Random Musings 😏, Part-11
Soul Letter #38
Hello👋 folks, Shubham here.
I am back with another edition of Random Musings.
Discipline is COOL
What are the things that come to mind on hearing the word discipline?
Determined soldiers performing robust drills, immature kids being schooled by teachers (I had a few), sports coaches bellowing at players.
Most of us don’t like the sound of the word.
Why?
For starters, discipline got a bad boy image since our school days. Rules and restrictions forced upon exuberant young souls that felt like absolute tyranny.
I believe some of the rules were non-sense, and few teachers went too overboard with the practice as a means to boost their egos. Therefore discipline fell in Didn’t-like-this list for many of us.
Secondly, discipline is a tough nut to crack. Have you tried hitting the gym daily, following a diet, or quitting any addiction? It requires a certain degree of commitment aka discipline to stick by these practices.
Lastly, it is labelled as lame.
Blowing up a spontaneous yet alluring night-outing because you ought to sleep on time (that helps you to stay on track the next day ) won’t impress your friends.
People believe one can’t have fun if they are disciplined.
However, it’s the opposite. If you use discipline to get all the mandatory stuff done then you can easily make time for the things you enjoy.
In contrast, people prevailing on a whim appear to be living an impulsive, appealing, in-the-moment type of life however, their actions are largely governed by their circumstances instead of them.
Discipline is cool, guys!
It is the Dark Knight silently watching out for us.
Bookshelf 📚
I started reading Remnants of a Separation: A History of the Partition through Material Memory by Aanchal Malhotra.
According to the synopsis, this book is a unique attempt to revisit the Partition through objects that refugees carried with them across the border. These belongings absorbed the memory of a time and place, remaining latent and undisturbed for generations. They now speak of their owner's pasts as they emerge as testaments to the struggle, sacrifice, pain, and belonging at an unparalleled moment in history.
Aanchal went to refugees both in India and Pakistan asking questions such as which object did they bring along with them during partition? Why did they choose it? Do they have any regrets? And so on.
I am still on the foreword and already there are some eye-catching stories.
Author Gurcharan Das remembers a bunch of keys with fifty-one keys that belonged to his maternal grandmother. While leaving Lyallpur(now in Pakistan) to move to Ludhiana she locked each and every almirah and door to keep the house safe. She was convinced they would return home soon.
Then there is the story of Ved Prakash Jawa who was a seven-year-old and lived in Multan at the time of partition. His ancestral home was raided by Muslims from neighboring settlements.
Jawa recalls he had to pull himself free to escape his mother’s hold who was undertaking Jauhar (mass suicide taken by women by walking into the fire).
He then took a gunshot inflicted by his own father who thought it was better to kill his son instead of being assaulted by the enemies.
But Jawa’s will to live kept him alive as he ran through the fields of Multan to reach his aunt’s house. Eventually, he moved to independent India along with his remaining family.
I will share more stories as I read along.
True Love ♥
Growing up watching romcoms our generation’s vision of love has been muddled with surreal expectations, that eventually leave us dissatisfied.
Anyways remember Slowly(The letter writing app)?
I frequently correspond with a wise-old man named Jan den Hollander from Netherlands. He is aged around 62 and recently completed 40 years of marriage(Congrats! Jan).
Out of curiosity, I asked him to share the tale of how he met his life partner.
The story is beautiful nothing short of a movie.
I wanted all of you to read it and luckily, Jan was okay to share this in today’s newsletter.
Enjoy😋
A Quick Heads-Up
Writing two newsletters a week is becoming a little hard 😞. In the last few weeks, I had to ship old published articles because I couldn’t write a new one.
Therefore in the upcoming weeks, there will be days when I might not publish :(
I will try my best, but at times life intervenes and nothing much can be done.
Maybe I am about to burn out 🔥 or maybe I lack time management.
Hope you guys understand.
Hope you enjoyed this edition.
Signing off for today :) Until next time, Houdoe! 🙋♂️
Previous Soul Letters 🗞
Again a well written piece bhai. Just keep going 😀