't care about it. I was just not interested in her. But she seemed very interested in me. So I played along.

Last year she decided to quit and take on another challenging job. I was happy and thought that it would be the end of it.
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But to my surprise she continued to be extra friendly with me via calls and over the net. I have dropped many hints but she just does not heed or give up.
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I have even been rude to her but to no avail. How do I knock sense into her and tell her that I am not interested in her at all? I know that she cares and wants to take it to the next level. I just want to tell her to stay away!

Leo
Dear Leo,

You brought this upon yourself. Why did you 'play along' at first? You led on this nice girl and now you have to face the consequences. Since she is not paying heed to your hints, it's time you told her bluntly that you are not interested.
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Meet her somewhere private and tell her frankly that she should move on. She has spent three years of her life hoping you will take it to the next level. The least you can give her is honesty. But if you wish, you could try other non-direct ways first stop answering her calls or replying to her messages and emails.
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Drop her from your chat list, if she is on it. But in the end, you have to face her feelings for you and be direct with her. But break it to her gently. You don't want her turning into a disgruntled stalker either.

Hum kaale hain toh kya hua...

Dear Diana,

I am a 24-year-old guy and on the darker side. When I see film stars promoting fairness creams for men, I feel like trying them out too, but my friends laugh at me.
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They say it's a stupid thing to try fairness creams. They are on the fairer side and don't understand my problem. What to do?

Ronak
Dear Ronak,

There's nothing wrong in being dark. Be happy with who you are and don't let your self-esteem depend on your looks. Work hard on your confidence, dress well and no one will bother whether you are fair or dark.
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As for fairness creams, try them if you want to, but don't build your hopes up too much as all of them do not work. Consult a dermatologist before you take the step.

I want to be an RJ, but I stammer!

Dear Diana,

I am a 16-year-old girl, happy in who I am. The only trouble is I stammer a lot. My friends in school always teased me about it, but in a good way as they've known me for a long time.
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Now I am going to start college and I am worried how I will face a whole new set of people with my defect.
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I don't know why I stammer even though I know very well what I am talking about. I want to be an RJ but I can't be one with a stammer! Please help.

Rujuta
Dear Rujuta,

You should realise that stammering is not a 'defect' in you. Once you accept that, then you can work on improving your speech. Consult a speech therapist on exercises you can do to control if not fully solve your problem.

And if you want to be an RJ, then nothing can stop you. Think of that dream everytime someone teases you about this, or you want to give up on those exercises.
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Don't worry too much about college. You are new, but so is everyone else. Once people get to know you (like your school friends) they will accept you with your stammer.
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And if they don't, then they don't deserve to be your friends anyway. Good luck.