Stand and Stare!

What is this life if, full of care.

We have no time to stand and stare

No time to stand beneath the boughs,

And stare as long as sheep and cows

No time to see, when woods we pass

Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass..

Leisure by WH Davies

6:30am- wake up to alarm, out on geyser

7:00 am: start getting ready

7:30am: cab to office

8:30 am: a cup of coffee and work..more work.. oh it's 6 already!

Vacation:

8:00 am: wake up to alarm, get ready, rush for breakfast

9:00am: tour starts

abd garden: check

def waterfalls: check

ghi view point: check....

.....

.....

Where's the vacation?

I hate the alarm clock. More so because I can never wake up to one. If I ever do, then the snooze option makes sure the purpose is lost. I love waking up to no-alarm, no-agenda, no-to-do lists morning. I love going for vacations where the cell phone does not work. I love exploring places on my own instead of jumping onto a tourist sight-seeing bus.I do not care if I miss out half the things in the town because I was too leisurely. What's the purpose of life, I ask, if you are always running around to catch the bus the gets you to office as early as possible? you miss seeing half the things on your way. I travel by the same route every day and I catch the cab (usually late) and I always look at things outside and wonder, each store, each bend, each restaurant, each temple on the way to office has a story. And it's not reaching office at 8:30 sharp that matters, its those stories. Years later, when I come back to Hyderabad (if I ever leave that is) I will remember those stories, not I reached office on time every-day!

The road to office is like Life. The only difference being Life's not as predictable. You need to have stories at each and every mile. Stories, that made you stronger, stories that made you weaker, stories with friends, stories with enemies. Don't have enemies? Are you one of those people who is 'friends with everyone', will "go with the direction of the wind", have "nothing against anyone, then you are also someone who does not have stories. Or worse maybe you think you do, it's only a lot later you realise, that in the want of rushing through life, being good to everyone, hating a person but kissing their cheeks when you meet them, you are left with nothing to look back on.

We often ask, why can people not love freely. I ask, why can they not hate freely? What's wrong in saying I do not like that person for 123 reasons or no reasons?

Why do we need to complete all the places listed in the the city sight-seeing brochure. Why can you not visit the same place twice, or thrice? Why can we just not stand and stare?

Money is very important. I love having more money. it allows me to take more vacations with people i love. It allows me to create more stories. it allows me to fill 100 pages of my diary with restaurant bills in these vacations/ tonga ride snaps/ movie tickets.

How long will you build contacts that are good for your career or your life? Once a very dear friend told me " I do not believe in contacts, I believe in friends". Do you believe in friends? Are you seen on Facebook with a new group every six months? Or every possible group? Then you believe in contacts. A lot later when I am old and have lived a satisfied life, have loved to the fullest and hated to my heart's content, I will want to give my grand children stories not contacts. You will be then perpetuating what you did your entire life: rushing by, more worried about getting to office to notice that the local temple has added a new pillar and painted the old ones.

This post as weird and topic-less it may seem, is what is the core of my 'philosophy' in life.

A very engaging topic is also being "Number One". What is number one. Who is Number One? For a front bench student, he/she is # 1, for a back bencher, those guys are just losers without a life. Maybe the back bencher has more stories to take with him/her when he leaves school or college. Im leaving out the extremes here (never been a fan of extremes). But I'd rather write a book on how many times I was told to stand outside by a teacher, how many times I did it purposely, because I wanted to bunk an Econ quiz, instead of how many times I got a 25/25 in a test!Today i remember not my scores on Math analysis but the number of movies I bunked college to watch!

I got promoted in the organisation two and a half years later, almost two years after my colleagues. Did I cry over it too much? A little lamenting perhaps, but I have a story to tell! I was not in the first batch of those to be promoted, not in the second even, but I have no regrets, I was promoted while I worked on something that I loved, not a mundane process! I am not saying those who did get promoted suck. Unfortunately most of hem who did get promoted are exactly the kinds who will not stand and stare. Is there a correlation? Perhaps yes, perhaps no. All who did, have the exact "thirst to succeed" in other words, make more money.

it's this race, that kills the fun/ kills the joy of living. I can not take the Monday off to extend a vacation because "what will my boss say" ! I can not afford to come second "because I have always been # 1"

I know some people who are too scared. Too scared of coming second, too scared of missing work one day, too scared to spend 2K on a vacation, too scared to lend 2K to someone so that they can enjoy their's. These are the people who are too scared to fight to what they believe in, to fight for who they love.

What is society to set a limit on who I should marry, what job he should be doing, or how much he should be making per month for him to be 'eligible' for me? My parents may not agree, they will resist the idea, but they will come around! To leave the man who i think will keep me happy for life, because I am scared? Not worth it.

People today are running too fast, they are too fearful, they want everything and want it too quick. In this speed they forget that a bus journey is more eventful because you get to see things, meet people, experience the journey. A train journey has awesome memories because of the chai/kappi, the scenery, kids shouting running around, a group of youngsters in the next compartment playing Uno! What is money, what is time in comparison with memories, how many people loved you, how many friends you've made, how many stars you stood and stared at? how many you wished at, what you wished for?

I take time to stand and stare, a lot of people say i stare too much. I say I am just either relishing great memories or making new ones.

Happy holidays, make a resolution to "stand and stare"!

No time to see, in broad daylight

Streams full of stars, like skies at night

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,

And watch her feet, how they dance

No time to wait till her mouth can

Enirch that smile that her eyes began

A poor life this if, full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare