The Bumpy Ride Home

In one of the silent moments of contemplation, I tried to describe life in the 21st Century....and I could come up with just one definition...We live our lives in fast forward mode....In the race to excel..only the fittest and fastest survive....Right from the moment go...we are in a hurry to excel...to be the best..and in this course nothing else matters ..as long as success is ours to be claimed.....But is this all that is there in life??..or is there something else more??
Introspection, something which all of us do whenever we are at a crossroad of decision making...whenever we are entangled in confusions..when we are at the end of our reserves....when we are not sure about the course to take in life....It is during those silent moments of contemplation that waves of thoughts crash against the rocks of conscience and everything is much clearer...It was during one of these silent spells that I realised some very important things and that my life needed a change and a drastic one at that............
I realised that I was doing something because that was the most logical thing to do..not because I love to do it..On further introspectioon, I realised that all the things which I was doing and planning to do where the ones which were most logical to do and politically correct. It had nothing to do with my love to do them.I was obsessed by the necessity to blaze a trail on the path taken..never mind even if that path taken was taken sans any love....I realised that the parameters with which I measured my success..my happiness... were the ones decided by someone else. At some point of time someone said that to be successful one should have a double degree and a pedigree to boast about and I believed it to be true...Never once did a thought occur to explore another unchartered coast.........My reflections revealed startling facts and I was thunderstruck.......
I realised a tad bit late that happiness is not measured by the yard stick of success.....and success was not about acheiving great and big things......It is about achieving something which you really love to do.....it is about finding that path and exploring it to the last and marvelling the sights you come across as you move along that choosen path.....I realised that.....The first ray of golden sunlight...when the whole world is waking up.....the golden sunrise..the almost magical aura in the air at that time..are the ones which cheer me up.........The tiny flowers waving their colorful heads to the rythm set by the breeze.....the birds chirping....the tall trees standing as mute witnesses to the passing time ....are the ones which keep me grounded to reality........The velvetty night sky..with thousands of glittering diamonds strung across it....the silvery moonlight...serene and soothing...the gentle breeze caressing....are the ones which urge me to dream.....I realised that happiness is found even in the most mundane and ordinary things....and that it is these small things which add the much needed vitality to our lives........
The ride so far was definitely bumpy....and now that I realised that missing element in life....I'm at peace......Like the adage goes...
God is in heaven and all is well with his world....
I must say............my world too..........................................

The Crossroads

I remember reading somewhere life is all about making choices....I just found the quote interesting.....I did not attach much importance to it....I was after all in my 10th class at that time and one did not understand the extent of choices we need to take in life....At the very first crossroad of life..i chose to pursue MPC....After this choice the next decision was a logical one...I decided to pursue my engineering.....All said and done I was happy with this decision of mine and time just flew by......Before I realised, it was time to make a decision again.....and this time after much thought I decided to pursue MBA.....Now it's still in pipeline....
"No road is too long when you walk with a friend".....My all time favourite quote....The hurdles of life are bearable when you have a shoulder to lean on....If making choices at the different crossroads of life is a task in itself.....leaving behind a friend at every crossroad with each decision you make is even more tough....In the journey called life, the one thing that is constant is change.....At all the so called crossroads of life..I left behind a friend owing to the different choices we made....We chose to follow different paths to follow our destiny and realise our dreams....Life just moved on....and though we remained in touch..the magic was gone......where once upon a time we would spend hours speaking..we now spend just a few minutes on phone exchanging pleasantries......That is the extent to which we moved on.......
The only silver lining during my pathetic college life was my gang of friends...In a typical Dil Chata Hai ishtyle...we were 3 friends....and no day was gloomy when were together.......It's amazing how three different people with completely contrasting personalities can blend so easily and beautifully that every moment spent together was a beautiful art.....Every day brought with it, its share of adventure and fun and we would turn it into a masterpiece....The memories collected priceless and the experience..simply mind blowing. Did we imagine what would be our life after college??..naahhhhhh..we were too busy enjoying the present moment to even spare a thought for the future......Infact two of us decieded to pursue the same path.....alas that was not to be....
While one of us decieded that she would pursue her MS in US no matter what..we decieded that we would do our MBA in India.....while she left the shores in pursuit of her dream and her soon to be destiny..we stayed behind bidding her adieu...Our pursuit continued....and before i realised..my destiny changed overnight and I'm placed at Mumbai.....Now as the reality slowly sinks in...I passed another crossroad in my life and now we are at three different locations...wondering how quickly life can change its course and uproot you from your comfort zone and send you to explore hithero unchartered territory......Do I miss my friends????....The obvious answer is yes...because they have with them a part of my life.....a part of me which would spring forth only when I am with them......because they brought out in me the side which was unknown till they decieded to enter my life......... because they made me complete in their own way....
This is for you kp and rr.......You have with you a part of me in the same way as I have with me a part of you.......
Meeting is pleasure
Departure is pain
But as the world is round
We will meet again!!!!