Chale Chalo!
If there is one thing that intrigues me most on this planet, it is the people.
Especially, when I see something special, something extraordinary from what we call ‘ordinary men and women’, I feel so much alive!
Here are some examples of extraordinary people that I know:
-Dad has a cousin who lost her parents at a very young age. She lost her daughter (her only child) to Cancer. A large part of her married life went into taking care of an ever-bedridden mother-in-law. She’s barely 50 and just about a month back, she lost her husband in an accident. However, whenever I have met her, she has always been very cheerful, very positive, very strong!
-Wife has a young cousin who is diagnosed with Cancer. This fellow is hardly 17 but he has taken this illness in his stride. If there’s anyone in the family who is (emotionally) not affected by his illness, it is him! He knows a lot about what’s happened to him, talks to doctors to understand more and never ever shows any signs of pain, suffering or sorrow!
-Father-in-law has a cousin who fell in love with a lady from another religion. He waited more than a decade to get his family to see his side of the story and married that lady. (They are such a lovely couple, there’s no bitterness in them even though most of their young age went into this struggle!)
-Father-in-law has a cousin who is married to an absolute pain of a man. To add, her first child is mentally challenged. Her life is one of the most difficult I have seen and still she is always so energetic, always cheerful and full of life!
-I have a younger cousin who is in love with a girl of another caste. Despite tremendous opposition from his family, he was determined to convince his parents and marry only after their approval. It has been more than four years since he started convincing his parents and after a lot of ups and downs, finally, he is going to get engaged to that girl this Diwali!
These all are incidents of a greater magnitude but if I look closely around, I see so many instances of extraordinary achievements in routine life;
I can’t stand a day of train travel, my parents must have traveled for years in Mumbai local trains and it was a way of life for them.
Wife has to leave home at 7 AM to reach her office in time so day-in, day-out, she gets up at 5:30 to cook my breakfast and lunch.
There is this Grandma-in-law (Father-in-law’s Mom) who travels to UK at the age of 80, stays at her nephew’s place without any fuss and enjoys every moment of her overseas travel; she is just so much interested in life even at this age.
I have an uncle whose mom and wife couldn’t be more different. He is one of the most gentlemanly soul I know and even after surviving 25 years of constant domestic conflict, still has maintained his calm and decency.
I have had my share of problems in life; I am sure everyone has! But when I look around, I see such magnificent examples of grit, determination and courage; my problems look miniscule to me.
I have never had film stars or cricketers or political leaders as my heroes; I never needed to. I have my heroes all around me!
It is never about the size of the dog in the fight; it is about the size of the fight in the dog, isn’t it?
Especially, when I see something special, something extraordinary from what we call ‘ordinary men and women’, I feel so much alive!
Here are some examples of extraordinary people that I know:
-Dad has a cousin who lost her parents at a very young age. She lost her daughter (her only child) to Cancer. A large part of her married life went into taking care of an ever-bedridden mother-in-law. She’s barely 50 and just about a month back, she lost her husband in an accident. However, whenever I have met her, she has always been very cheerful, very positive, very strong!
-Wife has a young cousin who is diagnosed with Cancer. This fellow is hardly 17 but he has taken this illness in his stride. If there’s anyone in the family who is (emotionally) not affected by his illness, it is him! He knows a lot about what’s happened to him, talks to doctors to understand more and never ever shows any signs of pain, suffering or sorrow!
-Father-in-law has a cousin who fell in love with a lady from another religion. He waited more than a decade to get his family to see his side of the story and married that lady. (They are such a lovely couple, there’s no bitterness in them even though most of their young age went into this struggle!)
-Father-in-law has a cousin who is married to an absolute pain of a man. To add, her first child is mentally challenged. Her life is one of the most difficult I have seen and still she is always so energetic, always cheerful and full of life!
-I have a younger cousin who is in love with a girl of another caste. Despite tremendous opposition from his family, he was determined to convince his parents and marry only after their approval. It has been more than four years since he started convincing his parents and after a lot of ups and downs, finally, he is going to get engaged to that girl this Diwali!
These all are incidents of a greater magnitude but if I look closely around, I see so many instances of extraordinary achievements in routine life;
I can’t stand a day of train travel, my parents must have traveled for years in Mumbai local trains and it was a way of life for them.
Wife has to leave home at 7 AM to reach her office in time so day-in, day-out, she gets up at 5:30 to cook my breakfast and lunch.
There is this Grandma-in-law (Father-in-law’s Mom) who travels to UK at the age of 80, stays at her nephew’s place without any fuss and enjoys every moment of her overseas travel; she is just so much interested in life even at this age.
I have an uncle whose mom and wife couldn’t be more different. He is one of the most gentlemanly soul I know and even after surviving 25 years of constant domestic conflict, still has maintained his calm and decency.
I have had my share of problems in life; I am sure everyone has! But when I look around, I see such magnificent examples of grit, determination and courage; my problems look miniscule to me.
I have never had film stars or cricketers or political leaders as my heroes; I never needed to. I have my heroes all around me!
It is never about the size of the dog in the fight; it is about the size of the fight in the dog, isn’t it?
posted by Leziblogger at 1:02 AM
6 Comments:
"I have my heroes all around me!"..
Well said !! That's the way, that's the life !!
You have a wonderful surrounding around you and your writing has made me smile in spite of some dull moments.
Thanks a lot and I mean it.
Thank you very much, Cuckoo! Really appreciate your comments!
I agree with Cuckoo again :-)
Ordinary people with extraordinary courage have a very inspiring influence on us. And quite a few times we can find such heroes quite close by.
Why dont you invite other people to share their stories about people they know with such spirit of life.
wow!!!!!!!!!! really appreciate what u wrote. am going through a very difficult time in my life and that is what is making me appreciate ur writing more........i would really like to see if some of these heroes that u are surrounded by would let us know the secret of their zest for life. i would like to learn from them and pick up pointers to move on
Anonymous: Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving a comment!
well, what I have learnt from these people(and am still learning) is that no situation is so hopeless that we have to give up! Like they say 'This too shall pass'!
And if these people can show so much courage, no reason people like you and I can't.
Her's hoping the difficult period in your life ends soon!
This is one of the best things I have read in a really long time.. and especially today which, in some ways, made me lose faith in the daily grind called life.
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