A Road Not Taken Is A Road Wasted

“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both,
And be one traveller, long I stood,

And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth” -- Robert Frost (The Road Not Taken)

I clearly understand Frost’s lament about the inability of travelling both roads; the thrill-seeker that I am, I’ll dig out the thrill in anything you offer me. Hence, the title.

While growing up, I was taught to soak in everything possible, no matter where I found myself, while the perfectionist in forced me to work my butt off even if I happened to be somewhere I didn’t want to be. I wasn’t a nerd to begin with. My forte was sports. I wanted to play everything and be good at it all. I took pride in being the fastest runner in class, and the fact that I seemed smart on the academic front just made it better for me. At this point, I’d like to thank my parents, especially my mother, for raising me the way they did, for making everything less of a struggle for me (I don’t know how you did it, but honestly, when Aneesha was one I could not imagine how that little gibberish talking/singing little thing would ever learn how to talk. And she’s smarter than I am, so I definitely was a handful).  For taking me to the zoo, even though I don’t remember those visits anymore, for making me ride rickshaws (that’s to blame for my childhood dream of becoming an autorickshaw driver) and horses and elephants, for reading to me in English and Japanese, for letting me play with He-Man and G.I. Joe action figures and Barbies at the same time,  and most of all, for bringing Coco home. I didn’t know my fruits too well at the interview (Papayas, seriously?), but I had a really long discussion with Mr. Kapur about our pet dogs. Honestly, to get a shy kid like me to talk the way I did at the Vasant Valley interview: brilliance!

And a brilliant interview was the start of a brilliant thirteen years at Vasant Valley School. Apparently, I laughed and chuckled in my sleep after my first day there. This school never bogged us down with studies. I mean I skipped my class 10 final exams for a Football Tournament! There were always games, computer lessons, music lessons, dance and drama lessons nicely placed in our timetables. It reemphasized what my parents had been teaching me: that learning is fun, and it happens both inside and outside the classroom. A batch of 90 kids divided into 3 sections, shuffled every year beginning with the third standard, based on no particular ability, I think by the end of it we grew pretty fond of each other. All 90 of us, and the friends we made in the other batches as well! What’s more, Vasant Valley gave us Adventure Camps, Rishikesh being my favourite (rafting!). While they seemed like fun and games when they happened, it’s only now, while pursuing my Post Grad, that I realized their true value. They prepared us for anything - those pit toilets with shovels, the pitching of tents (and their flying off at night), sleeping bags, not bathing for 5 days – something I’d recommend every school to inculcate in their curriculum.

And then my so-called thrill-seeking tendencies sometimes got the better of me. I’d work extra hard at everything (I’ve never bunked a class in school, NEVER), and end up being good at many of them, making it difficult to choose among them when I had to. Odissi vs. Athletics vs. Football, Painting vs. Sculpture, Hindi vs. Sanskrit, Sociology vs. Psychology vs. Economics, gah! And to top it off, I enjoyed most of them. Thankfully DU’s insane cut-offs made the choice easier, but I’d have loved to have done another B.A. in Economics! Yeah, I actually asked my parents if I could. I did my B.A. in Psychology, though I was never in it for the therapy or counselling aspect. I wanted to use what I learnt in various other fields, like sports, or advertising, for instance. And it was probably the unnecessary (well, to me at least) emphasis on textbooks that DU seemed to give, along with an exciting thirteen years of school, that made me question the education I received while I pursued my Bachelor’s degree. I no longer found learning fun. It became a chore, and my exam results showed it. Had it not been for the incessant hard work on class assignments, and the almost perfect attendance, I’d have been done for (read passed, but not with a first div – I’m a perfectionist, it means a lot to me). Honestly, apart from the friends I made in college, those three years are a blur to me. I remember school with great clarity, but college, no. Strange, huh? Vasant Valley does that to you.

And here I am, in my second semester of a PG Diploma in Advertising and Marketing, promising myself that one day I’ll do an M.B.A., just not yet. I’m looking to start a career in Copy, but who knows where I’ll end up 10 years from now? I enjoy Copywriting. I did two internships at some great places before I joined XIC earlier this year. See that label flashing again? Yeah, I wanted to know how the entire process comes together, before I sat my butt down at an agency to work full-time. I wanted one more qualification before taking a break from studies. And till now, I must say, it’s been pretty fruitful.

It’s almost 3:30 AM, and at this point I’m wishing that a day could have more hours. So much to do and such little time!

Over and out.

Malini

It's all about loving the beautiful game.

My momma always said, "Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.”—Forrest Gump

That’s how Mrs. Gump summed life up for us, and that’s how we’ve thought of it for the longest time. She was right, in a way - you can’t really tell what’s in your chocolate till you’ve bitten right in. Sometimes the smoothest, richest looking one is filled with orange cream, while just the millimeter thick shell is made of chocolate, and it may be the plain looking one that nobody’s picked up, which gives you the lingering warmth of caramel. But then again, it’s chocolate. And I’m a chocoholic – be it milk chocolate, dark chocolate or white chocolate, filled with nuts, nougat, and whatever else – I’ll have it, and how!

So, you see, I don’t completely agree with her take on life. There’s always the option of refusing chocolate (not for me, but I know there are some people watching their weight, or blood sugar, or teeth, or all three), or going with something safe, something you’re familiar with (Dairy Milk, anyone?).

To be honest, I believe that life today is too fast paced to equate to a box of chocolates. There’s so much we all want to accomplish, and such little time. So many people, sometimes they’ll lend a helping hand, and sometimes they’ll prevent you from reaching your goal. So one day my kids are going to remember me with this,

My mama always said, “Life is like a game of Football. You never know who you’ll have to turn to pass to. You never know who’s going to block your way. You might get hurt, but you must always remember the goal towards which you have to move.”

It’s something I’ve thought of for the longest time. I just haven’t been able to put it down in words. And now, as I take my baby steps in the advertising world as a copywriter, I’ve finally found the words that eluded me. The hours spent at the office, thinking of ideas that click, putting them into words that allow others to see what I see while penning them down, they’re all a part of this Football match I’m playing. I’d say I’m probably in the tenth minute, still a little jittery but I’m starting to enjoy myself. I’m gathering my strength; I know which goal I’m aiming for. It’s a huge field so I’ll have to be careful that I don’t waste my energy running around aimlessly. If I go mad in the first few minutes, who’s going to play the rest of my ninety minutes for me? By that, I don’t mean that I’m going to take it easy at first. No way. If you let the competition settle in, you’re screwed. But if the ball’s on the other end of the field, if that’s the hub of all the action, I’m not going to run there just to join the melee. I’ll wait my turn. I’ll play my role without taking a part out of someone else’s. Of course, if a teammate’s really in trouble, I’m going to go in and help, but some battles are meant to be dealt with alone. Some tackles are best executed one-on-one.

Then there’s the other team. The not-so-nice guys who’re trying to take away what you have and blocking you off from what you want to accomplish. There’s plenty of such people, sometimes they’ll be wearing a jersey that’s completely different from yours, one that clearly tells you that these aren’t the guys you should turn to for help, while some might have a jersey that’s similar to yours, and then that’s when you’ve got to be really careful. But that’s something you learn during the course of the game. No sweat, yet.

What if you make a wrong pass? Say, you were passing to a friend but somehow the opposition got hold of the ball. Or, maybe you just lost control midway and they gladly took what you were giving to them. That’s when you need the extra spurt of energy. It’ll probably seem like the game’s been snatched from you, like you’re never going to reach your goal, but no, that’s when you’ve got to really fight to get that ball back. You might be able to do it alone, or you might need a friend’s assistance. Just don’t be too scared to ask. In the end no one’s going to remember the time when you needed help to get the ball back. They’re just going to remember you losing it, fighting for it, and getting it back. In the unfortunate event that you just can’t get the ball back, and they score before you do, the best you can do is to learn from your mistake. Don’t get so caught up in the game that you can’t control which way you’re headed. You need to stay focused if you’re going to score some goals of your own, and even more so if you’re currently on the losing side. Focus translates into better passes, better tackles, better strategy and more opportunities to score goals. A clear thought process makes your path clearer.

There’ll always be someone telling you what to do: The guys watching the match, the coach, and your teammates. Sometimes they’ll be saying the same thing, and sometimes they’ll all be shouting something different. Always use your head. There will be many instances where you’ll have to make a choice on your own, that too in a matter of seconds. Take some steps backwards if you’re fully confident. If you’re backed by someone strong, pass to them. Create an opening and run to where you’re in a better position to receive and score. Take that helping hand. And be the helping hand when you can. The most spectacular goals are usually backed by equally spectacular and well placed passes. Sometimes those passes are so accurate, that the goal is scored by merely tapping the ball in. That just shows how important it is to have your goal in mind, but to not focus on it so much that the journey is forgotten. The fight to get that ball in; the one-on-one with the goalkeeper viciously trying to block your way, that’s important too. There’s no fun in scoring ten goals if the opposition doesn’t give you a fight. The struggle adds the punch to the game, so instead of whining about it, try taking it in your stride. Nothing like overcoming an obstacle you thought you’d never be able to climb over. Trust me. It’s absolutely exhilarating. And then you’re better equipped to tackle the others coming your way. If you could handle that, what’s this in comparison?

So it’s one match; you get several shots at the goal if you create those opportunities for yourself. You fall, you stumble, and you get stepped on. You run into obstacles, you turn to friends for help. But the goal is always there. It looks small and distant from your end of the field but as the game progresses and you move forward, it gets bigger, more solid, more there. You have to fall back sometimes in order to move ahead. You have to hop over those slide tackles; pirouette, feign and use your head. Sometimes you’ll get lucky and get what you want with a long, hard kick from the half line, but mostly, it’s going to be a fight to the other end. It’s all about keeping your cool. There’ll be some clingers, some shirt pullers. They’ll try to get into your head, to control you. If they succeed, it makes it that much harder, because that’s when you’re starting to lose focus.

I might sound somewhat like I’m preaching. That wasn’t my intent. I don’t know how many of you will get this. It’s just that the game is so close to my heart, and having just finished with a year of numerous highs and lows, one of them being the end of my Football playing days (“Time to get serious about what you want to do in life, you’re done with college, it’s not just Soccer and studies anymore”), I’ve been thinking a lot harder than I ever have. To be honest, I really miss playing. I miss waking up early, grabbing breakfast in the car, wearing my shin guards (nasty bruises make you love them), stockings, and my beautiful, beautiful studs, and running around. I miss kicking the ball across the field, the numerous rounds we were made to take; I even miss Mr. Framjee’s (my coach in school) suicide drills! It’s been a year since I stopped playing and I guess that’s why I’ve been thinking about the game so much.

I don’t know if you’ll agree on my view of life, but this pretty much sums it up for me. A Football match has everything that life’s got to offer. There are goals, obstacles, opportunities to go at on your own, and chances to rely on others. There’s someone more experienced guiding you from a distance without poking his nose into your business. There’s bruises and scrapes. And then there’s the ticking clock. Ninety minutes to figure out what you’ve got to do and then do it. Like I said before, I’m in my tenth minute and the game’s just getting exciting. I think I’m going to enjoy this, after all it’s my ultimate Football match.