Existences

Source: @kashmirthroughmylens

I've been reading about people visiting Kashmir and Thailand

To find pieces of themselves

I've read them write about their conversations with silence, 

How the sight of their beloved changes the view of the world for them.

I've been reading about mountains that offer company to the loneliest of souls, 

And the seas that seem to stretch beyond the universe

People have found pieces of themselves traveling with strangers, 

While trading stories with them.

They've discovered that their true guide is the heart and not the map.

They've lived life, seen new places,

While I?
I stay here within the same geographical boundary I was a week ago and yet,
Yet, I feel I discover my existence in their words.

Two Boats

Well it’s been a long journey. And I’m not yet tired. There is still so much left to explore and discover, and even if we run out of things to explore and discover we will have a nice time basking in the memories of our journey. Although a part of me wants that this journey never end, and we travel together all the time, but another part of me knows that this will not be possible. We can’t be in the same boat when we have to travel to different destinations. So unwillingly I have to accept the inevitability of the fact that you and I will travel in different boats for quite some time now.

I know that even though our destinations are different and we both are equally unsure about our reaching them in time, we are guided by the same drive: hunger for achievement. All psychology students will tell you there are primarily four drives in a human being. I consider the drive for achievement to be the dominating one in both of us. After all, we didn’t come onto earth to live and soak in its beauty without contributing to it in whichever way possible. And when we have a chance to choose the way, why not choose the best and make it large?

At times, the way we’ll choose will make us run after it, run all through the day. There will be a point where we’ll feel like giving up on the chosen way and also, on ourselves. Ah! But that is the real test of passion, to hold onto your choice even when nothing around you seems to be making sense. To stay with your choice when the world is telling you to give up. To stay determined. There are ought to be moments when you feel down but remember your greater purpose, the reason for your drive and keep moving. There is no problem if you move slowly; the problem arises if you refuse to move. So don’t.

There will be moments of utter happiness and satisfactions too, enjoy them, but also know that they too, like moments of sorrow are temporary. Remember when Chandragupta Maurya won a battle he did not spend away all night celebrating, he rather started to plan his next move. We need to move with that focus. We need to make our names that large, so that kids centuries after us, know who we were and why we were.

Needless to say there will always be up and downs and we have to face them both with equal courage and foresight. The reason why a term for a roller coaster going only up isn’t coined is because it is highly improbable. The two have to co-exist, up and down, black and white, sweet and sour; that’s what makes our little time on earth worthy of remembering.

We both are similar and not same. I don’t expect you to take the same decisions I consider right, but I do expect you to not take a different decision just because I chose the one you wanted. We can share.

What remains at the end of the day is only how much we contribute, in our own ways, and how close did we get to our greater purpose. I hope we both always remember this and keep moving. After all, there is going to be a time when we both will be on the same boat, for the same destination, again.

This is a piece of work I wrote for my best friend an year ago and never had the wish to email it.

 

Travel, Just Travel.

Travel my dear child, from this end of the world to the other,
and then realize that there is no end- the world is round.

Travel meet new people and hear their stories and realize that everyone though has different embellishments the emotions are same.Travel, climb mountains, ford streams, chase rainbows
and then realize the climb is the same.
Travel, breathe in the air of different places, of cold lands and that of hot ones and then realize that you just breathe it in,
Travel, wear different dresses and accessories, roam around in them, then realize that every cloth is for covering one's body
Travel, learn new languages, speak them, realize that they express the same emotions in every language.

Travel, play new games and indulge in varied sports and then realize that all of them are for the purpose of human fitness and entertainment,
Travel, see new roads and lanes, follow them or let them follow you endlessly, and realize that they take you only where you want to go, all of them.
Travel, look out at the trees, observe their minute differences, then realize how man everywhere has used them to his own benefit,
Travel, look at the different animals, see them walk around, realize all exist for the purpose of existing,
Travel, see different lands, high and low, and realize that ultimately you walk on them or at least desire to.

Travel, go to new countries, live in their environment,  then realize that no country is free from troubles and all of them are trying to tackle them,
Travel, see new pieces of art, appreciate them, and realize that they are all expressions of human intellect and are all inter twined,
Travel, eat different foods, relish them, and then realize that they all exist to satisfy man's hunger.

Travel, see buildings, malls, schools, shops, realize their importance in our everyday life.
Travel, look at the mountains, rivers, falls, clouds, feel them and realize that nature has its own way of expressing its love and intellectual capacities.

Travel my dear child, feel new emotions, make memories, capture them.
Let them become a part of the mosaic that you are.

And then realize they made you a richer and better person.