What Went Wrong

What Went Wrong

          Remember those childhood days? Where you would just play all day long and yet even then manage to score good grades? Maybe there was no work load. Or maybe there was, just enough for your age and yet you managed to complete it without any stress. The only reason we miss our childhood was because we had no stress. We had long hours of school, homework, discipline obsessed teachers, no hairstyles whatsoever, quarrels with our friends, strict parents, daily fights with our siblings and so many reasons to not be happy. Yet, we cherish that phase of our life. WHY? Because it was stress-free. So what went wrong after that?

Ever since we were preparing for our first board exams, we were being told that it was the last time we would need to work so hard and after that, life would be very peaceful and easy. We were told to put aside our hobbies for a while (a year maybe) during our exams. Soon after 10^th boards, we started exploring the so called college life. It was a phase where few introverts finally made some friends after a decade long stint amongst the unbearable people in school. Few became addicts. Some fell in love and got to be with those whom they always wanted to. Amidst all this, at the back of our minds, we knew that there was another board exam waiting for us ahead. Few minds were traumatised due to breakups, few couldn’t focus because of distractions or addictions and few, well they just lost the ability to focus and study. ( Please note that by the phrase ‘to study’, I am referring to the input of knowledge by understanding and not just stupidly storing some data in the form of cache files in your brain).

          The results of the 12^th boards gave many of us a pretty hard concussion along with a reality check. Back then, I wanted to have a band of my own and become a professional guitarist in life although I knew it wasn’t possible. Being an average student, I had kept all the doors open for my future. I was preparing for MBBS, BDS, Engineering and sort of Pharma too. (“You never know what life has for you” they said). I guess most of us probably had no clue if we wanted to graduate in that field till we graduated. That’s how it works in India. You get a MBBS, Engineering or a Pharma degree first and then decide what you have to actually do in your life.

          So by now, we were very much obsessed with our cellphones. Staying up late night, at times even till dawn, just to chat with our ‘friend’ made us feel pretty cool. Our routine by now had no sports in it. We never just met our friends. It had to be at some or the other food joint which we wouldn’t leave without eating.  By the time we reached our graduation phase, the junk food started getting accompanied by beer. And cigarettes in some cases too. The sleep cycle during graduation days became worse.

          So by now, we left our hobbies. We stopped playing any instrument, singing, dancing. We never went on the ground to practise a sport. (There is a huge difference in practising something and doing it for fun). So, our ability to learn something new had rusted pretty badly.  Being with friends never meant just sitting idle and talking. It meant long drives, parties and every other thing which came for a price. So we started losing money. Lack of fitness, beer and smoking ruined our health. Playing an instrument, singing or dancing, all of these which are the most effective stress busters are no more a part of our life. We carry work stress home daily by now. We want to appear cool without being a performer or a sportsman.

          It’s easy to blame the routine and the world around for our present life style. When I address students in different institutes, I often get to hear from them that “Hey! I used to play that instrument/ Sport back in school days. I don’t know what happened later but I lost touch!” We were supposed to take a pause for a small period of time for these things. But we took a stop. If you think eating salads all day long, hitting the gym everyday without playing any sport will help you get any fitter, you are wrong! It is the lifestyle you need to rethink about. And even make your beloved ones think about.

          This is what went wrong. Fix it before you run out of time.

                                                                                  Your beloved,

                                                                                  Anurag Salunke