Quite often we struggle in our lives – with people, situations and circumstances. In most cases, we curse our luck for anything that goes wrong or precisely, not as per our conditions. These are usually paths choose by us but then we get pissed off when the hurdles show up.
We may be familiar with the famous quote, “The road to success is always under construction” but we hardly see those barriers as building blocks leading to construction. Do we realize that the hurdles we face are actually making us instead of breaking us? Do we ever accept the hurdles as growth incubators? I don’t.
Having spent two months in Bihar now, where I never thought to ever live in my life; has triggered the thought and importance of accepting realities. In my city, Dehradun, trains are taken only when you’re travelling to a place far away. It’s easy to accommodate yourself in a general dabba of a train because most people prefer road trips. Here, in Bihar, I boarded a local train for the first time, to reach a nearby district, Jamui, 90 km away from Jamalpur, where I’m currently living. I was excited for such a short distance train travel.
Accompanying a colleague, I walked to the railway station. As we asked a local person about the train, he said “Bhaagiye, gaadi khul gaya hai”. For a moment, I couldn’t understand what happened. The immediate thought was that one of the train compartments might have gotten detached from another, and he’s referring to it as “khul gaya”. Meanwhile, my colleague asked me to run as the train had started moving. As we ran, another man said “Ab kya bhaagiyega, ab to gaadi speed pakad liya”. I could see the train moving slowly and my colleague standing there holding the rod of the gate, calling me out. I was quite far and hence, couldn’t catch it. We had missed it, my first local I was so excited about. I felt disappointed and even sorry for my colleague who had to let it go because of me.
We checked for the next train and walked back to office, to return again in a few hours. This time, we got it easily and I even found a place to sit. It was surprising as my expectation was that the train would be crowded as hell, but it wasn’t too bad. It gave me an impression that local trains may not be crowded here. Next, we had to change the train from Kiul station to reach our destination, Jamui. On checking at the inquiry counter, we got to know that the connecting train is late by two and a half hours. I was pissed, and already tired after having worked for the whole day and now waiting. We sat there, talking, sharing moments from our lives, and three hours passed.
I was sleepy but had no choice except to wait. We heard the announcement of another train that was arriving, because of which our train further got late by another half an hour. Tired of waiting, we decided to get on this one and as we entered a sleeper compartment, there was not even a centimeter square feet to place my feet. Lights were off as it was late night. An uncle on the lower birth was snoring, deep in sleep and had kept his legs on the window grill, leaving a bit of space which I could occupy to sit. Forty minutes later, we finally reached Jamui. After covering some distance in an auto-rickshaw, we had to walk for half a kilometer to reach office where we would also be staying.
As I took my heavy backpack off my shoulders, it felt heavenly to not have to walk one more step. On entering the room where I would stay for the next few days, a big family of mosquitoes welcomed me with their paternal and maternal side of relatives. A mosquito net was available in the cupboard but I couldn’t figure out where to tie its ropes and had no energy to think about it. So, I just covered myself with the net and slept.
After a few minutes, I got up and then stayed awake for a while, reliving the day in my head. I found myself bursting into a laughter thinking about all that happened. A day like never before, as they say, “Never live the same day twice”. Since I’ve chosen to be here, I must accept what all comes along with this journey. My outlook needed to change. Missing the train, jumping into a crowded one, walking with no energy and wrapping myself in a mosquito net, were all, in a way, signs of accepting the situation. I was now delighted.
Accepting a situation changes the way we look at any experience. It suddenly transforms all the fears and sorrows into moments that may never be lived again but can surely be recognized to bring back certain emotions and rejoice your soul.
Travelling in local trains, talking to strangers, going for field visits on a scooter, hugging the winds, capturing the natural scenic beauty on my phone and trying to ride, have become some examples of accepting what comes my way. I live alone but no more feel lonely as I involve myself in things other than work. Every day, it’s a pleasure to wait for the sunset. It has helped me engage better with the people here, as compared to the first month. The most beautiful part is to receive a lot of love back from everyone around.
The journey is becoming more precious with each day. Everything comes with positives and negatives but the moment we learn to accept it, some of the negatives transforms into positives. It is up to us, as to how we feel about our situation, the way we respond to it and what we take away. The eternal motivation may be hard to find, but it is easier to create it for one day every day.
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