"..You see her, she is scanning through all the passengers getting off the escalator to see if the next one is you, you catch her eye and both of you wave at each other so vigorously that other passengers wonder what on earth has occurred? But what do they know that you guys are meeting after 7 months. You move towards the conveyor belt impatiently to quickly collect your bag. Damn it has not started yet...will take another 10 minutes, you still keeping looking back at the exit , she is still waving at you! and you are all smiles, she is as excited as child going to school for the first time and the grin just doesn't seem to fade, there finally the bag has arrived, you grab it quickly, put it on the trolley to rush towards the exit, towards her. But you can see your steps slowing down, with each step you take you can hear you heartbeat even more clearly.You notice that she has changed a lot since you last saw her, may be pulled down a little, oh! there she is wearing the saree which you had gifted her on her birthday, she is probably the most decked up today than she was on any other day of the year...the steps only get heavier, adrenalin rush higher...what do you say when you meet her?... Seems so strange! you have been waiting for this moment but suddenly you can't remember anything, there's a huge lump in you throat...What was the last thing you told her over the phone?? don't really remember... see you in 2 hrs .. you guess...she looks at you as if you were taking your first steps towards her!....there, you both are standing in front on each other fighting back tears, you can still see the twinkling stars in eyes which speak more than words can betray!!... "How are you? mom"... She says... "Hmmm..You, have not been eating well..come let's go.." and gives you a big squeeze... and you know you are HOME!!!..."
Have you realised that the most beautiful, the most special moments in your life have lasted for just about few minutes or even few seconds? The dreams you have in the night, the day your mom hugged in the airport, the times your dad told you bedtime stories, the day your brother told his friends that his sister was the best!when your friends gave you a big surprise party on your birthday, when you got your first salary, when you bought your first mobile, when your crush in college asked you if he can borrow your notes, when your b-school results were announced, your first step into your school... all of them and many more. What is that, that makes them so special? Anticipation. The excitement that we build around them, the days and nights of planning, thinking, rethinking, visualization and revisualization, smiling to yourself as to how would you react when it would actually happen. It's all the euphoria that surrounds it that makes them so special even though they are so few.
What if someone were to take out all this and just give you those few seconds so that every moment is quantifiable? What if Sachin had made the "200" right at the beginning of the match without keeping us waiting? What if the Messi just keep scoring goals rather than running on the field for 89 minutes and doing it in the 90th minute when the stadium and world bows to him? I bet the excitement would not be the same, it would just take away all the fun out of life!! You just would not value it!!
Reminds me of what Boman Irani tells Abhishek in the movie Bluffmaster.. " in your 30 years you might have had just about 10 moments which you cherish!! which means if in the next 30 days you make such moments you are gonna live 30 years longer!!! more than any of us!!"
Each of us have these special moments in our 20 -24 years which actually define "LIFE". To put it like Hitch says "Life is not about the number of breaths you take, it's the moments that take your breath away!!!"
On a slightly different note, for those you are celebrating diwali this year with your near and dear, cherish every moment and make it one dhamakedar diwali!!!
Here's wishing everyone a very HAPPY and PROSPEROUS DIWALI!!!!
