So after a long time I got a small but very enriching Puja vacation. Did not really go pandal hopping due to my ill health but got to observe a lot. This brought back a lot of insights which I had lost somewhere in the busy corporate life. Most of this was from a weekend trip to my grandpa's town some 6 hrs from Kolkata by train.
So I was travelling in a train after a long long time. Reminded me of my childhood days when we used to go on trips every summer/winter vacation, by train. All that packing and preparations. Those days we used to travel in sleeper class. So carrying the bed sheets and air pillows. I can still remember the air pillow blowing competitions between my bro and me, my dad setting up our berths for sleeping, mom carrying odd snacks for the journey, fighitng with bro for window seats.......there was so much love and happiness in even most trivial of things. Although we didn't have the confort, we had the warmth of each other's presence to comfort us. Life was simple, uncomplicated and happy.
So as the train rumbled along the tracks from Howrah, I put on my head phones and listened to music. Music really helps my imagination to fly and my memories to roll over in front of my eyes. I could vividly picture the days when we used to come back from school and rush out to play. There were big fields and open spaces for us kids to just run around. Playing all kinds of outdoor games and getting all dirty was a daily scene :) Friends were as innocent as we were and we didnt really care about falling down and hurting ourselves while playing. I can still remember catching dragon flies, fishing for tadpoles in muddy waters after rains, playing hide and seek in neighborhood gardens...........playing was such an important aspect of growing up. There was no tension of multiple tuition classes like kids of today. We never needed expensive toys to keep us happy, all we wanted were open spaces and freedom to run around and thankfully we got plenty of that. Just makes me wonder how easy it can be to feel happy.
As I grew up, the complications in life were more. Even then, till college life was really simple, money was never a factor nor was a driving point. In fact in college we learnt that money was not at all important when you wanted to have fun, do new things, have some adventure etc. We literally used to survive on 2 digit mobile recharges and limited pocket money. But the amount of fun we had was never constrained. I think the reason why the finance never mattered was because we always did what we liked doing. So there was never a problem. I remember travelling in general compartments with friends when going on trips or fests to other colleges. Sometimes even in chilly winters, but the company of great people kept me warm and made the general compartment seem beter than an air conditioned one :)
So coming back to my Puja trip, I also got a chance to have a very enriching chat with my grandpa. He always has so many stories to tell and so many memories to talk about. He was talking about his childhood days, how they used to go to school, how they even as kids knew most household chores. I started wondering I do not even know all the kinds of vegetables and my grandpa could identify some 100 kinds of fish alone. Since they were so exposed to regular grocery/vegetable/food shopping, they know almost all the fruits/vegetables and other food items under the sun. So does my dad. But all this knowledge is slowly vaporizing with every generation. My generation prefers to go to a mall and pick up things based on their english names, there is no inspecting whether the item is good, no price negotiations, no searching 10 shops to buy one thing. We have become very used to the comfort of malls and programmed to air conditioned shopping areas. My mom talks of so many different kinds of trees and flower plants when she mentions her childhood stories, most of them I have neither heard nor seen. We are going so much away from nature that in no time all our kids will know are apples and oranges only. Makes me feel not just sad but scared....... a sense of loss.......we are losing our heritage day by day.
So all this travel back to memories of different time phases helped me realize one thing. Its not at all difficult to be happy. In fact happiness comes more often with small things than with larger lavish things. With more things come more insecurities, worries and stress. Also we should stop and do some analysis on what are the things which are really important to our happiness. It may not always be money, career or success, it may even be as small as a nice tasty meal. Its important in life to not choose paths just because someone is telling you to or because it is the most sure shot path to things which are considered important. We should walk on even deserted roads if we think we want to do so. I was reading an article in a magazine on my flight back to Hyd about 3 ladies who left their comfortable cozy lives to do things which they found real happiness in. One such lady and her husband decided to move from busy Mumbai life to a more secluded town near Nasik. They not just themselves got used to the more peaceful life of the small town but also are bringing up their kids in that environment. It really takes a lot of courage to break away from well known social stanrdards of living, but every one has just one life and what you do with it should completely be driven by what you want to do rather than what people expect you to do .
I think we should give few things a little more space in our lives, like nature. We should also never bury our dreams under ths huge load of social expectations. After all we all have one life to dream.....so its better to keep the dream on until the very last and trying to turn it into reality than just killing it.
Lastly, open your eyes is what I would say. Only when your eyes are open you will realize how many less birds you watch when compared to when you were a kid, how many less trees are around you, how many less animals you see, how much less time you give to do things which your heart wants you to do. Open your eyes and see how much less life you are living.............
