Scars and survival

It is not always that I don't have anything to write and it is not always time management concerns. Sometimes its just that I avoid personal things on blog. I have always avoided that. But in my hostel years, I really didn't have much personal things. Now that my life revolves around office and home with almost no ME time, the only things that come to my mind are personal. I fear of being judged. I don't want my family and friends to understand things which I may not mean at all. 

We all do this. Sometimes we hide our scars, our sobs and we silently weep being afraid of being judged. We hate saying that we are hurt. We pretend to be happy or become silent, not letting our feelings out.

We should be like children, cry our hearts out when hurt. And soon be happy with tiny things of life -a paper boat, a toy, a toffee or a story. 

When my son broke and dislocated his elbow bone, he was just a year and eight months old. The moment we were back from hospital after his surgery, he was back on his tricycle -all happy. He was on cast for the next four months. He cried when it pained, but soon shifted his mood to a happy one with a simple distraction trick.  Now after almost 2 years, the scar of some twenty stitches is still there. He still remembers how he fell from the slider in the park. But he is not afraid of using the slider. He shows off that scar to his friends with pride, "Look how strong I am!". When I heard him saying this to his friend, I scolded him, "It's not great to get hurt, Vishnu! You should be careful!", I said.

But on a deeper thought, may be this is what we should learn from kids. Scars are but a sign on strength and survival. Kids show their scars with pride. As we grow old, we hide them. Wounds become our secrets. For kids it is a story to tell- An accomplishment.

First Post of this Year & “PASSION”

As the time is ticking to reach 12, I feel the urgent need to update my blog. Only one post this year!! Not Done!! But alas! I could not complete it by 12, and hence renamed it as “First Post of this year”, instead of “Last Post of this year”. :)

As I queried on the topics that I can write today, I saw a few resolutions for next year, few articles on how to live life, and more about how we should do what we love and care nothing about the world. Passion - they say is very important. "Follow your Passion".  And, then I remembered “Tamasha” movie, which I have recently seen. I must say I am an Imtiaz Ali Fan. And, I have liked his movies. But when I watched this movie - I was like... Not Again Man!!! It’s quite exaggerated!  To hell with Passion!

At 30, when I look back at my three decades of existence, I ask myself - How passionate have I been? Do I love my job? Am I Happy? What do I want to do with my life?  

And, the answer is - the first 10 years of your life has gone in copying others. You did what you were told to do by your parents. You did what you saw in your society.  You did what your culture taught you. The next 15 years was spent in learning and finding your individuality to some extent. And, the rest 5 years have gone in commitments and responsibilities and Love…

The answer is - "Yes" and "No". I love my Job, but I also hate my job, sometimes. There are times when I am just not in mood to work. Life is like this. Life is not always like R.Madhavan's in 3 idiots or like Ved’s  in Tamasha’s ending. I am sure, had the story been real, Madhavan of 3 idiots must also be sometimes bored of clicking those wild animals in camera.  And, Ved of Tamasha will feel bored in telling the stories at some point of time, if not always. There is no “passionate” work that you will never get tired of and never complain about. And, that's ok. That’s life.

The answer is – It is OK to do normal work and pursue your passion in the free time, whenever you get a chance. You just don’t have to awkwardly continuously feel like the way Ved does in Tamasha. 

I sometimes feel that movies like these are creating the feeling of emptiness in people. People somehow somewhere connect with these characters and indulge themselves in these characters so much that they stop appreciating the average lives they have. Being Average as a Goal may not sound good, but being average as a result is OK. We should appreciate and accept the mediocrity of life and try to do the best from our ends. 

If you're passionate about something, it will be a part of you, no matter what priorities you have. You will take out time. Tamasha's Ved could have easily figured out a way to fuel his passion of story telling without having to leave his job security in a haste. Enjoy your passion. No matter if you earn money through it or not. Remember the Games period or recess time in school, when we used to jump with joy. 

With this note, I end my blog here - Wishing all of you a great year ahead. May we be able to appreciate the basic experiences of life - through the pleasures of simple friendship, helping someone in need, reading a good book, spending some time in your "passion" , and having a good talk with someone you care about, and acceptance of monotony in life. May you have all these. Happy New Year.