Enjoy the Journey

From the story Arranged Marriage:

We are born alone and we die alone, but between our birth and death there is usually a long journey, which we do not prefer to travel alone. Very few people love to live a lonely life and have the courage to travel alone, but otherwise for most of the people there comes a point in life where they have to make an important decision about finding or choosing a suitable life partner. Some people are so fortunate that things happen to them before they realize it and they come across suitable people on the way in their life, who eventually become their life partners. I wish that life is simple for everyone and they come across interesting people before they start looking for them. But, unfortunately for many people finding a suitable companion to share their life with, is not an easy task.

Life has taught me some important lessons when it came to finding my own life partner. The unforgettable lesson I learned was to distinguish truth from impression.

I was at that point in my life where I got an immigration visa to Canada and was about to move to a totally different place with a different culture and start a new life from scratch. I am from a small town in South India where marriages are mostly arranged. Following the tradition, parents with the help of relatives and friends look for suitable brides and grooms for their children. They usually engage themselves in lengthy discussions and research, which involve finding the family background, education, job, height, weight, color, complexion, general behavior, character, referrals from trusted people and astrology of the person they are looking for before arranging a marriage. As soon as my parents learned about my visa they wanted me to get married before I moved to Canada.

Whether we like it or not, after a certain age, people around us look at us in a certain way and show interest in our general life, which makes us conscious that it is time to look for a relationship. They would like to know whether we are looking and available. For any normal person it is difficult to ignore those looks and resist the temptation to look back at them. The curiosity is always there to know who is looking at us and who is showing interest in us. Irrespective of whether we are ready for a relationship or not the desire to get noticed and being approached never dies.

As soon as the word spread out about my immigration to Canada my relatives started pouring in with marriage proposals. They all had some girl in their mind, who they thought would be a very suitable match for me, and enquired about my interest. My uncle was the first one to approach me. “I know this girl,” he said. “She is…

From the story Enjoy The Journey:

Not everyone in this world is fortunate enough to pursue matters of his or her interest at their own will and wish. Very often just for a living we may have to lead a mechanical life by sacrificing many things that we love to do. There is a lot of difference between living and life. Anyone who can make his both ends meet can live, but people who can pursue things that they love to do by focusing their mind, body, soul and spirit on it can lead a happy life. Most of the time our living comes in the way of our life. It’s not uncommon that we get stuck up in a routine monotonous life, where we do not have time to breath, just to pay our bills and live on a day-to-day basis. In the long run some people give up their life for a living, but some people with determination and efforts break themselves loose and gain a life of their own. In any case there is a phase in our life where our mind, body, soul and spirit is in a state of agitation, where we long to do things that we love to do.

It’s not only our living that comes in the way of our life. Sometimes the social atmosphere around us, in the name of social values and social standings, which gives more importance to illusions, impressions, prejudices and discourages free and independent living can also affect our life. One has to be very careful about people who are disposed to make uncalled for comments. Behind the back gossip and needless suggestions and comparisons of jealous people can adversely affect sensitive people and rob their life from them.

To calm down the agitated mind, body, soul and spirit, shunning fear and anger, and to pursue matters of interest without buckling under the pressure of impressions and influences and to be true to the self and enjoy the journey of life was the biggest challenge I faced in life.

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