Saadgi

//••Nothing special about this picture, neither about this very normal vendor on a railway station. He’s just as normal and human being as you and I are. Then why is it that he’s given lesser privilege and respect by people like you and me? This picture is of just a few minutes ago from now when I saw this very nicely dressed mannerless guy in his mid fourties talking in a pathetically rude manner to this poor guy for no reasons at all. All I could hear from that scolding was – “Tum logo ka yahi aukat hai. Tu chupchap apna kaam se kaam rakh!” meaning “This is your real standard. You shut up and do your work.” This really shook me. I looked at the poor vendor who took it all very silently, lowered his eyes and didn’t even say a single word. After the man left, I reached out to the guy to enquire what actually happened. The only words he said to me were, “Arey jaane do na bhaiya, ye roz ka hai apne liye. Ye bade sahab logo ka aisa hi rehta hai. Kaam ka tension rehta, gusse me rehte toh kahi nahi toh yaha nikal dete. Aap jaane do. Tension mat lo(with a smile). Aap batao aapko kya du?
(Means “Brother, leave this. This is an everyday story for me now. These rich people do that only. They’re stressed out because of their work and need some place to vent it out. So, it’s me I guess. You don’t worry. Tell me, what do you want?)
I was completely spellbound at that moment. I suddenly found myself in a whirlpool of thoughts. Of how the power of money gives us the feeling of superiority that doesn’t even exist. You may be a person with greater educational qualification, but that doesn’t give you the right to suppress the lower part of the society or rather anyone with a lower educational qualification than you. Vice versa if you are the one with a little lower educational qualification or a smaller job, no one can take away from you the privilege of being treated equally or even as a human being. Never lower your self esteem for anyone. Be yourself and never be apologetic.
So guys, please be polite to everyone. Because, what goes round, comes around. If you don’t understand words, remember that karma knows it’s way to reach you and give it back to you in your face. ••//

3 A.M.

Hey there! Remember, it’s absolutely okay to be broken and not being able to cope up with it. It’s okay to burst out crying when you need to hold on to your tears the most. It’s okay to be sad for days and weeks, and to be all by yourself for a while. But hey, it’s not at all okay not to let go off the pain and holding onto it for so long that it makes a home inside your heart and starts tearing you up into bits and pieces from inside and starts feeding off of you. Even before this starts happening to you, catch hold of that one person you believe in with all your heart and soul, and tell them how you feel. Tell them about all your fears and insecurities. Because darling, ask me how it feels to bury all your pains inside your chest as they cut through your body and leave you completely scarred in and out. Ask me how it feels not to have that one person I’d put all my faith into and tell them about all my fears that haunt me every night at 3 a.m. when everyone else is talking to their someone about love, life, fear, pain and passion. Ask me how it feels to be fighting all my demons all by myself after I rescue other people from theirs. Ask me how it feels to go sleepless for several nights in a row when you are too tired to fight, but that’s the only ultimate choice you are left with. And ask me how it feels to be a 3 a.m. friend to many and not having a single one for myself.
Life out there is really tough, my friend. And for that, all that you ever need to remember is to never stop believing in yourself. And to never underestimate someone’s love for you. For, if they are ready to fight your demons at hand in the darkest hour of the night, they would probably do anything in this world for you.

//•• Lost And Found ••//

I still feel a rush in my veins and my blood turns into water everytime I see you. I feel an excruciating pain in my chest, as if someone is crushing my rib cage all at once. Everything has changed since the day you have left. But all it takes is a single glance of your pretty face to bring back a thousand memories that we have left behind. All those long lost memories seem so fresh that they play in my head as if it was just yesterday. I do not hate you for anything. Neither am I mad at you. I’m just a little upset with myself for putting all my faith in someone so blindly. But I’m really that glad you made your choices. Because now, even after all the pains I go through at every single glance of you, I have a thin faded smile on my face knowing that I would no more be the reason to your sadness. I lost you and you lost me. But darling, that’s not even important. The only thing that’s important is that I found myself in the process of losing you.

//•• I don’t go to that coffee shop anymore ••//

I don’t go to that coffee shop anymore. But it’ll always be my favourite place. That’s where it all started and that’s exactly where it all ended. I don’t go to that coffee shop anymore, for, getting over you took me going through an excruciating pain and now that I’m doing fine, I’m afraid to fall for you all over again. I don’t go to that coffee shop anymore, because we’ve been there so many times that every fucking coffee mug they own has been on our table once atleast and I’m trying really hard to forget how your lips tasted. I don’t go to that coffee shop anymore, because more than the coffee they served, I loved the feeling of the aroma of your scent slowly running down my veins everytime we met. And that scent still fucking exists in the air of that coffee shop that now suffocates. I don’t go to that coffee shop anymore, because that’s the place I opened up to someone about my insecurities and fears for the first time, and now if I step into that place again, I fear I may end up drink dialling you and telling you that I was never over you and I’ll never be, and how much it aches not to have you here anymore. I don’t go to that coffee shop anymore, because I know that you still visit there everyday. Not alone, but just without me. 🙂

​•••• Chai Pe Charcha ••••

So, this morning, as the tea stall I visit every morning was closed, I decided to have my breakfast at this place called Cafe V.J.T.I near my hostel, where I came across these two men in the picture who I presume to be in their 70s. These two lovely men made my morning a complete treat that I’m not going to forget for years now. As I entered this place, I heard two old men talking really loud. At first I did not pay attention, for I thought they must be talking about some random stuff. And secondly, it’s a bad thing to hear someone else’s conversation. I silently walked past their table and occupied the  table next to them (Because that was the only vacant table at that moment). I ordered my tea and started fidgeting with my cellphone and just then I heard one of those two old men saying, “Pata nahi hum insaan mazhab ko lekar ye ladai kab band karege” i.e. (I don’t know when are we human beings going to stop fighting over religion). It was Mr. Abdullah (on the right). It totally took me by surprise and I couldn’t help but put my ear into their conversation. Following which Mr. Rasik (on the left) replied, “Haan. Aaj bhaisahab hum hindu hai aur aap musalman ho. Agle janam me shayad aap hindu ho aur hum musalman. Kisko pata hai? Hamare Ram aur aapke Allah me sirf naam matra ka fark hai.” i.e. (Yes brother. Today, I am a Hindu and you’re a Muslim. In the coming life it may happen that you’ll be a Hindu and I, a Muslim. Who knows? Ram and Allah are two different names for the same god we both preach). And this conversation went for a good long while where they discussed many more beautiful things which I am glad I could witness.
Listening to this, totally took me by a storm of happiness. Of how people out there still want peace, instead of territories and power. Maybe there was nothing really extra ordinary about this conversation, but it makes me happy to see people talking the language of love and peace more often than ever.

Please educate your children, friends, colleagues and everyone around you to not hate  someone if they’re from some other religion. They’re equally as human as you are. Don’t Judge. Spread Love. Say yes to equality. ❤

​Mumbai – The City Of Lights.

So I am going to talk a little about my very first encounter with this city of lights. Not as a visitor this time, but as a resident now. It’s been just three months now that I have shifted to this new place and my love for this city has started growing exponentially already. Ever since I was a little child, I have been in traveling to Mumbai very frequently and this place has treated me the best and better each time I have been here. Right from a simple auto rickshaw ride to catching a fully packed local train. Right from shopping in the overcrowded Colaba Market on a sunny afternoon to sitting on the Marine Drive and just staring at the sea endlessly in the middle of the night, Mumbai has given me few of the best memories of my life.
Just like any other person, even I have come to Mumbai looking for opportunities and making my life large. But, I believe that unless I do not give this city what it wants, it will not give me what I want. Over these months I have learned that all that Mumbai wants from any person is timeliness, punctuality, hard work and dedication. All it demands is only “EFFORTS”. Before coming to Mumbai I was already warned that Mumbai is a very tough place to live in. It is a fast track and you need to keep running if you want to survive. MYTH! Mumbai is just like any other city. Rather, it is better than any other place in this world if you are really willing to make your living and your existence worth it. There is a reason why this place is known more popularly as “The City That Never Sleeps”. For, people who really want to make it large in their lives are found in Mumbai. People who dream with their eyes open are found in Mumbai. Right from a normal vada pav vendor to the owners of the top Indian MNCs here work their souls off every day like it’s their last day in this world. That level of dedication amuses me. That level of dedication I wish I had. These are those morning coffee thoughts that strike my head when I get up every morning and just lay there on my hostel bed. These are those thoughts that I just use to inspire myself for learning something new and doing something out of the box every day. These are the lessons that drive me a little closer to my goals every day.

The last thing that I would like to talk about before I sum this up is the people here. One prominent thing that I have noticed in the people here is the ‘never stop attitude’. No matter how troublesome it gets and no matter how many times they fail, they will never give up. They’ll rather take a leap of faith and go for another try. Every person I meet is struggling in their life with something or else. But I never see anyone talking about quitting or giving up. They would abuse aloud sometimes or even just curse the work or the person who has allotted the work, but no one here says “I can’t do it anymore”, “I quit”, or things like these.

And otherwise, people here are very sweet, humble and helpful. If they see you stuck somewhere, they do not wait for you to go to them and ask for help. Rather, they would simply walk to you and ask you if you needed any help. No, this is not a joke. This is something that I have personally experienced. There are myths about Mumbai and Mumbaikars that they have no time to stop by and talk to you even for a second. I agree to this to some extent, otherwise, NO. Or maybe the situation is just like that and I have always been lucky enough to get all my help every time.

To just sum this up, I just want to say that Mumbai has given me the best lessons of my life so far and I hope that it continues teaching me something new every day. I hope that with time even I become a “PAKKA WALA MUMBAIKAR”.

I love Mumbai. Mumbai is an amazing place.