When you are not…………….

When you are not, what you are expected to be, but if you are who you really want to be, care a damn about those hypocrites and continue to be the way you really wanted to be.

The old adage “Grass is always greener on the other side” makes a lot of sense. People hardly realize that dreaming about the life they wish for, is not going to help unless you stop dreaming and do something towards it. Of course, I am referring to those things that are in their control. But those “Had you been” talks freak me out!! Life sounds so easy rosy in those talks. Wish we all know the true meaning of hypothesis.

Although above such things are common in many aspects of life, education is one of the highlighted and sensitive issues. Our society strongly believes that the right education paves way to wisdom. Agreed! Hands down! But sadly a section of us still believe that certain degrees (not necessarily it educates) leads to dignity, stardom, fame, wealth, and lastly wisdom. One such cliché is becoming an engineer or a doctor or an MBA. Every middle class Indian wants to become one of those former two. Due to this frenzy, engineering in India has become a business, and let alone the standard of education. No matter how many movies Amir khan does, the true essence will never be realised. At this rate, it would not be a surprise if being an engineer or a doctor turns out to be minimum criteria for one to get married in the near future!

I strongly believe, the society will progress only when one stops being part of the herd; stops being another cog in the wheel. But life teaches you lessons the hard way! Learnt it!

P.S. I still would carry the above thoughts even if I were an engineer or a doctor. But when you are not… Be yourself! You are unique, just like everyone!

BANG-BONG-BANG

No! I have not misspelt the movie BANG BANG and this is not its preview either. Well, this has nothing to do with any movie. Rather, this is the personality of a man who has been amazingly insightful about life and beyond life. No, he ain't a saint; not (completely) crazy; not blindly spiritual; not my new role model. He is just another common man of my age. But what makes him stand out? An artist! Not by profession (yet), but by nature. Fascinated by theatre, cinema, art, nature at a very young age (when he was 4 years old!), he embarked on to this wild journey from a remote place in north-east to scale great heights in the city of dreams – Mumbai!

A seamless connection between his thoughts and delivery is awe-inspiring. It is not rocket science. It is just a plain, simple life. But you (I) have not seen life, the way he sees. Trust me, it is a different world.

I have never found answers to any of my deep and innermost questions. I do not believe in any spiritual guru and neither in his blessings. I do not meditate. But every time, I found my discussions with this guy to be so unique and very unlike my usual discussions with my circle. I do not claim that he has provided me with all worldly answers. Duh! No way! Yet, there is this sense of direction and clarity about life in general.

Unable to recollect many, just quoting a few of his views (screw my bad memory).

“Only when you let your sub-conscious to take over your conscious mind, will you begin to appreciate life. That is when you begin the true journey of life.”

I was dumbfounded.

On another instance, he logically contradicted my views against The Chanakya’s wisdom, “He who is overly attached to his family, experiences fear and sorrow, for the root of all grief is attachment. Thus one should discard attachment to be happy.”

I vehemently opposed it. I believe or rather used to believe, happiness is family; family is happiness.

Although he was not against my views, he asked me to define happiness. It is not as easy as it sounds. I stumbled, searched for it. I could not define it.

Later, he remarked, true happiness is beyond family. When your roots are tied with your family, you fail to explore the world beyond your family.

And thus, he certified the Chanakya’s words successfully.

How simple and elegant. A true artist. Dumbfounded.

Speaking of artist, I said, you see things differently about life probably because you are an artist. He denies. 

Every individual, irrespective of their profession can be an artist, he says. Learn to appreciate everything in life. Life is not a Salman Khan movie (btw he is eagerly waiting for the release of kick, not for Salman, but for Nawaz Siddiqui) where everything goes in favour of you. Learn to find the silver lining at every stage. Do not be in a rush. You will reach your destiny when it is time. Meanwhile, enjoy the journey!

Just dumbfounded!

All of this might sound like I have turned in to his disciple or you (I) may have even heard this before. But like I said, when you hear from the horse's mouth, it feels like the first time, each time. What began as a causal and curious experiment of cooking pan-Indian cuisines for lunch/dinner has now grown much more significant. It is no more a delight just to my tummy but to my mind too.

Once I poked this non-commercial movie freak, who is the best director in Bollywood currently? He replied, “Ek la**a bi nai hai”.

Maybe not currently, but I reckon in the near future, there will be one named “Amitav Deb.”

My best wishes!