The drudgeries of life
Saturday, December 03, 2011
No comebacks
You know that feeling when you're traveling at full speed on a straight empty road, crossing familiar landmarks, and after a while you suddenly realize you've covered a stretch of the street without even realizing when that had happened? It's not that you had fallen asleep in between, but you hardly took in any element of the surroundings that passed by despite being wide awake and having navigated the twists, turns et al (albeit subconsciously). Yet you've covered the distance safely and are still going strong.
Life is somewhat like that - it happens when you're busy enjoying it, being lost in moments and hardly keeping track of time.
Once you realize that you've covered a stretch of the road without actually any casualty occurring, you don't dwell on the what-ifs for long. Maybe if you remembered that the street was fraught with danger in the form of potholes and speed breakers, you'd look back for a moment and wonder how exactly you managed to navigate to safety without being in your right senses then. But then you'd probably dismiss the inquisition immediately without much fuss. What matters now is that you're safe. A pat on the back for the wonderful maneuvering of the vehicle too...
Akin to when people close to you help you in tiding over crises in life, keep you distracted, shower you with joy and happiness, and before you know it, voila! You're the same person in a whole new beautiful world, devoid of darkness, sadness and negativity, devoid of lies, sham and all that had clouded life a while back. In retrospect, you can't believe you came this far unscathed, but then you believe. Life leaves you with no other option but to be grateful and to pat yourself on the back for pulling yourself up, even if with others' help, and to trudge on.
I love running in marathons. I run long distances whenever I get the chance. In addition to being one of the best forms of catharsis, running is also a wonderful way of coming to terms with living life.
Firstly, marathons are not meant to be won - they're supposed to be finished. Just like life is meant to be lived, not to be outrun.
Blimey, living life to the fullest, each and every moment, and finishing each marathon run give a high like no other!
Secondly, you run a marathon for yourself - you've got no hidden agendas, you don't intend to impress anyone with your feat - the only thing on your mind is seeing yourself cross the finish line and feeling like a person who has been reborn, cleansed of all the maladies of the previous life.
Similarly, you need to cherish life for what it is to you - don't run after success like a mad dog runs after vehicles (even if the former catches up with the latter, it still continues to chase other vehicles... it's a never-ending story), live for yourself, live with others and not for others (at least not until you segregate the uncut diamonds from the stones, the latter being the ones you'd bend this rule for :) ) - life has ample highs to give away to all who care to welcome it with open arms!
Also, when progressing towards the finish line in a marathon, what occupies your field of vision is not the finish line but the surroundings, the beautiful landscapes that you keep crossing every once in a while.
Life these days has become too fast for our own good. We miss to observe so much while running the relentless rat race that has taken over our lives. Whilst it's practically unfeasible to put an end to the rat race or to exit it prematurely, we can surely slow down our pace and live life in parallel. Like a wise chap has said, "Even if you win the rat race, you'll still be a rat." So why not try to win something else instead of the race, life's treasures and irreplaceable moments for instance.
Those, and lots of subtle comparisons.
Maybe all of this sounds impractical, too ideal, philosophical even. But jump into your shoes and start running. You'll get the drift, literally and figuratively speaking.
Anyway, that's all for this edition.
The year 2011 was a breeze. Exactly one year ago, I couldn't wait for it to start and put an end to dreaded 2010. Today, less than 30 days before it bids farewell, I don't want the year to end at all...
Oh well! End it will, though I hope and pray the magic and happiness that got injected into life in 2011 continues for years to come.
Somethings rightfully meet a premature end and are buried off in a jiffy, but some ageless things that end up in a coma, no thanks to a series of unfortunate events, can certainly be revived. All it takes is constant support and faith - this blog could never die, no matter how severe the coma it goes into. Thanks to D, M, S and A for helping me resuscitate it and to revive the eternal masquerade of emotions! Love you folks! :)
On an ending note, I could only quote the following lines by Pink Floyd: I knew the moment had arrived, for killing the past and coming back to life...
7 Comments:
Welcome back Appi,loved it especially the last line.Keep on writing.
WELCOME BACKK APPI.LOVES IT.KEEP WRITING KID.LOVE YA.
I am so happy that you have stated your blog again. I was missing it so much and I enjoyed reading it. I felt very happy and felt very very light hearted to read your blog. You portray everything so beautifully. I am proud of you and I am the biggest fan of your writing. Keep blogging love. yes masqurades of emotions never ends and should never end. Keep it up. Love U Mumma
@Dada
I had to come back, thanks to the peer pressure from our blogging family :D
Love ya loads! You too keep writing... you have a wonderful knack for it :)
@Mumma
So finally you commented on by blog, eh? Welcome welcome :D
Thanks for all the praise... I know I had to resume somehow to keep you happy and to ensure that you manage to spend your office hours effectively :)
Love you loads!
Hey, Appu...loved your post...I'm so glad you came back pagal. You know when I first decided to start a blog, I spent half the night going through your then 'dead' blog...I read many things I'd never read before, all the while wondering why in the world you'd stopped? (*sighs*)...Now, I'm super happy that you decided to revive it, and looks like you're in your happy place now :)...can't wait to read more...love you:*
@CJ: I never can stay away for long, I'm afraid :)
You spent the eve of your exam going through my crappy ramblings?! Like duhhh!
Hey hello, don't expect me to come up with gems like you, Dad and Amo... I'll publish my rants whenever they get the better of me :p
Love you loads, kiddo :*
"No comebacks" hs been one of my most favorite ( favoritest indeed if I my put it that way) stories of all times ! And now this blog post of yours by the same title is one of my favorites mostly because of the content in it :).
Many times I reach my destination the way you have put it, without realising how I covered the distance especially while going through much travelled paths - be it while walking, riding, driving. But never realised that Life is somewhat like that.
Its a different matter that in life , sometimes the journeys are more important than the unknown destiny and somehow when I dont know the destination, I tend to enjoy the journey more :)
Your love for marathons are understood much better with this post ; surely you inspire people to run in a marathon ! No prizes for guessing who all will run in a marathon next year . :D
I am so glad that you decided to wake up from the slumber because of the very fact that you cannot stay away from writing. Even though you never did stay away from it actually speaking, blogging world definitely missed you- intranet or internet :)
Your writing is as good as always and your metaphors,your way of relating things are indeed the best - no bias at all !! :D
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