Twist of fate

When it comes to life, we spin our own yarn, and where we end up is really, in fact, where we always intended to be.

–Julia Glass

#24/100

A guy hears gun shots. He runs for cover in the woods, trying to save his life from the robbers who caught him sneaking on them. He can hear his heart thumping and breath getting heavier but he needs to continue running to stay alive. After running for a while he reaches a dead end, the robbers vivid footsteps can be heard clearly now as they draw closer. Realizing that the end is near, he slowly turns around to face the robbers. He closes his eyes to 3 robbers with pistols in their hands waiting to shoot him. He hears a “bang”, a gunshot has been fired. Does it take this long for the gunshot to hit me? He opens his eyes to see the robbers on the ground writhing in pain. The police arrives just in the nick of time to save him.

Haven’t we come across such thrilling scenes in movies numerous times? We are in total suspense till the end of the scene with the hope that the good human is rescued or saved after all. And in most of the cases, that’s exactly what happens. When I saw Ned Stark’s head being ripped off in Game of Thrones, I couldn’t believe my eyes. This isn’t how it’s supposed to be! The good guy should always survive. That was the first time I saw a realistic portrayal of life. After watching numerous movies and shows where the a bad situation somehow gets solved at the right time, my mind seeks a way out in my real life scenarios as well. We always wait for every complexity to magically disappear from our life at the right time.

I cannot say that I haven’t come across certain miraculous situations in my life. We have the tendency to keep waiting for everything to be perfect to finally celebrate our life. But that doesn’t have to be the case, always. Life is too unpredictable to wait for the right time for us to start enjoying it. No matter how our past and future is, we can definitely find one thing each day to be thankful for. As we start focusing on finding things that make us happy than stressing about things that don’t, a lot of our obstacles in life magically find a way out. I’ve always believed in magic as a kid. I still believe in it, deep within. We all have magic within us. The magic to change the way we look at life. I truly want to believe that I am and can be happy despite the manner in which my life unfolds in the future. The choice is always with us. Let’s pick the one that makes us happy. 🙂

Lost and found

#14/100

This story dates back to year 2008. I had recently started lectures for my first year in degree college. I was studying for chartered accountancy exams along with a bachelor’s degree in commerce. I used to attend college lectures in the morning from 7 am to 10 am and head to a Chartered Accountant’s office for my articleship for the rest of the day. (Every C.A. student has to serve a mandatory internship under a qualified chartered accountant for 3.5 years called as “Articleship”)

It had barely been 10 days since I was gifted a cellphone by my mother. I was over the moon with this gift as I’ve always been a gadget freak and was waiting to own a cellphone for myself. This cellphone was a huge investment for my mother as we weren’t financially stable during the entire period of my student life. It was more of a necessity rather than a luxury owing to my erratic schedule with college, articleship and tuitions.

The day started with college early in the morning. I wanted to inquire about the travel concession provided by my college and had paid a visit to the college administration department. I went there with the cellphone tucked safely inside my wallet. I was extra cautious not to misplace it or accidentally drop it. But I didn’t pay any attention to my ‘absent mindedness‘ and left the whole wallet with my cellphone at the counter of the department on my way back.

I didn’t realize it till the end of my lectures that day. I bid goodbye to my friends and tried to find my wallet for some cash and went numb when I couldn’t find it inside my bag. A shiver ran down my spine when I realized that I had misplaced my wallet and the cellphone with it. Teary eyed I went back to the lecture hall and searched every nook and cranny but couldn’t find it. I went to the canteen, library and finally the administration department only to be told that they haven’t found any lost item.

I just wasn’t ready to accept the reality. I couldn’t tell my mother that I had lost the cellphone which she had bought for me with much love and after many sacrifices. I called her up eventually and told her the sad news. I burst into tears while talking to her. She tried to calm me down and told me to keep calling my number with the hope of connecting to the person who had caught hold of my cellphone. This felt like a lost cause to me as I knew people aren’t sincere enough to return a brand new cellphone directly placed on to their lap.

I kept calling my number on the way to office. I was in a sunken mood at office and told them about the incident too. They tried their best to cheer me up and kept calling my number to see if someone would receive the call.

That’s exactly when a miracle took place. Someone picked up my number!!! My colleague talked to the person who turned out to be the librarian. He told her that a student had found my wallet and gave it to the librarian for safekeeping. I absolutely couldn’t believe my ears. I was going to get my cellphone back!

I ran towards the college (technically took an auto but in my mind I was dramatically running towards my cellphone), reached the library and collected my wallet with the biggest smile on my face. The call was received at the exact moment when I had lost all hope of getting the wallet and cellphone back. I prayed for the student who gave back my lost stuff without any malicious intent. I went back with chocolates for my colleagues to celebrate the unusual ‘lost and found” incident. I again got moist eyed when I told my mother that I had found my precious cellphone.