Butterflies and Hurricanes

“Aandhiyon se jhagad rahi hai lau meri,

Ab mashalon si badh rahi hai lau meri.”

Love these lines from the song ‘Roobaroo’ from Rang De Basanti. What a fiery, passionate movie. Why don’t they make more movies like that? Movies that question the status quo. Movies that make you feel like you’re a changed person when you leave the hall. Movies that make you believe in friendship. Movies that spark revolutions. This world needs to rise above mediocrity.

I thought about these two lines, because tonight, after a really long time, I feel young and fresh and positive. You know how when you’re alone, or you’re listening to good music, you have these moments of clarity where you feel you’re going to be okay? And you start accepting yourself for the way you are? I had one of those nights yesterday. As conversation flowed over chilled pints of beer and some peanuts with my closest friends, I felt myself relaxing, and growing up, and just being at peace with myself.

I feel like if we just take control of our lives, there’s a lot that we can change. If we want it enough, there’s nothing that we can’t do. Once, at the airport in Bangalore, I struck up a conversation with a professor from Istanbul who was in India for a guest lecture on genetics. I was talking to him about how I sometimes feel like getting a job abroad, or relocating to a different country permanently.

He asked me, “Well, why don’t you?”

I mumbled, “It’s too tough.”

And he smiled and said, “There’s no such thing.”

And that made me think. That guy has been studying and has spent his entire life (so far) trying to find better treatment options for cancer. If he believes there are things that could be done to save millions of people from dying, why can’t we have the same belief in relatively smaller things? We have free will. We can make our own choices. Steer our life into any direction we want. It’s all about taking that first step. We are amongst the fortunate few, who have the ability to change our lives for the better.

Forget about meeting big goals in life. Think about a simple, basic thing: Happiness. It’s really simple.

Not happy at work? Quit. Not satisfied with your relationship? Get out of it. Something bothering you? Talk about it. Is there someone who makes you feel negative? Stay away. Depressed? Seek help. The answers are all there. We just need to DO things. Carpe that fucking diem. That’s all there is.

I recently made a life choice which a lot of people told me may not be the best idea for me currently. But it made me feel good. It made me feel relieved, and free, and positive, and happy. And any decision that makes me feel all that, cannot be a wrong one.

5th March 2016 will remain etched in my memory as one of the most beautiful days of my life. As we stood at the Hummingtree, listening to Lucy Rose and her band give the most heart-warming performance, N and I swayed with the music together, feeling, laughing, smiling, clapping, jumping, crying, cheering, and just being there, being happy, being one, being us. It’s the second best concert I’ve attended so far, after Alt J.

Man, there is so much to appreciate in life. SO much. Sometimes I forget to take a moment to realize that all these times are going to become ‘the good old days’ one day. And these times are the stories we’re going to narrate years later. I am super excited about the next phase in life. For the first time in my life, I was absolutely guilt-free and doubt-free while making a big life change. As my girl Lucy says, “We’ll be alright.” 🙂

I’ll be back with more. Stay strong, you guys!

P.S. Watch a glimpse of the concert here 🙂