Monday, September 22, 2008

I Believe I Can Fly

I have always been ambitious, never happy with just what's within reach. I need to try for the best available and if I do reach that its of course fantastic, but even if I don't I need to know that I gave it all I had. This may even be an extension of my obsession with doing everything to ensure that whenever I look back I should not have any regrets for what I did and didn't do in life. I have often gone to crazy lengths and insane actions to ensure this but hey, it works for me!

As a result, I have a lot of respect for people with a fire that drives them. What that simply means is that they are always striving for more. May not necessarily mean lofty aims or flashy achievements; just the desire to keep giving their best. It simply means not being afraid to put yourself out there and giving it a shot. Today I met Bablu Singh after a very long time and it was refreshing talking to him and recognizing that drive. Just makes me happy every time I come across it.

Bablu is a veggie vendor with a stall near my house. He would be about 22-24 years old, is always well dressed, speaks good Hindi, Marathi and English, is a charmer and hence a fantastic salesman. He would say friendly things in a fun manner which you know are a part of his charm yet make you like him for it. He keeps vanishing for months every once in a while. I hadn't seen him for many months now and today as I walked back from the DVD store I saw him grin at me, wave and run towards his stall inviting me for a chat and to buy stuff. I asked him where has he been and he launched into his story, just after he gave me his mobile number for veggie, fruit home deliveries and telling me that now that he's back its obvious that I will buy them from him :)

He went back to his village to prepare for and take his B.Sc first year exams, he has cleared them with good grades and even got an award of Rs.20 k from his college, which he deposited back as his fee for the next year! He went on to tell me that he spent about Rs.25k last year to put himself through tutions for Maths and English. Maths because he wasn't good at it and English because it lets him read and understand books which could help him further with Maths and also enables him to write his answers better; its anyway helpful to know English, he says. I congratulated him and said that it was worth the investment then and he replied,"Of course, paise to maine waapis jeet hi liye lekin dimaag to khul gaya na, ab aage ka raasta dekhna hai!" (Of course, I won back the money anyway but its about the widening of my mind, now I need to find my way ahead)

I have to agree with him, widening of your mind and the way ahead, what else is there to worry about?

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