‘Har pal yaha jee bhar jiyo
Jo hain samaa kal ho na ho’

...The song kept playing in my mind. It’s a number that actually makes you want to wake up from your slumber and do at once everything that you’ve ever wanted to! What a simple theme… ‘Be happy and relish life till the moment you are alive’! Marvelous school of thought, but then it instantly brought to my mind memories of a story I had heard and liked as a kid. The grasshopper that lived for the moment and finally died of hunger in the wintry days due to lack of food; while the ant, who slogged through summers so she could save food and survive winters. These contradictory themes kept playing kabaddi in my mind.

An obvious thought followed; we all want to be happy; we all work hard so we can be happy. But then, how many of us are really happy? Given the adversities that serve as hindrances in our course towards blissful lives, how many of us make conscious efforts to be happy? Yes, happiness does require effort at times. Be it the trauma that follows when we lose a good job, a good friend, or a loved one, we refuse to break out of the mournful viscous circle. We cannot accept change; despite knowing it’ll give us better lives. We love to torture ourselves and bear the pangs. Instead of trying to look towards a beautiful future, we mourn over the past. We wrongly perceive that things cannot get better; and our perception becomes our reality.

While I was in a similar dilemma once upon a time, a friend of mine put forth a very interesting concept... ‘The theory of evolution’. "As human beings, we are continuously evolving. Every moment is a spike in this process of evolution. Every single relation or event sees us through a spike. And with each passing experience, we evolve, become stronger. Yesterday was one phase in this process, today is another, tomorrow, yet another! What was good for us yesterday may not be good for us today"... I was still confused and not willing to accept. He then continued... "As a child you wore a small frock and 2 ponytails and squeaking shoes. As a teenager you wore different clothes, (you would probably laugh when you commemorate that now). As a college-going girl, you dressed yet differently, and today as a working woman, you wear something else. You miss the ponytails and the squeaking shoes you wore as a kid, but you cant, and you don’t feel like dressing up that way anymore. You relish the memories, and the nostalgia is enough to make you happy. You don’t regret anymore. You have moved ahead. The same principle applies to very single event in your life as well. Do not mourn... move ahead. Enjoy the good/bad experiences of the past; they were a part of growing up. Give yourself the liberty to make mistakes, but learn from them. Forgive others for their mistakes, and hold no grudges."

Err! Where were we? The Ant or The Grasshopper?! Am not sure... guess a hybrid would be my ideal pick! About life, take it just as it comes... and enjoy every single moment...once gone, it won’t come back to you!

‘kisne paaye manzil,
kisne dekhe nishaan,
jo bhatak jaaye raahonme,
wohi karvaan achcha !!’