A *Remembrall For Life

It was extremely hot when I stepped outside. A smartly dressed gentleman walked towards where I stood, waiting for a bus. He stood beside me and I observed him. Black and grey stripped suit, white shirt, maroon tie and polished shiny black shoes. Even after that man left in the next A/C Bus that arrived moments later, there was something I noticed about him that didn’t quite fit. It was a scorpion shaped tattoo of the word ‘rock’ along his collar that showed itself when he scratched his neck due to the scorching heat.  After a few days, I saw the same guy performing at a kafeoke (karaoke coffee lounge) with his friends in a outfit that very casually carried off his tattoo. He also had a clip-on stud. A strange thought occurred to me. Apparently, the other day, tattoo and business suit did not jell well.   

Ever since my college made it mandatory for lecturers to be dressed in a saree, there was this young lecturer at my college who had a belly button ring which, she had a tough time hiding from her seniors who wouldn’t stop judging her.

A friend of mine worked as programmer at a top notch company and never until was I once invited to his place for a jam session, that I discoverd what an incredible singer he was.  In addition to that, he could play guitar and mouthorgan too. Even more brilliant was the fact that he was able to sing and play both the instruments simultaneously.  When I asked him why he had not cared enough to showcase his talent before, his reply surprised me. He said he believed in knowing what he could do. Rather, it was enough, only for him to know what he was good at. He also wanted to keep this part of him separate, relishing it apart from what he actually did for living.

That night, when I tried to inter-relate the previous incidents to this one, something cropped up.

Maybe, never once did that gentleman think while getting that tattoo nor did my lecturer when she got her navel pierced that later, at some point in life, they would be doing something where such things were discarded and not overlooked.

Sometimes life forces us to be someone we didn’t want to be. When that happens, we often try to hold on to a little piece of who we were.  Maybe a tattoo, a piece of jewellery, a talent, a passion or a very old habit. A tiny souvenir that reminds us, this is who I really am. The more we find ourselves drifting towards something and away from our dream, our passion, the tighter we hold on to that knick-knack .

Does this mean that people who did not end up being what they wanted to be, stopped being who they were?  Not really.

 I believe that one of the greatest assets that we, humans, have is our ability to change and improve ourselves consciously. This is one of the major reasons we were given brains and free will. Learning to be stronger and better doesn’t mean not being yourself and doesn’t mean betraying who you really are – it means becoming better and stronger. Too many people use the excuse of “don’t change me… let me be myself” as a justification for their weaknesses, laziness and lack of proactive attitude toward improving themselves and their lives. Believing that they should “remain true to who they are” gives them permission to not learn, work or put any other efforts into improving who they are socially, professionally, physically and otherwise.

It happens with everyone, doesn’t it? We often might or might not end up being what we wanted to be and face our fair share of disappointments. But then we change and adapt ourselves to the situation in a way that best suits us. If not, then why else do we willingly pursue our passions like singing, writing, playing, acting, cooking or any other thing even if it’s not something we do for our living?     

Sometimes, it’s just the way it should be done.

No matter how wonderful life is, it seems to be rigid from the outside.  In the chase to be successful, we overlook a lot of little things in our life that constitute a great part of who we really are.
So, even if it’s for an instant, take a moment off from your busy life and search for that special souvenir that makes your life even more beautiful by adding more significance to it, the one which rings a bell of who you really are. You never know what you might end up discovering.

Most people are other people.  Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation. 

-Oscar Wilde

*A Remembrall is a hand-sized ball that glows red when its holder has forgotten something. It then turns clear once whatever was forgotten is remembered.