Narendra Modi recently showed us that even big boys cry. The PM became emotional and wept during the parliamentarians’ meeting at the Central Hall of Parliament on May 20.This was bound to happen, says Dr Jalpa Bhuta, consulting psychiatrist. “Modi was understandably overwhelmed. He’s been working long hours, was no doubt sleep deprived and under a considerable amount of stress . His tears were a culmination of so many emotions, fatigue, joy, happiness.”Apart from societal pressure, men do not show their emotions because their egos don’t allow them to, says Dr Praveen Kulkarni, Consulting Cardiologist at Global Hospitals . Conditioning apart, it’s actually a good thing for men to shed tears on occasion.“We’ve been culturally conditioned to think that crying is a sign of weakness. But it is not. It has a number of benefits for your emotional and physical health,” says Dr Jalpa.The 2006 US Open was Agassi’s farewell appearance as a professional. After he lost to Benjamin Becker, the crowd gave him a four minute ovation. And the tears streamed down Agassi’s face.The actor broke down after being given a five-year jail sentence in connection with the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts.Perennially in the eye of a storm, Sreesanth broke down after being allegedly assaulted by Harbhajan Singh in the IPL He lost a tough 2009 Aussie Open final to Rafa Nadal. Then had to make a speech. It was all too much for Federer, and the floodgates opened.Tears lubricate our eyeballs and eyelids, prevent dehydration of the membranes around the eyes and promote overall eye health. Without tears and tear glands, our eyes would be dry all the time.A good cry can help you remove toxins from your body since tears are naturally antibacterial. Just like sneezing clears your nasal passage of bacteria, crying helps flush out bacteria from your eyes.Tears remove some of the chemicals that are built up in your body from stress. “If you hold back your tears, you are compounding stress, which can have negative effects on your heart and health in the long run,” says Dr Kulkarni.We go through our days piling up problems, gathering anger along the way. If we don’t deal with these emotions, it puts our body under strain. Crying lets out the negativity before it can wreck havoc on our nervous system.Who would have thought that holding back the tears could make you put on weight? Suman Agarwal, fitness expert, says, “If men run away from their emotions, they look to other areas to cure this selfimplicated gap /wound.This could be in the form of binge eating, excessive drinking or smoking , following a very unhealthy lifestyle which in the end could lead to depression , weight gain and also increase stress for their family members.”