The Wilful Loner in an Unknown Land

        As exciting as it might have seemed from the outset, the tiresome schedule had sunk her in and taken right into an unknown land, which is often known as the Dreamer's Paradise. Flabbergasted by the fast, yet an erratically moving city, it was a journey that would define her in the years to come. After all, it was another willful soul that had made a leap to realize the true self in the once-famous, Garden City. It wasn't a challenge of her work ethics though but possessed a very different ask of fighting a world of anonymities and conquering the demeanor set by the society.

        The roads taken had enough to hurt and drain, but a new hope to overcome barriers was knocking at the door. Every girl has a past and the bygone days had enough to keep her terrified. A world that boasted pride also had a handful to terrorize the young one. Not that strangers are strange enough, the known faces had seemed equally terrible during childhood at times. The little tease that made her uncomfortable still leads the way to a conversation of the future past with the ones close to her. An intentional silence is what dominated though and only had creeped out for a moment or two. A little drop of tear would roll down her glossy cheeks, but then, that's life! A civilized world, as they might call it, has many a story in every household duly buried under the strings of relations.

        The words of the begone would do less though, and what really stuck for hatred was born out of a complete stranger. The complete stranger who once was closer than the ones bound by blood, closer than the ones who shared the same plate of meals, closer than the ones who held us together by their bosom to show us how much they loved us, and yet, she was closer to the one that promised the world to her. The world that many greats have thought of conquering. What can her teens teach but accept the words that take our breath away! She was no different then and today, "hurt" is probably the best word to describe that young soul.

        Life passes and we all move on with the flow of it. The river never looks back, as Lord Alfred Tennyson had once mentioned, and so she did with her life as well. Years have passed and the phases have taught her things that she would have never learned from a book. After all, experiences are what defines us, not just for getting a job but to understand this life too. As hurt as she might have been, the journey had taken her from one great city to another. She had crossed boundaries to be what she is today. Enough attention around and a wish to be her own true self is what makes her prominent. Defined by the terrors of childhood, the once terrified girl is not worried to take on a society that still leans towards the conventional archetypes of patriarchy. The days of Christmas past are long gone and the once wilful loner of mid-teens is ready for a bout against the world in an unknown land...

The Two Girls who wrote the same story

     In a world that dreads moving out of their comfort zones, engineering and IT have been pacesetters for the majority of middle-class Millenials. An easy way to achieve things is something that we all love to have. No matter how thirsty we all are to drop a resignation later on a Monday morning, it simply doesn't happen. We do not possess the courage to move forward and that's what holds us! The courage to Jump off the cliff is not an easy-to-have virtue but something that is definitely NOT easy-to-find in this world of tremendous rat race. Still, out of the blue, there are people who do things differently, who look at things differently and tell us that life is not something that should move with the flow but it is all about defining it completely by ourselves. The roads are not straightforward to start with and the challenges are sometimes just improbable to look from the outset.

     This is a story of two girls who dreamt and had faith in themselves to take that leap of faith. Two different stories coincided with the word go. One, about a girl who wanted to only dance, the other to live with the madness of cricket! Their life was not to be contained in a box, it was always about making it big. One with the genes of a famous dancer and the other with the bloodline of a quizmaster, they were destined to be great. But then, we all share a good hereditary genome to take it forward and become someone. And, it takes a lot more to accomplish something in what we are truly passionate about. Their life was also no different from ours and the strangled corporate life was all but what brought them back to reality. Staying away from the loved ones or maybe the urge to get out of the monotonous life had been the kick. They both somewhere never settled with what we plan to live our entire lives, instead, they always wandered to follow their hearts.

      As it happens with determination, one ran down the cobwebs of a metro to establish herself as a belly dancer whereas the other one, is writing columns about the people she had worshipped for her entire lifetime. It was wonderful to meet her after she had just jotted down her section with an interview of one of the most expensive cricketers of the current Indian Premier League roster. It wasn't an easy journey for her but one should have seen the look on her face. I could pretty easily relate to it for I have seen it before. I had seen it after a dance performance on the face of the other! It was sublime and had the indication of doing what they loved every day, every minute. We all have dreams but these two girls had shown us the way to a world where anyone can follow their own heart and write the same story in their very own words if they wish to!

Still knows not the answer to the real 'Why'

        

        "Why was he here?", she asked. It was the right question by her after all. He thought for a while, probably fumbled, trying to figure out a piece that would best explain his presence. For he knew not why he had signed up, let alone the saga of going and coming back again and again. For he had whatever he wanted, for he knew things are sorted but just that one bit which always made him struggle. He did respond and he meant when he did but knew not a word that would still explain the real "Why".

        We live in a world that is flawed. A world of materialistic pleasure that determines our livelihood and apparently, success. Food, shelter, and clothing have long been classified as secondary and the luxury of worldly pleasures has stretched their borders to be held with the utmost importance. This wasn't a hidden lie but a coveted truth, not just for the society but for him as well. Yes, he, the protagonist for whom this piece was carved. And as apparently seen by all, the guy with a million dreams.

        From the shoddy green fields to the high lights of a metro, his life had seen much of the positives that one longs for. From being a simple town boy to a guy with a golden future, the quarter of a century has taken him places that he couldn't even imagine. Enough pride for the parents and more than a handful for the rest to envy, his growth had always been on a high. As a person, a decent string of willingness to help the other with enough to influence the weeker. That is what best described him. 

        The world seems like a lie when thy expectations are high. And when things have gone wrong in the past, one rarely hopes to shine on similar grounds. It is a formality that stays and just a wish to have come good when the next moment arrived. The question that led him there was a simple 'Why' but had so much in it from his past. For a life that has known success so well, had its fair share of fallouts as well. Miserable endings are just part of the game and it doesn't waive off the brave. A broken thought of the Christmas past still haunts him and a glimmer of hope to right the wrongs always beacons in his instincts. Not all have been rosy and a chance to hold on to a hand that would carry light for a lifetime is a dream that still ignites him. While all bear the grunt of a rat race, his mild approach has always kept him ahead of the game. But, was that really enough? Not so, as our desires are so different at times and success is not always a metric that can be measured. 

        A true creator of this mist, but never a believer in the creation of this virtual world that has held us by its charm. He knows not where it all ends and whether the glimmer of hope will ever see its light. We all are, after all, the pawns of a larger picture. And he being just another piece in the huge board, had played for his turn without knowing the reason behind it. For he has just made a move with the flow and still wonders about the answer to the real "Why".