Bliss Of Life
Part - II

By Pakhangba13 *

I woke up once again to the sound of the neighbor's scooter and I don't have to look at the watch to tell the time. It is 7:30.

His early departure for his office has practically substituted my alarm clock. Sometime it is annoying but I am not complaining. This is the fruit of staying in this crowded colony.

After the scooter, it's the children. Their voices are not less than the scooter. Life in this city has become too monotonous. The college days are over and with no job in hand, I have become a tramp, literally.

At the beginning of every month I have to ask my parent to send me the money to fulfill my basic needs. Someone will surely put up the question, "what is he doing in Delhi?". The reply from my hopeful parent will be "he is preparing for civil service".

The only thing they don't know is, when I will clear the exam. The sun is already strong enough to burn my skin by the time I finished scanning the morning paper. I have brought so many magazines and books in the last few months, since I started my preparation and friend started calling me an IAS aspirant.

Now it's quite a collection, and some have started collecting dust over them. Its been 8 years now, the day I left Manipur with great excitement and dreams. Since then going home is just a kind of vacation for me. And I never got to enjoy my stay there.

Ask me for the reason; I will answer in one word - Endless. But once I get back here, I started thinking of home again. There may not be electricity but the clear summer night has plenty of stars and fireflies to share.

There may not be running water in the house but we have plenty of rain water to collect. And the fishes we catch when the water rises in the stream and rivers are bonus. Hindi movies may not be screened in the theatres but all the movies of our choice is available in CDs and DVDs.

The only problem is, we have to take breaks to complete a movie, for every time the light goes out, because of the countless number of load shedding imposed. Besides, we get those CDs and DVDs much cheaper back home than anywhere else.

So what, if we can't speak or understand their language, their acting and gestures are good enough to understand the story. Spending an afternoon in this congested room can't be better than taking a stroll in the vegetable garden next to our own house.

The fresh cucumber ready to be pluck and eaten. The mongo taste much better with a pinch of salt and green chilly. But life here is also not bad at all. Nobody stop us on the way and ask for our ID or make a body search.

There is no tension and no question of any unexplained fear. And the pace of development is no doubt unquestionable. And I can study peacefully. Getting a job is also not much of a difficulty.

So many company to choose, depending in what you are good at. But I am not looking for the kind of job right now. And if you are in for govt. job, the only thing you have to do is study hard and prepare well for the competitive exams.

The fruits of success will only come when one is determine, persistent and sincere. Delhi University has got some of the best colleges in the country. Getting admission here is something to be proud of. It will be education plus enjoyment.

But just have to be careful not to fall in those dark abyss, bad people exist everywhere. And it would be embarrassing to go back home failing to become a graduate. We should know our priority and be responsible.

And also remember that there is something worst than dying and that is to fail our conviction. People are getting wiser and searching for new ways to live a more comfortable life.

With the level of competition increasing, we must realize one important truth we usually ignore in our state, "if we can learn from hard knocks, we can also learn from soft touches". Acquiring new knowledge is not all about getting a job.

It is also about living a life with healthy and sharp mind. It is also about sharing that knowledge with the ignorant lots. One more advantage of staying out of home is, we know how to prepare our own meals.

Nobody can survive without food. And there will be one lucky girl, who can ask her man to make the dinner for a change. The first time when we set out of home for this new land, we have little knowledge of the kind of people, places; we might come across.

And we hardly know where our destiny lies. Landing away in a place Where familiar faces are hard to reach. Strange place to explore Where our feet have never touch. So, we moved around, seeking Where is it, we called destiny.

After many years at this place, I have learned many things. Each one of us has something to contribute for a better future.

So lets join our hands together and we shall walk towards another dawn.