Life Now and Then 

I grew up in a small sleepy mountain town. The day would begin early and would end as soon as the sun would set. If someone was not home by 6:00 pm, it would be a alarming situation. Everyone in the town knew everyone else, and every news would spread like fire. 

The elders in the town had only one mission to compare who among the kids got highest in the boards, and who among them was selected in professional courses. Those who could finish their studies and go and settle in big cities were successful and others who couldn’t were considered mediocres.

Winters would be fun, with everyone sitting outside their homes in sun, and munching on peanuts. Life was such an easy go thing. 

All I had ever dreamt of was becoming a teacher in my local college, drive a car and come home before 5 each day. I had never known how to gossip, books were my only friends. I knew not how to make a cup of tea or roll a round chappati. Niether I knew how to fake a feeling. Life had been so simple then, no complicated feelings, no burden of expectations. 

Life is so complicated now,  day starts earlier than it was in my little town but ends later than 10. I remember my elders. telling me that an evening prayer meant thanking God for the day and that no one should be out after the evening prayer. But in this part of world, all this is superstition. People work all day and night to buy their dream homes where they just go to sleep. Having kids is just a social responsibility.. Coz no one has time to raise them .. Either maids or grandparents can raise them up. I can never reach home before 5. Neither can i drive my car, traffic jams and high speed make me mad. Only some days in a week she can I make a round chappati .. Rest of the days I just ignore. Even in winters there is no time for peanuts or sun.

Somedays I wish I can be nobody. That I can run back to my little town where I can bask in sunshine, enjoy those peanuts, where no one would judge me for my uneven rotis. Someday … Yes someday. 

But there are ties.. Are they actual or just in my mind .. A small town girl who cannot adjust to the big city life. 

Yes it is my own  indecision. I had wished a simple life and I am into a high end urban life.. Busy neighbours .. No real friends .. And performance in society is the only thing that matters.

Well all that is one face of the corporate life we all deal with. The other face of this life is our sweet families to whom we yearn to come back daily, for whom we keep burning ourselves so that they can sleep without any tensions.  

But is it really ok to go to those extremes. No, I feel. A balance is a must so that we do not burn out ourselves, give adequate time to ourselves the foremost and our family as well.

The steps I took to relieve myself were 

1. Develop a hobby and give it time. 

2. Spend sometime alone, atleast one hour in a week. 

3. Take a break. Go on vacation with your family where you are in limited touch with all the hotspots and Wifi. 

I am just back from one such vacation and completely refreshed to share my tips. 

Life is actually simple and it is our thoughts which complicate it. So, give yourself a break from whatever troubles you. And you will be back with a bang. 
Good bye till my next post !