Hope Is A Good Thing...

According to  me, there are two kinds of situations in everyday life. One- when you're sure about something. Confident and prepared. There's a level of certainty in those situations. Doesn't matter whether the situation is good or bad. You're prepared, your actions are measured. There is no element of surprise. Then there are situations when you Hope. The condition or situation in which, the rational thinking stops, and the unbelievable, yet believable thinking stops. The place where the real world ceases to exist, and the world you make your dreams in, becomes your reality, for a brief time. A place, I am sure everyone has visited from time to time, and come back exhilarated.

In the past year or so, I have visited that DreamLand many times, coming back revitalized, re energized, rejuvenated. Often, those times have been tough times. Times, when everything seems wrong, all hope seems to be lost, everything seems to be crumbling. However, this is the time when I choose to leave the world of stone and wall, and into the world of the infinite. The world no one in the planet can take away from you. No one can get to you. No one can monitor what you're thinking, what dreams you are weaving. No one is there to second guess you.  It is the world, where you don't let people's opinion bother you. Where you can dream dreams, no one else has dreamed. Its just you and your imagination.

Then you come back to reality. But the best part come here. The Dream World still exists, even though its a minor reflection of its real form. The important things- your dreams, still exist. They don't go away. Instead, they are given new confidence, new belief and you receive a new boost, a new vigor to go and chase them. Everything has changed now. The taunts don't bother you. The odds stacked against you don't bother you. Because the thing that you saw in Your World, is so stunningly beautiful and divine, that you'll do anything to get it. You'll ignore the opinion of thousands of people to get that thing that you want.

That Is Hope. The feeling of  faith, the feeling of believing even when the odds are against you. The feelings which lead to miracles. The feelings which can drive a man crazy. The feelings which can make a man do so many impossible things, that  others think he's gone insane.

Still, you always find cynics in this world. Cynics who live in the real world. People, who have never really felt what it is feels like to drown in your own dreams. People, who maybe haven't ever had dreams. People who will feel that hope is a dangerous thing. When you tell these people about your world, they just laugh and scoff. They mention their age and stress the fact that dreams are only meant to be in the mind. They tell you, we're more experienced and we know better. However, I don't listen to them. Yes, I am stubborn. I don't think I will ever listen to them. Because its My Dream. It is My Hope. It is My Mind. And it is My Imagination. I will continue dreaming till there is even a tiny chance of that dreaming coming true. Maybe even after that.

" Don't let anyone tell you that you can't do something. You gotta dream, you gotta protect it. People can't do something themselves, the tell you that you can't do it either. You want something, go get it! " These words of Will Smith ( Chris Gardner from The Pursuit Of Happyness ) still ring in my head.

Hope Is A Good Thing.  Maybe The Best Of Things.  And No Good Thing Ever Dies.


P.S - Last line quoted from The Shawshank Redemption

P.P.S- The Shawshank Redemption Rocks!!!

P.P.P.S- Hope my message isn't lost by the P.S And P.P.S : P

A Day In The Life Of Mumbai....

The eyes refuse to open. It seems justified, after only a four hour sleep, and at least fourteen hours of work which lies ahead. The odds are stacked against them. However, the stomach is growling with hunger. The stomach wins the battle, and the eyes open. Its still pitch dark outside, but the day starts here. The body carries out the usual chores to be completed after getting up from bed, but the mind is far away. Busy with the day's plan, busy with unfulfilled dreams, every day making the dreamer more and more determined to achieve the dream, achieve the impossible.

The breakfast has the same pattern as the chores. In a bid to silence the growling stomach, the taste, hygiene, quantity and quality is forgotten. Because the mind is still roaming. Busy predicting the day's the problems, busy predicting the train schedules, busy trying to figure out a way to pay the existing debts. At some rare moment, the mind realizes what life the person is living, but its no big deal. The mind is coaxed easily. " Everyone lives the same life. You're no different. " And the mind quietly goes back to its job.

You invariably wander to the nearest railway station. Trains. The lifeline of Mumbai. The heat is unforgiving, The atmosphere is always extreme. Too much heat, too much rains. Unfortunately, there is never too much winter. As you reach the platform, you see about one thousand people on the platform ( sadly its not a hyperbole ). This is where the competition begins. A train designed for one thousand people, on an average carries thrice its capacity. Its the trains, which single- handedly give out the motto and the attitude of the city. " Compete or Perish " is what the unrelenting, yet kind, frustrating, yet rewarding city says in every way that it can.

However, no one is deterred by this attitude. Everyone here has a purpose. Some come with a will to become rich, some with a will to become famous.

As you hang outside the train ( which is much more comforting than sitting in the train, though not even remotely as safe as the former ) the stark irony of the city strikes you. As you move from the suburbs to the posh town area, the irony strikes you. High rises and tall towers, with shambles and slums growing in front of them. Rich people wearing branded clothes and the poor wearing the same clothes everyday sit in the same overloaded compartment. The city is Unforgiving.

You see parks being built on one side, trees being grown on one side, and forests being torn down to accommodate buildings on the other side. But what can you do? The sheer amount of people coming to make their living is too much a burden for any city.

Even with all this, Mumbai is still The City Of Dreams. Even after a day like the one mentioned above, people still dare to dream. The dreams just gets stronger everyday, the resolve gets stronger everyday. You can still go out at 2 AM in the night without a care in the world of getting kidnapped ( women included ), you can still be stuck in the floods, vying for every ounce of energy, just to be greeted by volunteers who don't take advantage of you, rather they offer you tea and glucose biscuits free-of-cost. Even after every draining day, after every fatal punch, the hope is still there.

Mumbai. The City Of  Dreams. The City Of Hope.


P.S- Just tried my hand at this. Am not even half as experienced as any Mumbaikar. Just thought I would try.