Has anyone ever thought that there are so many things to do and so less time to accomplish them all? Being a techy and with technology changing every second, there is so much to learn and keep learning that surely one lifetime isn’t enough. But out of my little techy world exists an even more huge world that is yet to be discovered and explored, things that need to be done, places to be visited, people to be met, words to be spoken, emotions to be expressed, feelings to be felt, passions to be fought for, food to be eaten… endless list I must say.

We all have a list of things to do before we die, but how many things do we really accomplish? We get so involved in this crazy vicious cycle of our mundane life that we really forget the simplicities of life and our unpursued passions. Since I was small I always had a passion to travel and explore new places – fancy places, jungles, temples, deserts, mountains… the list just goes on from country to country. But once I grew up I realised that there were priorities and responsibilities that needed my attention and got so busy in giving it all my attention that I forgot about my one dream. Last year when one of my best friends made me realize the brutal truth when I expressed the desire to pursue my MBA, it hit me hard and bad. I was loosing out on time. The one resource we all had little yet a lot of, and if planned and executed efficiently, we’d be able to accomplish all that we wanted.

My dear friend – Chiranthan Rajhans – a unique one rather, which one day I will write about – made me realise that my MBA plan was baseless unless I tried to recognize what I really wanted. After giving it a lot of time and thought, I realized that I wanted to actually get out and travel the world. An MBA was just an excuse – I was born a techy and will die as one. “Chiru” as we call him, did a similar thing when he was working for a startup – one fine day got up and went to Leh-Ladakh leaving his comfort zone of a nice cushioned bed, running water, bike to travel, all available facilities and all luxuries to help out an NGO to re-habilitate the region after it was hit by flash floods. After his interactions with the local people and other help that came in and after a total of three months working on exhaustive projects in low temperatures and constrained environments, he was a changed man – truely.

His perspective had changed – he wanted to travel – to help – to make a difference. He said “Husain – I want to work for 2 years and then take an off for six months to help the needy where I can.” – I being a person with responsibilities that I believe are huge, felt it was impossible for me to do that. I always kept seeing every obstacle as a reason for not being able to pursue my dreams. I just needed a reason to blame it on. But what I learnt from Chiru, I explored it even further. Later he found a job in Germany and has now travelled there to settle down for a few years. He yet finds time out of his busy schedule to travel and explore the wilderness – in and around Germany. I’m sure he has responsibilities and thinks about it, but firmly said – “Had the balls” to take that decision.

At the start of this year, like most people, I made a resolution – I will travel. In Jan – I went to Goa as that was already planned as a Post Marriage trip by a couple-friend. The trip was long and fun. In Feb – I again went to Goa with office buddies – but exploring the night life and different places. March came in with a sudden plan for Bangkok – a total unplanned trip which I enrolled with totally unknown strangers (except 2 of my best friends – Aditya and Sushant). After that I started my treks after an embargo of 9 months. Lately – Guaghar happened with my college friends and now cant wait for August – a visit to heaven – Kashmir.

What I’ve learnt

Life is short and we have a lot of things to do. But if you really want to make good use of this one lifetime, get out there and take charge. Stop letting the world kick you in the face and throwing your dreams down the drain. Yes there will be reasons why you cant achieve some of your dreams, but ensure that you work them out and they will just be mere milestones to your goal.