What lies behind us is the past made up with memories of a lifetime and what lies before us is unknown. But for this moment, I would like you to forget the certain and the uncertain and take you on a journey.
Imagine this.
The waves crashing onto the sand, washing away the night’s debris on the land. The sun-bleached sand crystals burning your feet, the gentle breeze caressing your hair. The movement of the waves allowing you to smell the land – the mustiness of the Earth, but of course, the food bought from the seafront shops smells better. Some of your friends are carelessly jumping into the coastal reaches of the ocean, while the rest are trying to capture this Instagram-perfect picture of the bright sun that is rising on the distant horizon. It is peaceful isn’t it?
It’s a Tuesday night. Precisely, 9th July 2019, a few days before you enter the next phase of your life: University. You and your family are watching the Cricket World Cup Semi Finals, an extremely intense match between India and New Zealand. Your father curses every move in the play while he recalls the greatest of the greatest players in the Indian cricket history. He says “Turn off the TV, we’re losing this.” Your mother sits, wrapped in a blanket, her eyes fixated on the screen. While you – you don’t move – because what if your slightest movement could cause an easy wicket for New Zealand? Yes, we all tend to get a little superstitious sometimes. Your family of three, four, or more, watches the game intently, bonding over the match, forgetting the week’s miseries, even though it’s for a short span. This makes us miss home, doesn’t it?
And now, you’re in university. Some, chasing a degree they are certain of, and some who doubt their entire course of engineering over their inability to solve a math question – Yes, I’m one of them. With dreadful eyes and an empty stomach, we enter the classroom, scribble something in our notebooks, type out numbers in our calculators, share a laughter with our friends and call it a day. This cycle repeats till it gets monotonous as we watch the dates cross by the calendar. We are drained from the hectic schedule we follow, and begin to question “Am I really supposed to be doing this?”. You see, in this state of perpetual doing, we are so consumed by the big numbers, the better jobs, the million-dollar dream that we forget to relish happiness from the simplest of things that life has to offer. I want you to picture this – a day without feeling disappointed over not accomplishing all the tasks you had set out for yourself, a day without feeling whether or not you’re doing enough – whether or not you are enough. It is difficult isn’t it? We have been told to “think big and beyond” and to have big goals without realising that those very goals consist of hundreds of small decisions that lead to the result that we are after. As Bruce Burton said, “Sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things, I am tempted to think there are no little things.”
So, I urge us to slow down. To realise the preciousness of the moment- that tomorrow could turn the world upside down and everything we’ve known would cease to exist. That amongst the hustle and bustle of college life and after, it is the simplest, smallest elements of life, the people we share our lives with that brings us the most joy. That in the pursuit of reaching the final destination, let’s not forget the journey we’re travelling.
I urge us to observe the part of the world we’re living in and find ourselves in awe of the surrounding that beholds us. Watch the sky transition from yellow to orange to dark midnight hues and see the moon shine amongst the billowing clouds, with stars complimenting it as if the sky was a large canvas of blended colours with glitter thrown on them.
I urge us, to, just be. To express, to empathise, to engage. To cherish, to connect, to celebrate.