Saturday, April 28, 2007

27... and miles to go...

I was born 27 years ago today.

My childhood pal's grandma, living in the house opposite to mine, died today :(.

Birth and death. Like two sides of a coin.

It's a li'l scary. Not the aging part. I mean the "What have you done so far worthwhile in your life" part.

The grandma lived to a ripe old age and every one paid her their respects today. She was well-loved by all.

What have I done in my life - so far - to warrant such a respect, if I were to - god forbid - die today?

Let's see, in the past 27 years I managed to -

1. Get admitted in one of the best colleges in India, flunk repeatedly and finally manage to pass out of architecture college

2. Find out that I can write. I CAN WRITE! I AM NOT WORTHLESS!

3. Get infatuated in and out of then-divine and now-blah dudes (both on-screen and real life). Learn that all that's white is not fevicol (lol)

4. Win a writers' fellowship from a US magazine and visit the great country... come back to motherland, write a series of eight picture books and start tasting success as a writer

5. Become closer to parents in one year and persuade them to let go of me

6. Go back to US again as a trainee in the same magazine that gave me the fellowship

7. Manage to find one true love - New York. Fall utterly and madly in love with the place. Wish to be buried there.

8. Like all true love stories, break up with New York (visa expiration) and return to motherland. Get commissioned to write 40 picture books on Mahabharatha and complete it exactly a year later (avg. = one book in 10 days)

9. Become a freelance columnist for some cool glossies in South India and snag a job as a Copy Lead in Officetiger

10. Been a good friend and confidante to some great friends like Sudha who remember my birthday and send me gift certificate when I least expected it (talk about pleasant shocks!)

So. I guess I have not done bad. But still... there are so many things I want to do. I want to take workshops for writers. I want to start a career counselling center for students. I want to visit a country a year. I want to go to New York and listen to that Tibetan music at Times Square. I want to start my own magazine soon.

Miles to go. And the average goal rate ain't so good.

But I'll try. That's all we can do, right?