Skip to main content

Beginnings

     Loneliness and isolation have their own merits and demerits. They make you envy the people who do not have to undergo the same suffering as yourself, but in a way they give you time for introspection. And it is out of this introspection that some great autobiographies have emerged. History itself, is a testament to that. Some eminent leaders have penned books that have become an inseparable part of World Culture, whilst in total isolation from the world. Adolf Hitler wrote his autobiography - 'Mein Kampf' in prison after his failed Putsch in Munich. For Hitler haters, even Nelson Mandela wrote a major part of his autobiography 'Long Walk to Freedom' while he was imprisoned on Robben Iceland for 27 years by the apartheid regime in South Africa. Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru wrote 'An Autobiography' between 1934 and 1935 when he was in prison. Long story short, this blog is also an outcome of sheer loneliness; I hope it turns out good! Just to be clear, I am NOT in prison, nor am I a fugitive!

        We all are aware of the saying "The grass is always greener on the other side". No matter how successful we are, no matter how happy we are, from the eyes of the world, we always crave for things that others possess. Thanks to my isolation, I've learnt to look only on the brighter side of my life...where I'm living now, is the "greener" side of the grass.

        In the monsoon of 2010 I moved out of my hostel - a place where I had lived few of the best days of my life during 2009-10. It was soon into this self-imposed isolation that I realised what a horrible mistake I had made. A terrible choice. Loneliness soon crept in, so did frustration. I lost faith in everything, including happiness, and became the cynic I'd always avoided turning into. When I looked out of the broken window of my rented apartment I could only see how miserable my life was, and how happy everyone else was. Nothing cheered me, nothing could bring the smile that I never used to let go of, the year before.

         It doesn't take a smart man to realise that getting yourself out of such a situation is the need of the hour. I began trying to feel happy, albeit forcibly. I would just smile at petty things, and not let the difficulties bother me much. And it did not take much time for a miracle to occur... Happiness circled me like a group of giggling children in a merry-go-round. My days brightened, and soon the picture I saw out of the window changed. The broken glass didn't matter much, nor did the sordid sight of pigs running randomly on the street. Even a slight breeze was enough to make me smile.

         No, I wasn't becoming ignorant of problems, I was just becoming cognizant of the joy around me, and at the same time, I'd learnt to look adversity in the eye and say "You don't scare me!". Yes, isolation changed me, twice. Most of us go through such a phase, but most of the time we let suffering make us the person that we don't want to be. It's your choice after all, either choose to stay melancholy and mourn like a loser, or just turn to the "greener side of the grass"! It always works... "True story!"

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Howard Moskowitz and Spaghetti Sauce

     What is happiness? How is it different from the other feelings we get? Why do different things make different people happy in different situations? As for me, enthralling my readers with my writings makes me happy. For you, may be, your favourite dish served hot in front of you makes you happy. Speaking of food, I’m sure you can recollect twirling those long strands of spaghetti in your fork and savouring them with the zesty sauce that comes with it. So what I am going to talk about today is a little different from what I’ve talked about before - the reinvention of spaghetti sauce. This is credited to the famous American market researcher and psychophysicist – Dr. Howard Moskowitz.      A doctorate from Harvard University, Dr. Moskowitz had a consulting business in White Plains, New York, and one of his very first clients was Pepsi, back in the early 70s. This was a time, when the sugar substitute – aspartame was getting increasingly pop...
4 comments
Read more

The Krishna Way of Life

     Over the last 24 hours there has been an endless din all over the city. Hooligans clad in t-shirts branded with faces of well-fed politicians are zooming all around town on their Yamahas and Pulsars, hooting at women and blowing small trumpets as they go. They call themselves 'Govindas'. Today is possibly the only day besides Ganpati visarjan that offices all over the city specially allow their employees to leave early. The otherwise ordinary town-squares of Mumbai are decorated with huge banners, laden with loud speakers and bustling with people today, "celebrating" the birth of one of the most revered deities by Hindus the world over - Lord Krishna. I am not going to assert his existence with this piece, nor am I going to doubt it, but if you come to think about it, there is a great deal associated with this dark-skinned God than meets the eye.            Over 5000 years ago,  on the  ashtami , eighth day...
Post a Comment
Read more

1995 - Where It All Began

     Victor Khambatta is a dangerous man. More dangerous than his father, Feroze. At only 30 years of age, his demeanour is intimidating. His henchmen have instilled terror in the deepest locales of Mumbai, and extortion, kidnappings and murders run rampant in his name. Even his gangster father fears his audacious moves. But sadly, there is not one strong evidence to put him behind bars. As the city and its protectors grow more and more scared of his power, he grows mightier with every passing day. All hope seems lost, but there are still some of us who refuse to acknowledge his victory, and his clout does not faze our efforts to pin him to the ground and bring him to justice.      The year is 1995. The Anti-Crime Squad of Mumbai, even in times of corruption, and obscurity, is doing its best to ward off Khambatta's activities and foil his attempts to become the uncrowned King of organised crime in the city, which is a part of his grand plan,...
2 comments
Read more