Random Musings 😏, Part-26
Soul Letter #72
Hello👋 folks, Shubham here.
I am back with another edition of Random Musings.
The Lost Earphones
In the final semester of my engineering, I couldn’t land an internship due to my mediocrity.
Therefore I had to do an in-house major project which was nothing less than a vacation.
We had to go to college once a week to share updates with our project mentor.
What made it even sweeter was the fact that in the final year, we were allotted single hostel rooms with an unlimited WIFI connection.
You can sense where I am heading :)
Yup, one could stream hours and hours of music (and also the stuff you just imagined).
We know how comforting listening to music is. Using earphones further enhances the experience. In fact, it is the go-to accessory for most of us.
It’s like once you have seen the clear world after wearing glasses, you rarely drop them.
Calculating the upcoming extensive use of earphones I decided to buy new branded ones.
The happiness was short-lived as I soon lost them.
Initially, I assumed that I would find them sooner or later as they must be somewhere in the room.
However, the optimism didn’t last long as a couple of days flew by without any findings.
I casually checked my room multiple times but still had no success.
Eventually, I started suspecting people who might have taken it from my room (our rooms were often left unlocked). Many of my friends were also on the list, after all, it was a costly pair.
Within a week I was convinced someone must have stolen them.
My prime suspect was an acquaintance, let’s name him X.
X was a shrewd fellow who rang you only for favors.
I came up with a solid plan to confront him directly, catching him off guard.
Our laundry guy visited once a week to collect clothes. I thought to tag along with X on his next visit.
I accompanied X to give our clothes on D-Day.
As planned I boldly claimed that someone stole my earphones from my room. Contrary to my expectations X didn’t even raise a brow (shrewd fellow, I tell you).
The snake even sympathized with my loss.
Frustrated, I immediately left after dropping my clothes along with my hopes.
And guess what?
Within minutes X enters my room fiddling with my earphones.
Aha! I knew it. My plan worked (maybe I should become a detective).
Anyway, I was making up my mind about whether to forgive him after his confession.
But to my surprise X began yelling at me. Apparently, my insinuations had offended him.
The cursing aggravated with each passing second.
Turns out the earphones were present in the pocket of one of my shorts. The laundry guy found them while folding our clothes.
He handed them to X to give them to me.
Losing a moral battle to X was a hard one to digest.
The incident often makes me ponder how often we search for happiness, assurance, and love in others.
We are convinced that a part of it lies in the outside world and once we find it we will feel complete.
But my friend here's the thing: “you are whole by yourself”.
Everything you are seeking is present within you.
Bookshelf 📚
Recently I finished Shiva Trilogy by Amish Tripathi.
I remember a decade ago there was hype around this series. Back then my cousin had a copy which he claims is still there somewhere in our house.
Since then the book has been on my read list.
And I finished it now, better late than never.
The first two parts are amazing.
The story treads in a rational manner building up to life’s paradoxes.
Who is right and who is wrong?
Whose way of living is correct?
Can a good eventually turn to evil?
A pinch of supernatural flavors spices it up even more. You will be reminded of all the mythological trivia you have heard while growing up.
The war cry of “HAR HAR MAHADEV” will leave anyone with goosebumps.
Each character is developed in accordance with their mythical traits.
However, after such a great setup the conclusion was disappointing.
I would recommend you to read the first two books and read the summary of the last on the internet.
Amish found a great fictional formula to tranquilize our mythological curiosity.
My favorite quote from the book was,
“The opposite of love is not hate. Hate is just love gone bad.
The actual opposite of love is apathy. When you don't care a damn as to what happens to the other person.”
It’s Sick
Yesterday while scrolling through LinkedIn I came across a post by Humans of Bombay about a girl being sexually abused by a relative when she was young.
The comments were loaded with similar anecdotes.
There was one incident in which a girl was inappropriately touched by her uncle. After years she realized she was molested and reported the incident to her parents who blatantly ignored her.
To this day the relative is treated like a normal guest at her home.
Till now my perception was once such victims open up, everyone ought to support them.
However in this case the parents of the victim only didn’t take any stance.
Hard to believe right?
Your parents are supposed to be the pillars of your life.
Imagine them not standing up for you when you most need them.
And then there are victims who don’t speak up considering all the shame and consequences their revelations might bring to their families.
On the surface, they act normal but deep down they are battling with the trauma.
They attend family gatherings in accompany of their worst demons and yet continue with their charade.
It’s a bit unsettling to envision the people in your circle who appear to be full of life might have gone through troubles you have absolutely no idea of.
Here’s sending out love and strength to people who experienced or still experience such things.
I wish you the courage to stand up against these devils and hope your loved ones stand by you if you come out.
Hope you enjoyed this edition.
Signing off for today :) Until next time, Houdoe! 🙋♂️