If Mature You was to counsel Youthful You...! - A Letter

There is so much going on news channels and social media platform regarding the disheartening incident related to Sushant Singh Raajput. Suddenly everyone got concerned about the depression or loneliness of not only their friends and family but people around them as well. I have seen multiple posts which got surfaced on social media which talks about people to reach out to them to talk and stay in touch. Trust me I loved the gesture and intent of all those people. I am no expert and when it comes to comforting people, I might be below passing marks but when it come to lift up their strength especially mental; I am good. In my personal opinion our deepest fear is not our weakness but our strength which is beyond measure and we do not know yet, our capabilities to change the world. Due to this confusion and lack of facts, we come to a point where quitting seems easy and fighting seems too much. Trust me when I say this, it is a matter of few minutes when your grief, expectations and positivity is being clouded and you take a decision which cannot be justified in any means. As they say, “Death is the permanent solution of the temporary problems.”

Each one of us, at some point, go through that phase of life where life seems more complicated than you thought to be. You decide to fight and suddenly in your battle you feel like a lone warrior against invisible enemies which you cannot fight. I would like to write a open letter to younger me who was ready to take the life with a storm and have so many hopes and expectations in life and with people. This is my friendly advice to my younger self and I wish if I was there as a friend at that point of time.

Dear You,

First of all, you would be happy enough to know that I am there in future, irrespective of our ordeals in past we have made it through and from my perspective by flying colors. You should also know I loved you because the energy, passion and thinking ability you have is what made me stronger. You should hang in there and listen to people who say “at the end everything will make sense”, trust me it does and it could not be a better future for us especially if you analyze your current situation. This means you have handled yourself well.

I know it has been tough for you and you have started struggling with life. I might not able to fully understand your current situation as you would moved out from it well to keep me alive and energetic but I know that you have gone through situations no one should ever go through. You have dealt with issues a lot of people will never understand. You have emotional scars that might never go. You live in a world where sometimes you feel alone, forgotten and unimportant. You have spent more nights than you can count: crying, striving, being hurt to the extent of almost dying for the life you always wanted. You have always fathom when there is no lack of efforts from your end; then why these hardships??.

I know you are feeling like the million pound world is on your shoulder and you don’t know if you can hold it all. You don’t know if you are going to break or when you are going to break.

I know you feel like you can't do anything right. And at this point, you don't see how it will get better. You don't know if you can make it through another day like this. I know that no one knows how you are feeling because you are good at hiding things from people and sometimes you don’t even know yourself. You don't understand how or why you feel the way you do. But you also don't know how to feel anything else.

So I'm not going to tell you how you feel, or what will make it better, or to just keep your head up because none of that really matters. Instead, I am going to tell you how I feel now when I look back and remember about all these instances which make me feel low and put me down where I can’t even breathe.

I feel like you are a bright light in my life. Even though right now you may be in the darkest place that you could ever imagine, you need to know that you are the light at the end of the tunnel for me (I am standing outside of the tunnel with a trophy which will say “Yes! We did it again!). Right now you can count on your brother, he is matured than both of us till now and you should speak to him daily and share your stupid jokes and your day dreams and talk about the interviews where you got rejected today. He would not judge you, he still does not. He and I are your biggest supporter and your experience in life is something I can hold onto during my toughest days and your current suffering made me stronger.

I feel like you are one of the strongest people that I know and after this phase or many other phases in life people would look upto you because you would be the one who know how to handle pain and survive. The fact that you are feeling all of these things that you cannot define is terrifying, and yet you still manage to get out of bed and face the world each day. You paint a smile on your face. Whenever I recall our experience with the beggar,with my brother and friends;they still don’t believe, it seems impossible to them that we might have done something like that.

I feel like you thought that you and your problems are a burden to other people. You don't walk around complaining or even talking about your pain. Instead, you hold it all in, as not to annoy or worry anyone else. But I need you to know that I am here for a reason and you can find someone with whom you can share your feelings and they would understand it. When I tell you that I am here for anything you need, I'm not just saying that to be nice, I mean it. I know you would find your anchor in your brother soon. I expected one of our friends might bring us out of this mess but as you already know we are unlucky in this area. In future you might get good friends and people who would make you feel privileged.

As a friend I feel like I want to be here for you no matter what. It could be 3 o'clock in the morning and I will pick up my phone or answer my door for you. You can discuss about yourself with me because you would be able to make a better future if you just hang in there and do whatever it takes!

I have seen more world than you so you better listen to me; you have to be strong so you can support many people one day who might suffer the pain same as you are or even worse. So trust me when I say:

I promise you, it's not permanent. The sun rises every day to create something new, something wonderful, and you have to be a part of that. This world wouldn't be the same without you. There is a reason that you are here and there's a plan for you. A plan that you don't know about and I know it would work out well at the end. It is a surprise for you!

This is a big world with so much to see : so many things,inventions, developments, places and people to fall in love with, and you have to experience it all.

There's always going to be that little voice at back of your mind trying to bring you down, but have to learn how to silence it. Just think it through; you might be the best Biryani in the world and there is always going to be someone who does not like “Rice”.

Never let this disease and time define who you are.

And if you ever think you have no reason to be here, think of me. I need you here. I always have, and I always will. The stronger you are :the powerful I’ll be.

I love you more than you will ever know.

Yours,

Future that is totally dependent on you!

PS: Always remember at the end of the day, the only person who controls your happiness is you.

Tom & Jerry - My Partners since Childhood

As they say when in doubt always go back to basics for the clarity and clear your thought process. This quarantine pushed me to be at home for more than 90 days and these days were very crucial in my life as I have never spent so much of time sitting home idle. I have been suffering from mood swings, short temper, negative thought process and what not. I would not shy away with my responsibility of handling things as those might be better than the usual. I had tough time with my friends and family as I have shown tantrums and mood swings. To keep myself occupied I involved myself in writing and keeping distance to my loved ones except few. 

Keeping a low for more than 60 days I decided to redeem myself so I tried to go back to my childhood where the toughest decision was to identify ice-cream flavor or which cartoon to watch. I was so much involved in cartoons as I have few of my friends which are exactly like my cartoon characters and playing same role in my life.  In childhood my favorite cartoon was Tom and Jerry. Everyday I wanted to watch this cartoon for which I use to do all my homework and other work within the time frame. There were two main characters – Cat and Mouse. It was such a easy plot as every time Tom tried to catch Jerry. I thought it was very interesting. Also, there were a lot of funny situations that I remember well now. Of course, I like watching cartoons even now and I don’t agree that cartoons are only for children.

My favorite was Jerry and I like the way he put Tom is such a stupid situations. I felt sorry for Tom too but I loved those incidents. A significant part of my childhood has been spent watching cartoons, especially Tom & Jerry. Going down to that memory lane and trying to bring those incidents from which I have learnt very important life lessons. Tom & Jerry Wasn’t Just A Cartoon. It’s A Reflection of the Life & Struggles. The one thing I never really looked into was the philosophy of Tom & Jerry. Well, honestly, no kid does.  But today I believe this makes more sense.

This might sound cliché but that’s true and I will prove that via this post that a playful universe of Tom & Jerry is a reflection of all our real lives.

Tom and Jerry draws a brilliant analogy with the relationship we share with people in our life that’s called twisted relationship. Like few of my friends and few people they are hot then they are cold, they are yes and they are no, they are wrong when its right, they breakup and they make up. This sums up Tom and Jerry’s very twisted relationship.

The twisted friendship between Tom and Jerry draws a brilliant analogy with the relationships we share with people in today's world. That sums up Tom & Jerry's very twisted friendship just like all of our friendships. It also gives us an insight into our relationship with our close friends and siblings. Somehow, they never give up on each other even after going through the worse of the situations.

Haven’t you figured that our life is basically a maze with several blocks which is perfectly illustrated in Tom and Jerry. We encounter with the problem when we are least expecting them. The way Tom and Jerry creates those obstacles in the string of events which comes across as an identical situation of what happens to the best of us.

Who other than Tom and Jerry tells you that there is never a shortcut to success? There are instances in the show where Tom or Jerry try to take a shortcut to beat each other and then they end up pretty bad. This is a slight hint towards a bigger lesson that there is absolutely no shorter way to achieve what we really want in life. Take it or leave it. 

There will always be someone you will meet in your life who will make you feel 'small' or 'big'. Remember the last time you looked at yourself in the mirror thinking if you're good enough for someone or something? Honestly, I have felt that way too. We always believe that we are not that great than someone who is already present around you or that person might be existing in universe. We always tend to reflect more on our negatives than our positives and it is, in no way, your fault. This very fact is beautifully demonstrated through the characters of the show.

Your might is not measured in physical attributes and you are way bigger than you think you are. Period

The small can overcome the seemingly bigger and more powerful. It is a proven fact. But we forget and that is why we have Tom & Jerry who seem to scream this fact at the top of their voices throughout our childhood.

At last I would like to take a moment to appreciate the thought behind the creation of Jerry. A very small character with a conviction of the Gods. Life will constantly push you. Change is the only constant who other than Jerry can tells you that he upgrades himself with every move. I always wonder 

There are many ups and downs in Life. Don't worry, hang in there!

I remember one of those episodes where Tom signs on all his 'will papers' and is seen sitting on the railway tracks and one can hear train sounds. Tom says ,“In a few minutes, it'll all be over. It is better this way." You would be amazed to know the reason. It has to do with him falling for a Cat and his heart got broken. Now I understood that it was a display of a very week moment in Tom’s life, just like us who have got our heart broken at some point or the other. Mine was broken when I was in 3rd standard and I asked her to sit beside me and she denied (Yeah it was that intense). If you have recalled this episode then you would know that episode gives us a unique sneak peek into the deeply rooted friendship between Tom & Jerry drawing an imagery of our friends who are right beside us in the time of adversity or sad moments.

Every scar has a story

As you know crossing the obstacles will make you stronger. This is what Tom and Jerry stood for. No matter what happens, every scar is a story to tell and every experience is a lesson learnt. We keep rocking. We don’t quit!

Change your perception to look at a problem. Be a Game-Changer

One of the very important lesson to learn is the way they attack each other. Imagine if you are in a problem. You find solution A, then a B or C or D and you probably sleep on it. You ask people for advice and then you find a solution. It is all about looking at a problem from a different perspective just like Tom & Jerry who never seem to give up.

You will meet all kinds of people in life, some you will love, and some you will hate. Keep your friends and loved ones closer. We fight with our friends but we are always there for them, just like Tom & Jerry. Thank you all for being my Tom as I am Jerry who is fighting for life always and think that today is the last day of the life and always try to live the life at full speed.