Today I saw Rock On for a second time. Something about that movie really touches a chord with me. I think it’s the fact that I have always believed that somewhere within myself I have a creative streak. Writing has been a hobby since I can remember. One of my most pleasant and exciting memories of achievement was the publication of my articles in a national magazine. I used to want to make a career related to books and/or writing. I seriously considered journalism as a career. But then logic prevailed as did some serious reality checks from family about what kind of life it would entail – and I chose mainstream management and now I am a corporate financial professional!
Mixology (a novel by Mainik Dhar) talks about mixing up life. Of adding a bit of everything to make a long island iced tea that is interesting enough to give you that slight high of life (this of course is my interpretation). I wonder if there is anything that can be done to do just that. Adi, of Rock On, certainly manages to, Mainak also has managed it. I have a cousin who has a band while he manages his corporate job. I wonder if it’s me. If I am looking for excuses to just not try and give my life a chance – to take the easy route of doing what everyone does. Or if I am being presumptuous by thinking that I CAN do more.
Today, while watching the movie, I recalled a discussion among my friends while in college. We were talking about how being able to do something creative – a talent- is not something that everyone has, and each of us had sworn to try and keep - what were then hobbies and beliefs- alive. But when I see myself, and a lot of my friends, I wonder how many of us kept that promise.
We get caught up in life. We do what it demands of us and gather the tangible and measurable merits of a main-stream existence. I think it’s just easy. It’s easy because it provides the amenities and life that is expected out of us. I for one am used to certain comforts and a life-style. I have been brought up to take pride in certain achievements – degrees, promotions, excellence. And I’m not saying this in a sense that I think there is anything wrong with that life. I just can’t help think – time and again – if that is all my life will be. I think it’s in my own hands. I have been told that it is. I just get a little helpless to get those hands moving and try.
Hum of the Day
Taking a first step is sometimes not enough. Having it in you to keep taking the subsequent ones is usually the bigger challenge.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Friday, September 19, 2008
Wishing the balancing effect away... or am I?
We live in a world of such contradiction that most of us have given up even thinking about it. It’s like when I was a child I used to shut my eyes assuming that if I could not see something bad, it was not real. But at least I have that option. Or I did. I just can’t help wonder how long I will have that option. Beyond a point in is in my face. And yet, I am helpless.
Yesterday, it was raining in Delhi. At around 7 in the evening I braved my car onto the traffic-laden streets. I was pretty much cursing infrastructure, or rather the lack of it, drainage, cars, office etc. After taking 20 min to cover a 5 minute patch I reached the only signal between my house and my office. Someone tapped on my window. I was about to just wave away the usual beggars when I just happened to look up. Staring at me was this child who was not more than 10-12 years old. It was pouring, he was without any kind of shield and the site of him just somehow has not left my mind.
A few days a go I remember driving past the corner of the same road and watching a family. It was a rainy day then too. A family was at breakfast - amidst rush hour traffic, in a hut, on a gas stove. But what struck me that day as I was waiting for the car ahead of me to move was the fact that they were still a family. They were laughing, sharing food and getting ready to begin their day. Happiness perhaps is a state of mind.
The boy was the same. Happy one morning while in the security of his home. Two evenings later he was in the rain crying and shivering. I wonder if they had their meal that night.
Life isn’t fair. There is something called law of averages… I have always believed in it. But what happens when one side of the scale is so low that the average is just not acceptable? Does it not require a helping hand to tip the scale? What happens when there is no helping hand? When day turns to night and night turns to day and hope of a meal is all that probably keeps a family going.
There are some things I wish I had answers to. There are others I know I have to be grateful for. Perspective and a reality check is one of them.
Hum of the day
The heart and mind understand our need for balance. Perhaps that’s why people in what are definitely inhuman conditions find it in themselves to laugh from the heart. It is also why people, who are blessed, find and often have reasons to be unhappy. I wonder how much of it is really in our hands. Is it just natures way of keeping the perspective alive?
Yesterday, it was raining in Delhi. At around 7 in the evening I braved my car onto the traffic-laden streets. I was pretty much cursing infrastructure, or rather the lack of it, drainage, cars, office etc. After taking 20 min to cover a 5 minute patch I reached the only signal between my house and my office. Someone tapped on my window. I was about to just wave away the usual beggars when I just happened to look up. Staring at me was this child who was not more than 10-12 years old. It was pouring, he was without any kind of shield and the site of him just somehow has not left my mind.
A few days a go I remember driving past the corner of the same road and watching a family. It was a rainy day then too. A family was at breakfast - amidst rush hour traffic, in a hut, on a gas stove. But what struck me that day as I was waiting for the car ahead of me to move was the fact that they were still a family. They were laughing, sharing food and getting ready to begin their day. Happiness perhaps is a state of mind.
The boy was the same. Happy one morning while in the security of his home. Two evenings later he was in the rain crying and shivering. I wonder if they had their meal that night.
Life isn’t fair. There is something called law of averages… I have always believed in it. But what happens when one side of the scale is so low that the average is just not acceptable? Does it not require a helping hand to tip the scale? What happens when there is no helping hand? When day turns to night and night turns to day and hope of a meal is all that probably keeps a family going.
There are some things I wish I had answers to. There are others I know I have to be grateful for. Perspective and a reality check is one of them.
Hum of the day
The heart and mind understand our need for balance. Perhaps that’s why people in what are definitely inhuman conditions find it in themselves to laugh from the heart. It is also why people, who are blessed, find and often have reasons to be unhappy. I wonder how much of it is really in our hands. Is it just natures way of keeping the perspective alive?
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