Thursday, January 22, 2009

So Much To Do, And So Little Time...

"There, it's done at last!" thought Jai as he finished writing his resignation. He was feeling a little sad, a bit apprehensive and wondered whether he was doing the right thing. But then things had changed now. He wondered whether it was too late, whether he had enough time or not. But he was sure of one thing that whatever little time he had, he wanted to live life to the fullest. He didn't want to lie on his deathbed and have any regrets over all the things he wanted to do, but never did.

The next day Jai submitted his resignation. He gave a party to his colleagues/friends and told them that he would be going away for a while. He didn't want them to worry about him, so he didn't tell them the reason behind his decision. The very next day he took off...

Three months later:

Jai's friends are gathered in his apartment. His roommate had called them and showed them what he had found in Jai's cupboard. Everyone was shocked! They called Jai on the number he had given them.

"Jai, where are you? Are you Ok? We are so worried for you!"

"I am in Africa right now. Of course, I am Ok. I did tell you guys that I am taking a little trip and that I would be gone for some time."

"Yes, you did, but it's been six months now. And then we found your will and the list. It said: "100 things to do before I die" We are your friends Jai, why didn't you tell us? You need to be around friends and family at this time. Come back, Jai."

"Wait a sec, what are you guy's talking about? I am not about to die. I took off because I realized that I was being dragged into a routine, there were so many things that I always wanted to do, but never did for some reason or the other. And I didn't want to wait until I had just a few months to live, to start doing them."

Click.

"Thank God, it's not what we feared!" "I always thought he was a little crazy!" "Yeah, imagine quitting your job and wandering off to God knows where!" "I am so relieved to know that he is OK.". "Man, I can't believe I blew off my date for this!"



P.S You know what's one of the hardest things in writing a story? Deciding on the names of the characters! I am almost tempted to use XYZ, ABC.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

HMMM.... nice... there are so many things to do in life and i would never want to see life go wasted away, resigning one to his/her own fate... there has to be some resilience no doubt...but then there has to be this angst. a feeling to fight back and will to change wats happening to u.

if the protagonist thinks and understands wats happening to him and yet resigns himself to his fate then he would be at the end left with the two options as the protagonist of ur earlier post....

one must definitely have a list of to-do things...that reminds a person what he actually is in those times, when he is resigning himself to the fate and accepting the circumstances and situations as a fatalist.

What a person actually is is faaaaaaaaar to different from what he becomes when he bows down to the situations and circumstances that life offers him...i like the protagonists spirit of just leaving away things and doing wat his heart wills...

I wish I could do this...I mean I know there is nothing Stopping me other than a negligible bank balance...Who would fund my fantasies???

Rambler said...

@Anonymous
There are people who just drop everything and do what their heart wants. That's probably the simplest way of living! But not everyone can do that.

Yea money is a big issue when it comes to doing what you want. There is always a conflict whether you should be saving for the future or just enjoy the present!

Amrit said...

Wow...jai is a gutsy fellow. I so much want to do the same thing..but couldn't do it!! I am stucked in this rat race where I wanna outclass in corporate world...day in day night I spend almost entire time in office.

But may be there is an element of proving myself which keeps me going..may be thats what I want too! :)

But certainly there are so many things to do..and I have not started on it yet. This post evoked that feeling...let see how it goes.

Rambler said...

@Amrit
That's exactly the feeling what made me write this story. There are so many things we want to do, but somehow they get buried under the day-to-day stress of life.

wire said...

I totally agree, picking names is a hard process.

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