The Man Who Sold The World

Another semester completed. Another year passed. And once again I chose to stay back at the college longer than everyone else, after the final exams ended. This academic year has been less of academics and a lot more of self exploration. My GPA took a dive down from 9.8 to 8.4 last semester and I cannot say anything about the result of this semester as well.

Coming to the self exploratory part, I went on two trips this year. The first one was a solo trip to McLeodganj and the other one was to Jaisalmer with my closest friends. Mark Twain said, "Travelling is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness. And many of our people need it sorely on these accounts." The first trip taught me that when confronted by the might of the earth, we realize how insignificant our problems with the world are. We keep on bickering and complaining about the little issues when they can instead be solved by applying small efforts without panicking. On the next trip, I realized that some times we make some rules and standards for ourselves to give our lives a sense of dignity. But over time, these standards become so real, that they end up completely controlling our lives instead of their original intention of gently manoeuvring it in a positive direction, thus sometimes, refraining us from enjoying the little joys of life. We must always remember that we created these standards for our betterment and not to stop us from getting happiness.

Other than this, this year was filled with choices. I made a lot of choices that are shaping my present and will also be affecting my future. I have started to believe that when it comes to choices, the actual choice is never between what is right and what is wrong. It is always between choosing what is easy and what is right. The right choice is never easy. It always comes with its challenges and difficulties. You would keep on thinking that you made a wrong decision. The other path would seem easy and favourable. But if you keep on sticking to your choice no matter what happens, I promise you that something good will come out of it. And if the end is not as glamorous as you expected, it would not matter to you because you would know that it was never about the end but the journey that shaped you into a better person.

On the personal front, not much has happened but yes, I got inked. There are a lot of inhibitions in the general youth about getting tattooed. I would quote Thoreau for them, "Tattooing is not the hideous custom which it is called. It is not barbarous merely because the printing is skin-deep and unalterable." Tell me, would you not have a tattoo that meant something to you back in the day rather than a job or a life that you curse everyday. However, as it happens with everything, I received mixed criticism about it. Never pay any heed to people. People are stupid. The people who matter will support you unconditionally in all your endeavours and will stop you with vigour if you are going to do something wrong. These are the only people worth having in life. Other than that, I've got nothing else to say. 

PS If the title seems irrelevant to the post, know that you are a lesser mortal and attribute it to my newly found fanism for Nirvana.