Many of my blog posts are the result of thoughts, thoughts which spring up in the unlikeliest of places at the unlikeliest of times!
This one has been generated out of a thought that took root in the soil of my mind while I was visiting the Palghar region of North Konkan – touring the Shirgaon-Mahim-Kelve forts and beaches on 28 April 2010.
It all happened when I and my friends Sanish and Manish (the names rhyme! :D) were travelling from Mahim to Kelve throught the beautiful, narrow, tree covered and tree lined roads of Konkan with tiny villages scattered here and there.We could feel the heat but we were protected from the sun and his artillery barrage of burning sunlight by the presence of trees on the sides of the road.
It was then that a thought came to my mind!
This (Indian) road is like our life!
It is bumpy more often! A smooth ride is a rare phenomenon – even on Indian roads! It twists and turns and makes us reduce our speed of progress.It puts obstacles in our path and makes us stop sometimes and makes us wonder, did I choose the right path? What do I do now to correct my mistake?
Many people commit suicide when they take a wrong turn on the road of life and end up where they did not want to go in the first place! Do we stop travelling at all and just sit there, if we lose our way,while on the road? No! We try to rectify and always, always try to find (and usually succeed) in setting ourselves on the right path!
Then why not follow the same example in life? Makes sense to me!
The lush green trees that line the road and provide the travellers with the cool and much needed shade are like the wonderful family and friends that we get in our life!
Both do the job of protecting us and also helping us withstand the harsh sunlight of problems in life!Family and friends offer us support when the heat of problems become unbearable. Sometimes a cool breeze which is like an assurance of support or just plain advice, cools us down when things get heated up too much!
But sometimes there are some roads in life in which there are no trees and the sun is shining like there is no tomorrow. In this phase of life problems are available by the ton but there is no one in life – no family, no friends to support you.
It is in times like this that we must find the friend and family in ourselves.
It is in these times, that the long lost advice given by your father-same advice which you had ridiculed and mocked-helps you move ahead!
It is in these tough times, the memories of the soft and heavenly hugs that your mother gave you each day, comfort you.
It is in these harsh times, the presence of a single tree in the sweltering heat is like the assuring hand of a friend on your shoulder.
That same hand which says, “Do not worry! This too shall pass! And you have my support in your endeavors!”.
That same hand which makes a person beaten down to the ground stand up tall and face the blows of life unflinchingly!
It is in these tough times, people learn to live life – own their own!
It is these tough times that heroes are born.
When the tough times do get over (and they always get over) then there are always roads which may not be smooth, but they always have lush green trees to offer you shade!
😀
Cheers,
Pranjal A Wagh
28 April 2010
This work by Pranjal A. Wagh is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License
22 comments
Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.
I always wait for the Times each morning. I look at the obituary column and if I’m not in it, I go to work.
If you rest, you rust.
the author is booker prize material,
and an occasional Pulitzer wudnt hurt too…..
@Sagar
Kya paka raha hai!
And the route traveled is often more beautiful than the destination.. In both the cases..
@Dinesh
yes you are right!!
attaboy….!!! beautiful as evr….:)
hi pranjal,this is a great piece of introspection.you r right.everyone has to find his own path.there will b beacons,searchlights,road signs but one has to b his own pathfinder.yes,one may select a wrong turn, especially when you are on a chauraha where every direction seems equally appealing or frightening.what you do then?just close your eyes,take a spin and open your eyes, follow the path in front of your nose.lesds you nowhere? there is always a cource correction.do it.if the realisation comes too late, then you have no choice but to make your path lead to somewhere.it is how new paths are made,the roads less travelled or not travelled at all.columbus did that and we know what he discovered .beaten path is easy to take, creating your own requires imagination and grit.finally, “harvali mhanun sapadli”.
congrats, it was a nice piece of “laghunibandh”,like great marathi authur,anant kanekar.keep on reminsing and keep on writing.
gbu.
vinayak date
H mm nice one !
very true !
@ Date Sir
Sir a million thanks for such a wonderful and knowledge filled comment! And also just for commenting on my blog!! Thanks a lot Sir!
Nice one…
In fact a kickback
Keep it up!
Cheers.
@ Pranjal
Good work buddy!
I somehow feel that travelling a wrong path is often more fun and knowledge giving. That doesn’t mean that I am advising anyone to take the wrong path, but what I am trying to say is that, If ever in life you take the wrong path by mistake, dont get depresses, you can learn many things from that path also.
Why do we need to take our life seriously when we ourselves are temporary here? Life is short, but the journey is long. So why ponder over whether we can complete this journey?
Instead let us just take the things as they come. There is no point in driving a car if your back hurts. Similarly there is no point in living a life if you are too concerned about yesterday and tomorrow rather than enjoying the ‘today’ you have!
@ Sujan
rightly said!
thanks for the comment!
hey nice 1 ……. keep up the good work [ writeups] 🙂
thanks!
When travelling or while sitting in the bus or hospital i get these revelations on the life we lead. And solutions to so many problems… . keep that rational mind going 😉
Pranjal first of all sorry for such a late reply, i read ur blog now…..
what to say yar, kai mhanu atta, when I read ur blog first time, that time we werent use to know each other, but that time only I had appreciated your work, n then we became friends, hope u remember, actually whatever u have written is a fact n many people realize it also but they are not able to pen them down, n u do it beautifully, keep doing it my friend…….
@Kunal
Thanks yar! and yes I remember all the things u have mentiones above! Do keep on reading and post your comments on the other posts too!
Kudos ! to this post .
some very neat observations here.
yes life is not always smooth (some times it feels like it is never smooth)
but like everything else, even the bad times pass
friends and family are always there to support us where they can, but for the rest of the tree less path, it is every man for his own
Keep on writing. You have wonderful imagination. Wish you good luck. Thank you.
@Diwakar Ganjare
Thank you! Keep reading and supporting us!