Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. Buddha🌸🌸

Under the umbrella of a small sleepy town lived a tiny populace, peaceful in its womb! And I spent most part of my childhood playing merry-go-round here!

Here, people were simple. They exchanged greetings every morning, shared the dishes they cooked, visited each other’s homes and stood by eachother when in crisis. This almost sounds like utopia, but a similar kind of life exists on a Japanese Island mentioned in the book ‘Ikigai!’ Those who haven’t read it yet, must give it a shot!

When you take this kind of heaven for granted, there rises a deep desire to step into the hustle-bustle and explore the unknown! Why would you do that? I guess that’s human nature.

My first French class was at the Alliance Française Institute of Mumbai. A thickly populated metropolitan city of 20 million people! Suddenly, this woke me up to a whole new culture, where people spoke when needed, never stepped into a house without notice, dining with others meant that, you paid, your half of the bill.

Nevertheless, I jogged up seamlessly into this fast paced life, like a champion in an olympic tace. Then, aspired to be in the media, struggled, succeeded and after a decade, decided to press the pause button to this whole drama.

A few fundamental questions like What is life? What brings me happiness? Why amI here? bothered me for sometime. I felt that dipping into my childhood memories made me happy and my life was really good and content back then.

The struggle continued with the last question, on what is the true purpose of life and why am I here on earth? Was it life in the woods of the small sleepy town or is it in the cacophony of the metro? My heart whispered to me in silence, every moment is life, and to live it fully is the purpose!!

Signing off….Neelima Neel🌸🌸