One morning away from earth....

It was early morning in Rameshwaram. We were in the deepest zone of our sleep. The exploits from the previous evening had left us exhausted. 
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. I picked up my phone. It was 4 AM. I pretended to be asleep. One of us went to open the door. It was the hotel manager. 
"Your jeep has arrived sir. Get ready in 30 minutes"
We all looked at each other's faces, startled, confused. Nevertheless, everyone freshened up. As usual, I was the last one. And I did take longer than the rest. They kept banging the washroom door. But for me, it was routine. 
When I finally came out, it was already 5. We hurried downstairs. The manger had that look on his face which told us that he wasn't very pleased. Nonetheless, we ignored him and reached for our jeep parked outside.
It was a different story outside the hotel. Almost the whole town was already up, beginning with their daily chores. Surprised, we boarded the jeep. With my camera already out, I choose the front seat. And the journey began.
As we made our way through the town, we could see people coming to and from the temple, some chanting mantras in a language we failed to understand. This was exciting.
And then we left the main town and were out on the deserted road. It was still dark. We could only see as much the headlights revealed.
I have been on many roads at weird hours. But this felt totally different. It was ghostly quiet. The only sound was that of our jeep, roaring in the dark. 
Soon, another sound joined in. The waves. We could smell it in the air. The sea was nearby. But it was too dark to see. And then it began to follow us. The road and the sea, separated by a thick line of bushes. I was at the edge of my seat. This was simply beyond amazing. I was desperate for that one glance of the sea. The sound of the waves were making me go crazy. 
I looked at the back seat. It was a different story there. People were trying to finish off the reminder of their sleep. 
I felt it to be so stupid. Sleep was the last thing in my mind. 
And as the darkness began to recede, my curiosity began to sour. Every now and then, the bushes would thin up and the Bay of Bengal would reveal itself before hiding off again. 
15 minutes later, the road disappeared. And things just turned a bit more exciting. The Arabian Sea had started closing in from the other side. And now we were driving through sand squeezed between two seas. Everyone had abandoned their sleep by now. 
We soon came to a halt. It was a Check point. The driver went to get the required clearances.  Meanwhile we stepped out. And the transition was made. It seemed as if we had been secretly transported into another world. The Arabian Sea was fabulous. The sun still lay hidden. But there was a general illumination. We couldn't stop ourselves from running to the beach. I had never been to the sea at this hour. The sand was buttery smooth. And the horizon was magical. It had all shades of red and blue. We could make out sillehoutes of fishermen preparing for the day’s catch.
And then we heard the horn. We rushed back to our vehicle and continued our journey ahead, wondering if whatever lay ahead could be more mesmerizing than what we just saw. 
As we passed the Check point, the landscape gradually transformed. The path slowly lead us directly through the Bay of Bengal. This was beyond any description. We were literally driving into the sea! How do you describe that? 
We were the first people to arrive that day. And all through the journey, none of us uttered a word. We were trying to soak in as much we could. 
And it seemed Mother Nature had made up her mind to reveal all her mystical charm this day. 
By the time we reached Dhanushkodi, the sun had slowly started to rise up from the sea. Yes, were going to Dhanushkodi, one of the most astonishing ghost towns in India. And we were the first to arrive that day.

Now, what we witnessed thereafter was two hours of pure magic. I have never seen a sea so beautiful, a place so exotic. No, this wasn’t about the beach. There was something about the place. When you hear the word ghost town, you expect it to be scary, to be a place of extreme wilderness. But this was completely unique. Or maybe it was just the way I interpreted it. All those ruined buildings, all those remainders of devastation excited that deepest part within me. That was the moment when I felt like all that I ever wished from life was here, right in front of my eyes. It was a weird kind of happiness. I couldn’t just stop smiling. I wanted to stay there for the rest of my life, away from humanity, away from sorrows, away from chaos.

We could only spend two hours before other people began to arrive. But we weren’t complaining. Cause, we had lived our time. What is much more astounding is the fact that all that time we spent there, we hardly had any significant conversation. We had all been cast under a magical spell that rendered us speechless.

The weirdest part of the whole story still is that I don’t want to go there again! Yes, and the reason is simple. The time I spent there still remains the most unique experience of my lifetime and I doubt it can ever be repeated. And now I can’t associate that place with any other kind of feeling. And I am not willing to take any chances. This is special, and I will always keep it that way.

The 'LIFE' in our lives.....

What is the most essential ingredient of life? Some say its money, some want respect, some say happiness. What we often forget is that there is not one entity that can come out as most significant masala in this curry of life. It is often a combination of many elements, the hardships, the sacrifices, and the achievement. It is a journey through all the odds of life to happiness.
Now what makes you happy is again unique. We often don’t even know that one element in our lives that brings us joy, which makes our life so liveable.
For 20 years since I started to walk and think, I had no idea of what it was that made me feel good. All through those years, I struggled. At first I believed that getting good marks, being a good child could make me happy. And that’s exactly what I aimed at. I shaped my way, right from a very non-academic background to being a student of reputation. It worked well enough, right until my high school. I succeeded in building a reputation for myself and made my parents proud. But then I went out, and things changed, drastically. I had a look back and I had nothing to cherish, no outstanding memories, nothing that would want me to go back. And I was lost. For another two years, I really had no idea what I had been doing. Life was uncertain.
Things worsened when the school was over. I didn’t know where I was headed. So I took leave for a year. Gave myself some time exploring my own self.
And a year later, I found myself, here in Architecture.
It’s funny, how life transforms itself. It is more like a river, it shapes its way, curls and twists and doesn’t even drop a clue, as to what might come next. And all we are, is just a bunch of lazy travellers. The journey of life is full of surprises, crazy unexpected ones. But then, what really matters is how we take this journey. We could either sit, like pilgrims in a motor boat, or we could turn the boat into a raft and let the thrill began as every rapid becomes an opportunity to make our lives more interesting, more liveable.
Well, those are big words up there, right? Well, all these years in architecture, and that’s what I learned the best - being able to describe what I feel.
And it didn’t happen all sudden. There were a lot of things, loads of people that shaped me the way I am today. No, I didn’t join any ‘Art of Living’ classes, for you see, life isn’t an entrance exam that someone may teach you how to crack, it’s an experience, unique for each one of us, and we need to figure it out on our own. We need to know what makes us happy. And once we do, we will be an artist.
So, here’s the one thing that I have come to realize. All our accomplishments, all our hard work, is an utter waste, if we forget the most essential character of life, which is the part where we actually live, where we let our emotions guide our actions, where we shut off reason and logic and let our hearts decide for ourselves. Too much filmy? Indeed, but not all components of a film are fictional, are they?
The day I finished my college, I had so much that I wanted to relive. I looked around and there were loads of people who had hated things for all these years and just wanted to get the hell out, to never come back. And then there were those who were shattered, like a dream has just ended and you don’t want to wake up.
It is always we, who are in charge of that boat called life. Sometimes, we are so focussed on the task ahead that we forget to LIVE. Five years in architecture do test you to your limits. But then, that’s what life is. Nothing comes without a chase. The only part that you can actually control is how you do the chasing.
In most of my experiences, the people that hate college most are the ones who spend their entire time, either buried in the books, ones desperate to make it to the top or the ones who fail to make any good friends. Because you see, it’s not the place that makes an experience memorable, it is the people you are with that counts.
When I look back at my five years, there are a thousand things that I did, a bunch of unforgettable people, and a hell lot of memories, the ones that I may never truly be able to relive. But what is much more interesting is the fact that in none of these I picture myself, doing what a regular college student is supposed to do. All I remember is the times I spent doing all that crazy shit with friends, those pranks we put in on people, those outings late night and those never ending journeys. And that is what makes me feel satisfied that all those years weren’t a waste at all. They made me the very person I am today, completely transformed, happy to have LIVED the time of my life.
So, here is a last personal advice to all those willing to take, chase your dreams, do the hard work, but just don’t stop living, find things that make you happy, go crazy, go out and see the world. And above every other thing, make friends, spend time with people, trust them, speak your heart out, prank the hell out of them, love them, and without knowing, without doing anything, you will craft memories, and when it comes to an end, you will not be just going back with a graduation degree and a registration number