When I sat to write today, nothing came to my mind. I wanted to make my 250th post a special one.. but then what should I write? Hmm.. I sipped my coffee as I looked outside my window. It was a pleasant morning. The trees were waving their branches in the breeze. The paperboy was pedaling his bicycle on the sidewalk of the street, taking the folded newspapers one by one out of the bag and throwing them at the doorsteps of random houses. People walking brisk to make their living already. Few thoughtful moments passed.. Should I write about Life? Well, Life?! So be it.
Some say life is awesome. Some say life is miserable. Some see life as pleasant while some see it as dismay. Life is beautiful and it is equally deadly. But do I have the experience or understanding to write about life? I’m about to find it out. Fine, let me write what I understood or at least what I saw.But then as a writer, I wonder whether my readers understand what I’ve understood. Life throws us many questions and also answers them eventually. Well, to make people understand, I think I should write stories which they can relate with. Apparently, I should write 'their' stories. But whose story should I be writing?
Life’s a book, full of stories. We love reading stories in a journey. But every journey tells us a story. There are plenty of people everywhere. Which means lots of stories around us. I see many faces and try to read their stories.The other day when I was waiting in a hospital with my Dad, I just looked around me. A young guy who was sitting next to us was talking to my Dad. He was an Engineering student in his second year. But after being diagnosed with a severe illness, his family had to spend for his medical expense. So he had to quit his college. Still he was hopeful of pursuing his studies. I saw his perseverance there.
That’s when a man came out of the Maternity Ward with tears in his eyes. Those were tears of joy as he was following the pediatrician with a baby in her arms, wrapped in a pink towel. It was a baby girl. That moment I felt, there starts a new story and a new chapter in the family.After all life is full of hope everywhere.
Behind me there stood a nurse and a janitor who were sharing their daily struggle at home. About how they were surviving the Chennai rains. Survival for them was, to never give up.Another day when I stopped at a busy and rather a long signal, I noticed a guy on his bike, who was hooked to his mobile texting and sparkling a smile every now and then. Looked like he has a cute love story in store. There were worried faces, hurried faces and helping faces. For me it looked like a huge rack of books. I was just seeing the glimpse of their stories.
I used to go for an early walk in a park nearby to our home in Bangalore. It was more of reading people and relaxing for me than a fitness walk.
One day I saw a Muslim lady in her black abaya with her toddler son in the park. He was bit naughty and asking for chocolates all the time. While everyone were silently walking the trail in the defined path, the boy was hopping and running randomly. The little boy actually enlivened the scene and taught us the most valuable lesson that life has to be lived.
Life might look cruel at times, but happiness is everywhere. Some live with cherishing moments while some want to forget a few. That day I felt even the most beautiful fantasies are born out of real life stories.
Life is a perfect balance. Balance is the best thing that I’ve learnt from the stories of life. I’m constantly in pursuit of implementing this learning in every aspect of my life and writing. Perfect balance is not an extreme term, it’s an optimal term. A story is optimal for a reader when it strikes a perfect balance in it’s content and context.
I sat down after a stroll in the terrace. Opened my laptop, making the story my main course and a cup of hot coffee my side order. Of the people I saw, whose story should I write now? Perhaps not everyone’s story is exciting. Some will be conventional while most will take us by surprise. Tales about love and lust. Tales about heartbreak and pain. In this ocean of people, everyone has a story to tell. And every story has twists. And of course, every twists has an ending. And every end is just a new beginning.When I look closer, I see everybody not only has a story. But everyone is a story and are waiting to be read. We are creating our own story in every day of our life. After all, life is a vast story by itself, isn’t it?I started typing the title for my next story. Well, yes, I have a story to tell too.
So, what’s your story?
P.S: By the way, this is my 250th blog post! :)
