.. and that’s not a bad thing.

Today was a bright and beautiful day, so I chose to hit a close by trail with a friend. After about couple of hours of hiking, we found a peaceful spot in a shade by the lake. We were sitting and chatting away when a lady walked to us.

I had seen her standing and watching the horizon of the lake holding a bottle of water and her stance had not changed for quite a while. When she walked over I gave a friendly wave and started the conversation. That’s when I realized she wasn’t acting normal. She wasn’t speaking clearly and kept looking at my backpack asking “What have you got in there?”

Although it was a bit creepy, I did not feel threatened. I said it’s just my backpack here. She repeated the same question like 3-4 times “What’s in there?” So I humoured her, I said here’s my bottle, here’s my notebook and then thought maybe she was hungry. I dug in to retrieve a chocolate croissant (individually wrapped) and held it up saying “I’ve got this, interested?” She immediately reached out taking it and said thank you.

Then she started mumbling “I like to walk alone and that’s not a bad thing.” She kept saying that over and over again. I smiled and said “Of course. It’s absolutely fine if you want to enjoy this weather alone.” But it didn’t look like she was registering anything that was being said, she seemed to be in her own thoughts.

I pulled out a few candies I had stashed in another pocket, held them out to her in my palm and asked “Want some of these?” She grabbed all of them and said “Thank you. I like to walk alone, and that’s not a bad thing.”

But I could see she was happy with what she got, she kept turning around saying thank you and went back to her bench resuming her initial stance of staring into the horizon.

She wasn’t a homeless person, or at least she didn’t look like one. She was dressed in athletic wear, maybe in her late twenties (I am not good at guessing age, let’s just say she was young) and seemed healthy enough. Anyways, what struck me were the words that seemed to have chained her thoughts today.

“I like walking alone, and that’s not a bad thing.”

Human minds are impossible to figure out. And not everything needs to be analyzed. Sometimes things and events can just be what they are. However her words seemed very random yet very profound. May be her repeating these words endlessly made an impression on me, nevertheless, it indeed isn’t a bad thing. And I hope she finds what she is searching for.

Comments

My Favorite Read - 6 - The Climb by Anatoli Boukreev (and Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer)

So, now that I want to get into some serious mountaineering activities, I started with reading books on mountains. When you check for top few books on mountains the one that comes up is " Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer " followed by “ The Climb by Anatoli Boukreev" ; both based on the 1996 Everest disaster which was made quite controversial. I started with "Into Thin Air' and while I was reading, I was continuously in conflict with Jon's views. Mind you, my memory is pretty weak when it comes to remembering details of any story - whether its books or movies. I had watched few documentaries and the Everest movie based on this topic; but that was a while ago. when I started reading this book 2 weeks back, I had no background; you can say I was totally new to this story. And yet, it was difficult for me to understand some of Jon's accusations or feelings. But nevertheless, Jon's style of writing was amazing; he knew how to keep reader's...

Ahamasmi Yodha - My First Tattoo

I finally did it. It isn’t a great achievement to show off, but for me it’s one more item on my bucket list getting fulfilled. So I am very happy about it. What did I do? Oh like I said nothing great – I just got my FIRST Tattoo :) My first Tattoo Artist I had done a lot of research on it since last couple of months. I wanted to get it done on my birthday, but it somehow dint work out. For all the first timers, I wanted to list out my personal experience, just in case it helps :) First of all, I felt it will be very helpful if you have some friends who would have got it done already. But I dint have that privilege. So I went through lot of blogs and articles in About.com, Wikihow, YahooAnswers etc… Well Google, the new lord of knowledge :) has all that you need to know. So, in summary, what I got from all these sites were First decide on what you want to get tattooed and where. Go over it again and again, since it is permanent, you will have to live ...

Dear Dost

Dear Dost, I know you are dealing with a lot in life. A lot has happened in the past that has changed you. A lot is happening right now, that is forcing you to change. A lot of decisions you have to make that's exploding your brains. You are multi tasking like some superhero. You have issues at home, in the family, in your personal life, that you are juggling with. You have professional problems that you are dealing with. A lot - that's what's happening to you right now. When I met you, I saw "a lot" has changed in you. I have changed too, and so have you. But what I could not ask you was - are you still you? I remembered Gulzar's words, written back in 1995 (atleast that's what the source says, I had listened to Jagjit Singh singing this, and it had registered in me since then). din kuchh aise guzārtā hai koī jaise ehsāñ utārtā hai koī dil meñ kuchh yuuñ sambhāltā huuñ ġham jaise zevar sambhāltā hai koī aaina ...

Zindagi Gulzar Hai - A feast to ones eyes!

Today I am here to make a much interesting comparison of our current Indian TV industry with our neighboring country’s television industry. Interesting because I never thought I would ever engage in watching any of the Pakistan TV series/movies or listening to their music. My disinterest in Pakistan entertainment was not because of the tensed relationship with the country. But I myself am not a big fan of TV serials. The kind of drama that is filled in Indian TV Channels today is just exhausting and tiring to watch. I hardly follow any Indian TV series. When I visit home on vacation, I join my family in watching the program they watch and that’s how I keep myself updated with what is trending in the TV industry. I love listening to music and I listen to all genres of music. I did start listening to Pakistani music since last few years and have admired their music. Strings, Fuzon, Kaavish, Jal, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Ghulam Ali, Parveen Abida, Quratulain Baloch and many ...

Home is a house without loved ones!

Home is a house without loved ones! It was September 24th 2005 when I left my home and since then till now I have been to home like some far away relative staying out of town, visiting our family once or twice in a year during diwali or New Year or some ones wedding. A guest in my own home! I joined this software industry on 26th September 2005 in Mysore, then I travelled to Pune in 2006 for a year and then to Bangalore in 2007 for one more year and then to London in 2008 for roughly a year and now in USA-2009. In all these 4 years, I have been busy. Busy getting adjusted to life outside home, for the one who has never stayed out of home, in even a hostel before – to handle this freedom yes definitely thrilling J, seeing new places, making new friends, keeping in touch with old ones. Professional career, half yearly appraisal fights, CRRs, freaking and idiotic managers, some stupid colleagues, some shrewd ones, and some of your own frequency. All this while, I did not really miss my ho...

Love, Loss and Father's Day

I have been meaning to write this post for a while now, but somehow words fail me. I started writing, and stopped at the first two sentences, erasing and rephrasing, re-iterating the process every time I attempted to write this. 8 months later, today on Father’s day, I think I finally am able to put words into meaningful sentences. It’s weird how most of the times, I just need an inspiration, an idea or a feeling to write pages together without any effort; and then there are times, when my mind is cluttered with so many thoughts ,eager to be put on paper that I find it hard to form a single straight sentence. But I feel like writing today, so here it goes. My best friend lost her mom to a health incident few months back. When I spoke to her she asked me how did I handle it when my dad passed away few years back. I could not explain it to her then, I just said you will learn to live through it. That was when I first tried to write this blog. Even after so many years, ...

Celebrating the Bridge for Friends!

Just like any other bridge, this one plays a role of connecting you and me. Some are brand new, very inviting, clean and pure, presenting to be strong, yet to get exposed to the harsh reality of life. Some have weathered in many seasons, with few bars of railings missing, few broken planks, yet they stand strong, like huge metal bridges. Some are reinforced with fresh materials every few years, so we stay connected strong and safe for entire lifetime. Some are beyond repair, standing there rusty and broken. Not because it's impossible to fix the gap, but just waiting for equal support from the other side to mend it. Some were meant to serve one another just once. The need to cross that bridge never arose again, doesn't mean we don't remember how important that bridge was in our journey. To new and old, deep and shallow, strong and weak, connected and broken friendships, I am grateful to have known you one way or another. Happy Friendships Day! 🍻

A Pink Soap Box

There it was. I was cleaning my bathroom cabinets and it was hiding in the bottom shelf. A small plastic pink soap box. I held it and was instantly taken back to year 1999. When I had been in a hostel for the first time in my life. For the first time I was staying away from home, away from my family, all by myself in some unknown place with strangers. Not until 7 years later that I finally moved out of home and started living independently, did I experience that same nauseated feeling again. But that day, that moment, it was going to be the first time in my life, staying away from my family, and first’s are always special. It’s funny, how this pink soap box takes me on a time travel right back to that moment. The school was just about 15 minutes walk from our home. But that year they had some summer camp, that required kids to stay for 15 days in school’s hostel. I remember my uncle and mom dropping me off near the hostel gate. It’s...

My shadow on the shore

I sit on the shore of the sea I feel the waves washing my feet I watch the sun turning red as it sets I hear the music of the humming breeze Crying for the ones who aren’t beside me I spent the day thinking of tomorrow Now as I sit here watching the sun set I realize what I have gained and lost The beauty of this shore just increases As the sun sets and the moon rises As the water glitters under the moonlight And my face reflects the twinkling stars I lost beautiful seconds of life Cribbing about things I can’t do anything about But these moments here, I rejoice As I smile to my shadow on the shore! (14 Oct 09- Just like that – on this gloomy morning….as I pen down my thoughts after long timeJ)

When Silence Speaks...

Search This Blog