Lessons & Choices ~ This week
SALT ~ This week ~ Lessons
I am a
dancer. I love dancing in all forms. I
have learnt classical, Punjabi, Bollywood, Gujarati and hip hop to satisfy the
dancer in me and yet it keeps craving for more.
In the
recent years due to various reasons I had got out of touch with my dancing. It
began with a major accident some 4-5 years ago and then slowly it started
declining as work-life balance began to get difficult. This week I am on a
vacation and I happened to visit my dance teacher.
The moment I
entered the dance school she embraced me with lot of love and began to tell her
students how good I was in the art. I had tears in my eyes as I tried telling
her how I had lost the art and right now there is nothing that I had in me.
After the discussion,
she urged me to perform and I declined as I was blank at that moment. She tried
one more time only to hear a more firm no. So she just smiled her trade mark
Monalisa smile and asked me to just sit there and enjoy as she continued the
class.
I was
completely lost in the music and beats when I noticed one of the students kept
losing her taal and the teacher was so busy in the class that she did not
notice this tiny girl dancing in one corner at the back side. After observing
her for some time I was unable to hold myself back and I went up to her to show
the right step. I danced after almost a
gap of 4 years and yet the steps came to me as it was just yesterday. I
completed the whole taalam when the class started clapping for me. That is when
I had realized what I had done.
I saw my
teacher who was smiling from her seat. I went and sat next to her hesitantly
when she said “You never forget something that you learn from your heart. You
learnt cycling did you forget it... No. Even today if I were to give you one
you will be able to ride. You learnt dancing with so much passion. It reflects
on your face when you dance in the form of a faint glow and a radiant smile on
your face. You think you will ever forget it? No. For it is from your soul that
it comes. You might not have done it in a long time. But still your soul
remembers the beats your feet danced on. Like ways sometimes in life you reach
a phase where you feel you have forgotten how to love and live, because you had
stopped doing it since a long time. But your heart remembers how to do it. Just
a small push from your end and it will be back to you like a fresh lesson
learnt. “
She taught
me that day what was perhaps missing in my life till now. I had forgotten
listening to my heart and never asked it about the lessons it had learnt. I was
pressuring my mind to help me and with its limited memory power it failed
miserably making me fail too. And yes she taught me how to dance once again, this time to the tunes of life!
Lesson Learnt : Some lessons of life are etched
on our hearts and souls, and those are the ones which are truly unforgettable
for they hold the secret of living in them.
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PEPPER ~ This week ~ Choices
I have
always spoken about Indian marriage systems in a hilarious manner. One incident
that happened this week adds to the humour slightly.
Couple of
months ago there was this alliance my parents were looking for me. Now I coming
from a conservative South Indian family the pictures were all in sarees and
salwar kameez. Apparently this person did not like that. So here this guy was
asking for pictures specifically in western wear which was a bit alarming for
my family and they refused stating we don’t have any such pics. No prizes for
guessing I was rejected very soon.
Yes I was
dejected not because I liked him or something but a rejection always pinches.
It took me a lot of time to get used to such rejections for I realized that the
reasons were very shallow. And if someone based their choices of life partners
on such baseless reasons I should be rejoicing not be chosen.
Coming back
to this person – well recently I happened to meet him on something known as
Whatsapp. And yes it does have my latest pic as my DP. The first reaction from
that person was Hey you look so different. I asked you to send me a pic like
this why didn’t you send it then. And the tone was getting a bit flirtatious
there.
I was
speechless as I was wondering what kind of a person he was. He made a choice
based on whatsoever beliefs he had and today he wanted to change that choice if
he could. Now that was surely some level of shallowness. I was silently
thanking God for having got me rejected first or else I would have never come
to know the “real” him.
Lesson Learnt: Choices in life need to be made
with a lot of caution. They could make or mar you. But once made you also need
to stand by them come whatever may. As Ratan Tata had once said “I don’t believe
in taking right decisions. I believe in taking decisions and then making them
right.”