In Search Of Ishaan Awasthi

 A sunrise.  Dew on the grass. Birds chirping and distant sound of temple bells.  A fresh shower of rain after scorching heats of summer. Smell of damp earth. Warmth coming out of the ground.  Flight of a butterfly. Colors of a rainbow. A silent evening walk on a beach. Chat in a park.

Go ahead! Call me a romantic fool!

These are things that we were in touch with until a good five years ago. These are the things that inspired us in one way or the other, for one thing or another, to do something which wanted to do.  We were game for everything , every challenge and every sport. Be it painting competition on Independence Day  or fancy dress for Teacher’s Day or great debates across different sections, groups &  departments or a skit for a Fresher’s Day in college or happy-to-have fights in college. Name it, and I am sure that we have participated in one or more of the activities that are listed and not listed above.  Surely, the Sports day marches have inculcated whatever discipline is left within us today.

1440 days out of college and it disheartens me to see that I am driven by the promise of money and power in a distant future, not realizing that what I am losing is more precious than that, the present.  In fact, a whole lot of young India is leading a secluded life in the false safety of cubicles, with ear-phones in their ears, eyes on LCD monitors, hands on keyboards and minds boggled with gibberish jargon.

We hear music and boast of our taste, but never try to create a single note. We are ready to read piles of novels, but jotting down something on paper never pops into our heads. We watch loads of movies late in the night, but never put down a script, even for the sake of it.  Am questioning myself, “Why?”

These days everything that has to be special in our life, has become casual. We take those special things for granted and at times even feel irritated by those things. When was the last time we really enjoyed drenching down in rain? When was it that we sat contemplating looking at the rising sun? When was the last time that we stopped in our way to have a look at the blooming bud? When did we create something just for pure joy?

 Where did Ishaan Awasthi in us go?

Are we losing something here, in this complacent life of ours? Is it life? Is it creativity? Are we losing creativity or is creativity lost somewhere within us?

I remain thus searching answers, happiness, beauty and other lost good things in life. Searching for life beyond .com!

Vamsi

I am not mad