Keep Walking!

Life often leaves us all stranded at weird crossroads. Eeriness in sight with life as we have known it as a distant reality. A challenge, a sitation, a problem to which we do not have an answer and are afraid to ask for one as well. Afraid not because we wish to not look stupid. Afraid rather because we do not wish to know what the answer would be. We live in denial like an Ostrich with its head in the sand, hoping it will all go away and things will be just as they were or rather just as we want them to be. However, life has its own timeline and pace to operate, does it not? You would think.

This is the story of a 20-something girl named Neha. At one instance, she is driving down a pristine and scenic road in a coupé with her friends by the side, music blaring and smiles a mile wide. It is one of those angelic smiles that can melt just about any heart. And yet, there is nothing angelic about her. In a couple of meetings, you realize that what you think is angelic is actually naughty and playful. Living her life to the hilt, she is a girl who pursues her dreams and is not wary to challenge the world or to speak her mind. Just when you think that nothing could go wrong, you realize that you may infact have jinxed it. All of a sudden, she finds herself on a bench, all alone. She seems to be away from her friends, her loved and dear ones. There is a quiet breeze blowing and all she can hear is her heart pounding.

Photo Copyright - Gotta be Max - www.nfyniti.com
Life throws us many a curve-ball. Some we hit out of the park for a home-run, dancing our way to victory. Some do not meet that fate and leave us stranded. That mon ami is the way of life. You win some, you lose some. The trick is to celebrate those that you score and to take the rest in stride. Life is cyclical, ups and downs an integral part. Ignore not the falls for they teach you a valuable lesson. They teach you how to fall. More importantly, they teach you how to get up. Falling is not a sin, choosing not to get up is.

Neha is hardly one of those who would not get up. Pits in her life have been deep. Pits in her life have been many. Yet, she has clambered out, albeit with a few bruises. Taking them in her stride, she marched on, her head held high. She learnt what history had to teach, not rueful of the falls she had. In one such trench, she promised herself that there were to be no more of these. New ones, maybe. But, none of the ones she has already seen. She had learned the trick and the smile was back. We were happy that she was happy. She was happy that we were too. And then, that curve-ball came again.

If you ask me how to describe life, I would say it is about hope. The hope of getting out of the pits, however deep they may seem to be. Hiding in there for a while is okay. Hiding there, not wanting to get out is probably not as good. However deep it may seem to be, one needs to have hope. Hope to clamber out eventually. Hope to get a response to the clamor for help. Hope to be back on one's feet going about one's business. Hope that one would not be buried in by the sand that the wind were to bring over time. Hope is a beautiful creation of the Holy One. It is the single weapon that the most despondent bedouin has in his search for an oasis in the expanses of a scorching hot desert. The easiest thing to do is to give up, hang your boots and be the autumn leaf that lets the meandering river choose the path.

Neha had become that autumn leaf. She seemed to have given up, resigned to her fate. She felt that she could never swim upstream. She felt she could not swim at all. Not a soul would have said that it was to be a piece of chocolate cheese cake. And yet, most would have said that it was possible. Easy? Darned no. Possible? Most definitely yes! But her eyes could see only that which she wanted herself to. Her ears listening to only that which she wanted to as well.

Let me step back a couple of paces and admit that I do not know the entire story. Not because I do not care to find out or ask. Rather, because I choose not to ask. She chooses not to speak. If she wanted to speak about it, it would have been spoken about. If she could speak about it, it would not have changed the course of her life. It is surely not a trivial matter and I would hardly wish to suggest that. I understand the gravity of it all. Or do I not?

Neha felt the gravity of it all pulling her down. She fought, bravely and valiantly. Yet, deep down she was not convinced herself. She was not sure if things would go back to being as picturesque as they were. She tried hard to be positive and happy. But, life persisted with small blows with eerie precision at regular intervals. Just when she had steadied herself, she would fall again. Walking on thin ice, status quo was hard to maintain.

Status quo can sometimes be the easiest thing to maintain. Do nothing at all and say nothing as well. To be where you are and to not move an inch. However, change is the only constant. And yet, it is hard to change. To change yourself, to change your thoughts, to see change and to move with it.

Neha moved on. She decided to change. Or did she not? It is difficult to say given that she is a person of her mind. But there was a semblance of sense. A sense of chaotic orderliness that seemed to prevail. It was to be the calm waters at the surface and yet turbulence deep beneath. We did not see it coming. We did not see that she was at a dead end.

In our journey called life, we sometimes come across a dead end. No path in sight, no path in place, we are mystified. Should we turn back and find another path? Should we take it as a sign? Is it time to call it a day? It is time to go to the cleaners? A short answer: NO. It is never the time to go to the cleaners.

Let me at this time bring perspectives of my own life as an example. Like every person on the street, I too have challenges in life. Maybe more than the rest. Who am I to pass verdict on this? Some may think that its not too bad for me. In business school at a time when everything could go wrong is going wrong. And even more. The only way seems to be down. As I run pillar to post to secure for ourselves a sound future, I see myself running myself of options. No end in sight, it is tough to not lose hope. To resign to fate and to brood over the times we see. Have I thought about it? I would be lying if I said no. We all have moments of weakness. We cry, drink down our sorrows, shut ourselves from the world, cry some more and drink a lot more. I curse all and sundry and keep asking god... why me? Why now? But, the sun rises the next day, as do I, keeping what happened in the past there and start a brand new day. Bringing purpose, direction and motivation, I try to reason with myself that it will all end one day.

Neha, the pain will all end one day. That day may not be today, may not be tomorrow or the day after. The day will come. Do not lose hope. Life is such a beautiful journey. Don't let a single incident take away from you the best gift that god has given you. I do not know what it is that makes you cry. I do not know what it is that makes you weep. But, I can assure you that it will go away. There will be a way and you will see it. Maybe it is already there.

Drastic measures are not the solution. REPEAT: Drastic measures are not the solution. There is nothing that you will have achieved through this. You don't have to fight the problems today. However, don't run away from them as well. Your family is by your side. As are your friends. Nevertheless, there are some battles that you have to fight by yourselves. This is one such battle. For, this time you have to fight with your own self.

Whatever happens, pick up your baggage and move on. If the baggage is heavy, leave it behind. Keep Walking!

PS: For a change, I do know this girl.
PS-2: For a change, this is not an 'it is a friend, which is actually me' story
PS-3: As usual, if its not a Wii, its not worth mentioning it. [Only a few people will understand this joke]