Lets go back in time...
When i was a kid, i was told that the best things in life come for FREE.
This statement somehow stuck with me all through my childhood years...
It was in kinder garden that i met my first friend and i learnt the value of friendship.
My family was my world...'Home' and 'School' made
up for pretty much my whole universe...
Everyone doted over me and i was thrilled!!
All the affection..the love..everything was freeeee!!!
So was climbing trees, swinging on slides, sliding on slides, park rides and bubble wrap...what more could a kid at that age possibly want?
I was happy..content...satisfied..and above all, convinced that all the happiness in life did actually come for free...
This overwhelming thought however, was to stay just an ephemeral concept...As i frolicked from my joyous childhood into my zestful youth, i realised that things were a tad bit different...
The teenage years were a learning experience.
It was in my early teens that i learned my first lesson on friendship...that friendship were actually based on give and take...
It was summer and my best friend had refused to lend me her book because the class bully was offering her his stamp collection in return of the favour...
The best things in life no longer came for free---they sold out for a bunch of postage..i was disheartened!!
During my late teenage years, the definition of 'free' changed again.
I had become quite the rebel back then..fighting against the injustice of having to be answerable to elders for everything i did...
I wanted to be able to go for parties, movies, stay with my ear stuck to the phone...
But back then, freedom to me meant all that...
I wished to be 'free' ...
Phew!! thanks everyone for being so highly patient to my temper tantrums...
I fumed at the injustice but moved on..
"the world is not fair anyway, it does not want to see me free" i'd sulked...
and life went on...
As the years passed by, and life handed me more responsibilities to handle, i had almost stopped believing in the 'moral science' school teacher who had first imparted those pearls of wisdom to me...
Fairy tales became a thing of the past...I was trying my best to get into the groove of things..to carve my niche...
But life was alright because i had realized by then that just like there were true and honest people around me, there were also those who wore masks all the time.
The meaning of 'free' was changing again.
Life had taught me that there were no free lunches here.Everything came at a price.
Trusting someone came at the price of being betrayed.
Harboring expectations came at the risk of having them let down.
I was totally disillusioned by now...nothing in life came free afterall, not even the hand-me-down's and this was just nature's way of subjecting me to a stronger reality check...
But wait, that was not it...a few years down the line and the meaning of 'free' changed again.
We all know how we all part from college life, with tears of separation and promises of keeping in touch.I did too...
But the truth is...how many of us actually manage to do that??
I got busy..and so did some of my friends...
We were no longer 'free' to meet up with each other..to keep in touch..to enjoy those long 'hostel' conversations we once shared in those good old college days.
College had bound us together and even though we fretted and fumed about the syllabus , we were all just about 'free' enough to relate to each other..to empathise with one another..to conform...
But as soon as we bid our goodbye to our 'alma mater' there was something in each of us which died with time---the hope to take out time for each other.
And even though we still suffer from those
occasional pangs of 'nostalgia' gripping us in the gut, the rat race we are all
competing in has left us with very little 'free' time to catch up over coffee.
Well, i made peace with this fact...
We humans have a tendency to adjust according to situations, don't we? I resorted to keeping in touch through social networks on the world wide web.
I was aware these virtual conversations/scraps have almost zilch of the personal magic, real meet-up's and college 'gupshup' did.
But i convinced myself that the occasional 'pokes' and pleasantries were good enough and i had to make do with knowing that my friends were alive if not anything else.
I guess it worked both ways, they too have played truce with their busy schedule and taken comfort in the fact that i am still writing on some 'wall' somewhere.
Every once in a while, there comes a day of enlightenment in everybody's life...a day which you either choose to notice or choose to ignore...
When i did that, i sure had my initial moments of introspection...
but looking back, i have never felt so free before...
So you see this is the story of my life till now and how the meaning of 'free' has changed with the meaning of 'happiness' in every phase.
I know this is not just my story..but the story of almost everyone around here.
Someday when we all break free and meet up there in a more equal world, lets catch up over coffee and talk of the best things in life which actually did come for free, but perhaps passed us by, while we were too busy in the skeptical pursuit of the 'free' lunch that we convinced ourselves, we would never have.
till then,
adios amigos!! :)
When i was a kid, i was told that the best things in life come for FREE.
This statement somehow stuck with me all through my childhood years...
It was in kinder garden that i met my first friend and i learnt the value of friendship.
My family was my world...'Home' and 'School' made
up for pretty much my whole universe...Everyone doted over me and i was thrilled!!
All the affection..the love..everything was freeeee!!!
So was climbing trees, swinging on slides, sliding on slides, park rides and bubble wrap...what more could a kid at that age possibly want?
I was happy..content...satisfied..and above all, convinced that all the happiness in life did actually come for free...
This overwhelming thought however, was to stay just an ephemeral concept...As i frolicked from my joyous childhood into my zestful youth, i realised that things were a tad bit different...
The teenage years were a learning experience.
It was in my early teens that i learned my first lesson on friendship...that friendship were actually based on give and take...
It was summer and my best friend had refused to lend me her book because the class bully was offering her his stamp collection in return of the favour...
The best things in life no longer came for free---they sold out for a bunch of postage..i was disheartened!!
During my late teenage years, the definition of 'free' changed again.
I had become quite the rebel back then..fighting against the injustice of having to be answerable to elders for everything i did...
I wanted to be able to go for parties, movies, stay with my ear stuck to the phone...
But back then, freedom to me meant all that...
I wished to be 'free' ...
Phew!! thanks everyone for being so highly patient to my temper tantrums...
I fumed at the injustice but moved on..
"the world is not fair anyway, it does not want to see me free" i'd sulked...
and life went on...
As the years passed by, and life handed me more responsibilities to handle, i had almost stopped believing in the 'moral science' school teacher who had first imparted those pearls of wisdom to me...
Fairy tales became a thing of the past...I was trying my best to get into the groove of things..to carve my niche...
But life was alright because i had realized by then that just like there were true and honest people around me, there were also those who wore masks all the time.
The meaning of 'free' was changing again.
Life had taught me that there were no free lunches here.Everything came at a price.
Trusting someone came at the price of being betrayed.
Harboring expectations came at the risk of having them let down.
I was totally disillusioned by now...nothing in life came free afterall, not even the hand-me-down's and this was just nature's way of subjecting me to a stronger reality check...
But wait, that was not it...a few years down the line and the meaning of 'free' changed again.
We all know how we all part from college life, with tears of separation and promises of keeping in touch.I did too...
But the truth is...how many of us actually manage to do that??
I got busy..and so did some of my friends...
We were no longer 'free' to meet up with each other..to keep in touch..to enjoy those long 'hostel' conversations we once shared in those good old college days.
College had bound us together and even though we fretted and fumed about the syllabus , we were all just about 'free' enough to relate to each other..to empathise with one another..to conform...
But as soon as we bid our goodbye to our 'alma mater' there was something in each of us which died with time---the hope to take out time for each other.
And even though we still suffer from those
occasional pangs of 'nostalgia' gripping us in the gut, the rat race we are all
competing in has left us with very little 'free' time to catch up over coffee.
Well, i made peace with this fact...
We humans have a tendency to adjust according to situations, don't we? I resorted to keeping in touch through social networks on the world wide web.
I was aware these virtual conversations/scraps have almost zilch of the personal magic, real meet-up's and college 'gupshup' did.
But i convinced myself that the occasional 'pokes' and pleasantries were good enough and i had to make do with knowing that my friends were alive if not anything else.
I guess it worked both ways, they too have played truce with their busy schedule and taken comfort in the fact that i am still writing on some 'wall' somewhere.
Every once in a while, there comes a day of enlightenment in everybody's life...a day which you either choose to notice or choose to ignore...
When i did that, i sure had my initial moments of introspection...
but looking back, i have never felt so free before...
So you see this is the story of my life till now and how the meaning of 'free' has changed with the meaning of 'happiness' in every phase.
I know this is not just my story..but the story of almost everyone around here.
Someday when we all break free and meet up there in a more equal world, lets catch up over coffee and talk of the best things in life which actually did come for free, but perhaps passed us by, while we were too busy in the skeptical pursuit of the 'free' lunch that we convinced ourselves, we would never have.
till then,
adios amigos!! :)
True true! Loved it :D
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