Dasvidanya

Last night, I watched "Dasvidaniya" with my brother. Though this movie released quite sometime back, it was only yesterday that I managed to watch it. I liked the movie a lot as it told a simple story in a very beautiful manner ...It is the story of a simple guy (Vinay Pathak) who leads a very boring, mundane life. He seems to have no wishes and no aspirations of his own. Others take advantage of him. However, one day he is diagnosed of stomach cancer and comes to know that he just has a few more months to live. On learning this, he decides to actually live his life and makes a list of ten things he wishes to do before he dies and succeeds in accomplishing them all!

The movie really got me thinking: When we are small, we always have big dreams about the things we wish to do when we grow-up. However, when we actually grow up, we become so engrossed in our day-to-day lives, with its drudgery, that we actually forget about our list of "Things To Do". Why is it that only when we are convinced that death is imminent, do we actually want to live? We all know that death is an inevitable part of life, but why do we need to be reminded of that in order to make life a worth-while experience?

Here is my list of the Top 10 Things I Wish To Do Before I Die:

1. Travel the world.
2. Teach - I feel the true purpose of everyone's life is to touch the lives of others in a way that could never have been achieved before, and teaching/educating children is my way of achieving my purpose of life!
   
3. I have always wanted to do something about social and world issues. I wish I can fulfill this desire someday.
   
4. Fall in love...just once with the right person!
   
5. Be happily married!
6. Live in a place far away from the hustle and bustle of city-life - preferably, by the sea. But I do wish to have access to all the modern amenities!
7. Be a successful psychologist.
8. Learn to cook.
   
9. Get rid of my acrophobia.
10. Take up writing professionally.

Well, I hope to achieve them all someday...what is your list of the ten things you want to do before you die? Do make one - it helps you from forgetting your purpose in life!

Breaking Down

"And then I felt sad because I realized that once people are broken in certain ways, they can't ever be fixed, and this is something nobody ever tells you when you are young and it never fails to surprise you as you grow older as you see the people in your life break one by one. You wonder when your turn is going to be, or if it's already happened."
- Douglas Couplan

When we are young, we always see the world through rose-colored glasses. We think everything around is absolutely perfect.
However, as we grow up, we realize there are many things which just look good in story-books or in movies...
In real life, "honesty is not the best policy" nor does "truth always triumph". The whole concept of a "happily ever after" existed only "once upon a time" when we were small...

When we grow up, we are burdened with so many responsibilities. We do not even have the time to do things we like and we end up doing things which we never wanted to do in the first place! There are times when we realize that we are actually at a dead end but we still remain in that place and don't make a U-Turn because taking the whole road back and starting from scratch does not seem to be a very comfortable idea.
Teenagers are always called 'rebellious' but being passionate and standing up for things we truly believe in does not seem wrong to me. As we grow up, we sober down and conform to what society wants us to be - and end up killing our individuality.
The other day I was reading the book Veronika Decides to Die by Paul Coelho - there was one part which struck me...as a mental patient in an asylum, one is free to say what one wants; one can do what they want - they will never be criticized - but once we are outside, we have to behave in a certain way, think before speaking and we cannot do something just because we feel like doing it!

There are many times my mother tells me "You are growing up now. Behave like a lady." I am sure all of us have heard such dialogues from our elders at some point of time or the other. I find it exasperating! Just because I am growing up I do not have to stop liking the things I liked before!
As I grow up, I realize I just want to be the little girl I was - away from the harsh realities of life! I do not want to be moulded into someone I am not...I just hope this world lets me be...

Terrifying Twenty!

20 DAYS TO GO!!

20 days left for me to turn twenty years old!!!
When I was younger, birthdays were always something I looked forward to! The balloons, the cake, the streamers, the presence of my near and dear ones, the gifts...
However, now, as I turn a year older on each birthday, I somehow start dreading the fact that I am getting older!
I was not at all happy on my nineteenth birthday - even though I did have a lot of fun with friends...

Turning 20 is scarier!
The fact that I will never be a teenager anymore is terrifying!
It may seem like an exaggeration, but I really feel that way.

As we grow up, we are expected to become responsible - I am not really sure if I am ready for it! True, it also means being able to do what I want...not having to ask permission from parents all the time, but I would rather have it that way than have an extra candle on my birthday cake!

I am trying to cheer myself up by throwing a big bash on my birthday with all my friends. Most of them have already had their twentieth birthday, and some are twenty-one years old, so a small part of me is happy that I am still younger than most of my peers!
But there is still a large part of me who wants all the celebrations to happen but still remain nineteen!

I know I wish for a lot of things - I don't think I would mind if this one came true!