Where do u holiday when u already live in paradise?

My life is beautiful. I find so much beauty in my life, I just want to celebrate it. I want to just get lost in it. In the morning when I step out of my flat and start cycling towards office, the first thing I see as I am exiting my society is a lush green field, or sometimes it is of a wheatish color with green behind it. Yes, there is a farm just opposite my society, and it is pure heaven to be greeted by it sight every morning. I cycle parallel to the farm. In the morning these days it is a bit chilly and sometimes cloudy. The sky is beautiful. But five minutes into my cycling, I am cycling furiously and focusing on breathing rhythmically. By the time I reach office I have cycled for 5 kms and my body is well pumped with the blood flowing throughout like an efficient machine. I then eat a few bananas to give fuel to my body.

 

Around one-thirtey, I am again cycling back to my home. But at this time the sun is high and sharp, though sometimes I might get lucky and it is a cloudy day with a nip in the wind. Once at home, I cook myself some dal and subji, and I personally feel that my dal is amongst the best I have ever tasted. It is simply divine. After finishing the meal, I just sit for a few minutes in awe and satisfaction and gratefulness for eating such a wonderful meal. I feel well nourished and then I nap for about 30 minutes. By the time I head back for office again, it is time for the sun to set. And I see the sun going lower and lower in the horizon, and the sky changes hues from blue to a purple to orange, and I see the sun hiding behind tall building and I see half constructed building through which the sun shines through. And I am lost in the beauty of the setting sun and of greater noida. After reaching office I again take classes.

 

 

I get free around 8.30, and if it is a bit chilly, then I will walk home. It’s a 5 km walk, and I put on some music and walk with a song in my step and a state of thoughtlessness in my mind. Of course I do think while walking, but I can never remember what I was thinking about when I finish walking. On the days when it is hot, I will cycle home at top speed and then change and go out for running. I run for 3-5 kms, and at the end of the run I feel exhilarated. My whole body feels like a machine working to perfection, my heart pumping away strongly, sending blood to all my body parts, especially my legs. And the muscles of my legs contracting and expanding perfectly, my breath following a rhythm, and it is almost a trance like state of being. I run with music, and as the music speeds and fades, so do I. 

On some other days I will go to the gym and workout my upper body. Initially I never used to go to the gym, but after I started going, I look much better in terms of an overall look, it feels nice to have some firmness in my muscles. And finally there will be days when I will do none of the above, and I will find it hard to sleep at night and I will wake up next morning and feel fat the whole of next day. This also happens about once a week.

 

So now my question is that when u are already living such a perfect life, and the place where you live seems as good as aparadise, then where do you holiday? You either meet some family member or friend, or go out and explore new cultures in the hope of expanding your horizons and growing.  And I always feel so good coming back home after a holiday. Sometimes being away for a while can help one renew the love for a loved one. 

The cyclist

Once I was a bike-user. I used to own a bullet (a 350 cc monster). I was an MBA from MDi Gurgaon. I was well qualified, I was young, I was well paid. One night as I was driving home after dinner with some friends, I cyclist came out of nowhere and I braked hard and yet ended up hitting him and I fell off my bike and got bruised. I cursed the cyclist and muttered to myself – these godamn cyclists are so rash and lawless, they ought to be forbidden from using the roads.

 

Then I became an entrepreneur. Then I became poor. Then I became desperate. Then I sold my bullet and bought a cycle and became a cyclist. And one night, I was cycling home, I took the usual route to my home which involved going on the wrong side of the road, and there out of nowhere a speeding biker came and the inevitable happened and he hit me. And I picked myself up, and he picked himself up and after a few minutes of dispute and contention, we parted ways. And I was limping home, I muttered to myself - these godamn bikers are so rash and callous, they ought to be forbidden from using the roads

 

~Inspired by Kahlil Gibran.