Thursday, August 18, 2011

Some Decisions Can Wait


I know for a fact that I’m a highly ambitious person. Like many others I have dreams that I want to change to reality, and successes that I want to achieve. But like few of them, I don’t really know what I precisely want to do in life.

Within a year or so, I will probably be a university graduate. It’s a big deal of course, because that is when people really start to take you seriously and maybe the point when YOU start to take yourself seriously. But I haven’t done that yet. I’ve always had a knack for creativity - from writing, to photography, to painting - I can proudly say that at some point or the other, I’ve tried it all! (Though I do admit that the people I draw have not evolved from being stick figures).

I wanted to be a photographer someday, and be the proud owner of a studio, and be able to capture the essence of beautiful people and present it to the world through my lens. I wanted to tour around the world, with appointments and photo shoots in Paris or London! But then I lost interest eventually and gave away all the digital photography books and magazines I owned. Then I wanted to be a calligraphy artist. I began writing in various forms of Old English Gothic handwriting, but alas! The ink pot of my calligraphy set dried and I lost interest again. And hence, I’m now stuck with a handwriting that is neither slanting, nor straight, nor cursive.

I can vividly recall wanting to be a psychologist at some point in my life. I was always told that I give fairly good advice, and I can deal well with people since I’m a “peoples’ person”. And no I haven’t yet lost interest in that. It’s just that the place I study in, does not really have many options when it comes to studying Psychology. But there was one subject that I studied back in school - Business Studies - that had a certain segment called ‘Marketing’, that seemed to have grasped my attention. I am not trying to imply that I did fairly well in the subject, because it was quite the contrary. Although, eventually I did realize that my grades ceased to matter. It was the entire idea of the subject that enthralled me. And after much analysis I realized that so far all my ‘phases’ had one thing in common - they all dealt with either creativity or communicating with people. And that is when I instantly pictured myself sitting on a revolving chair in a lavish office, and communicating with people about the ideas and the world that is inside my head.

But maybe it’s still okay to be unsure of what we want to be in life. Maybe this still isn’t my time to take hardcore decisions. I can still make mistakes, correct them, and try a different mistake each day till I get it right. And maybe this way when someday some random person asks me about my dream job, I can respond with pride that “I am actually living my dream right now”. 

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Sorry : This relation is currently Disconnected


“HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUUUUU DEAR SISTER!”

Now imitate that in the voice of a 4-year old girl who just started going to school a few months back. My little cousin from thousands of miles away called to chime in one of the countles birthday messages that I heard throughout the day. Even though that call woke me up from my much-needed sleep, it brought this biggest smile on my face! But along with that, there were constant pangs of guilt as I continued my conversation with her.

Family - one of the many aspects of our everyday life that we seem to take for granted. Excuses are plenty - either you don’t have the time, the energy, the state of mind, or whatsoever. And family always understand; its kinda like their duty of course. But the fact is, there’s no such thing as “being busy”. Its actually all about priorities. And that’s where we ALWAYS go wrong.

I talk to this little cousin of mine once in 6 months maybe. Then once a year when I head back to my country, we live in the same house. Every 3 months this little girl awaits the arrival of an aunt/uncle with their kids to come to their house and become their family for a month. My mistake here is, after that one month, I tend to completely disconnect myself from that part of the world. Don’t shake your head in disapproval; we’ve all done something on the same line! This cousin of mine, filled with all her innocence, tells me that she’s waiting for me to come so that I can help her do her nails and play hide-and-seek and dress up! And right now while writing this blog, I feel like a complete jerk. This little girl has obviously done no wrong in her life. But yet I choose to get so distracted and engrossed in my own world, that I cannot spend 2 minutes to pick up the phone, dial her number, and talk to her about whatever it is that little girls want to talk about!

I am fully aware that I have bruised many relations this way. I am dreading the moment my grandmother pops a question about this, because I know then that I probably will not be able to look into those eyes and say “I was busy”. So this time, I am making myself a promise that it is high time I paid more attention to the rest of my family. I think I still have a little cash left from my birthday money. Maybe its time I visited the toy store. 

Thursday, August 11, 2011

The Other Side of the Mirror


Your reflection will always show you all the things that you did not want to notice. It is the only source that will provide the bitter truth that even your best friend will try to avoid! And once in a while, maybe that’s what we all deserve - the harsh reality.

Today my mirror is forcing me to shed a few pounds. It’s been telling me to do that for over 2 weeks now! And each time I feel like I’m doing a good job, I see a floating strawberry cheesecake (we all love cheesecake, okay!). But sometimes I realize that despite the popular phrase “what you see, is what you get”, there has definitely got to be more than what meets the naked eye.

The mirror displays all the imperfections within us in a way that can be highly demotivating on many occasions. Sometimes we do not need to know that the dress we have been saving up to buy for the last couple of weeks does not actually look that amazing when tried on. But your mirror will never show you how beautiful you are on the inside. It will not encourage you when you need to be told that you did the right thing. Your mirror won’t ever tell you that you have been a good daughter. The mirror is nothing but a mere reflection of what YOU are willing to show. It knows, nor shows anything more or less than that. And yet we seem to spend a lifetime whining about what we see in this object that is flawed in so many ways!

Yes we would all like to look glamorous like the people we see in the magazines or on television, or those who prefer to imitate these people. But it is time to accept that it is a completely different world behind the pages of Vogue magazine. And maybe it is time to embrace the fact that real women actually snort when they laugh, they’ve got big ar*es, and they PMS! (I am pretty darn sure I got that off Ugly Betty).

And it does not matter what your mirror is telling you today. Any dress will look perfect, if it is accessorized with a beautiful smile, and a touch of confidence :)