WAISI WAALI KHUSHI~ What It Takes To Be Happy

Time alludes us all while we like a misnomer, continue to pretend like it 'eludes' us. While we somewhat accept that time is passing by and we are struggling in a race that only has a beginning and an end.. the truth is that Time itself runs as if it had its own journey to follow while we are like the milestones it merely crosses by.

We are all running, past each other, past our own selves in search of some thing, some one and amidst all this chaos, seldom do we pause for a while and realise...What's missing? The old lady standing beside you in the metro, what story do the wrinkles hide? The little boy struggling on his feet to grab the next monkey bar in the park next to your office, the college students laughing loudly,sharing an ice-cream... Life is happening right there, right now. Every moment that is passing by is gone..and will never come back.

I think the problem with us is that we expect ourselves to be something, to achieve a level which would then make us get what we want- however specific we get with the "something"..what career, which car, which house, how to look, eat and dress, and the list goes on and on... we fail to realise what we are losing out Now. This moment, we are planning a future and working so hard that we don't even care to see what we are missing Now.

Sometimes we falter with our own expectations, sometimes it is good to jump off from the top...like the movie says. It is good to jump off from that high-rise building of expectations that we've built for ourselves and right where we stand Today. Breathe the air, feel it cool you down. See the people around you, the colors, the expressions- See life happening around you.

Yes, what I am saying might seem abstract to you but think for a moment.. What do all the self-help books have in common? They don't tell you to literally jump off a cliff or resign from your job and sit at home. But what they do tell you is that stop working so hard that you let it all go away, because one day even if you happen to reach somewhere there at the top, you won't have those who have been there with you, because guess what? You weren't there with them. You were busy in your own rat- race and though your true friends and family love you, they eventually move away for the lack of interest you show in them. What is important is that you live today- be at peace with yourself. Love your family and friends, make them feel special. Love your own self. Of course, working towards a goal is essential and one must do so, but at a pace where they do not miss out on the finer subtler moments with their loved ones.

The first step is the most difficult. It frightens us even more to even imagine overcoming our own inhibitions. They are like a plastic blanket that we cover ourselves with, knowing it'd choke us. But we must choose to. Because we have to conquer our greatest hurdle- FEAR. We fear too much, from too many things. When we are young, we are taught from the very beginning to fear, in fact it now comes naturally to us. In the movie Waise Waali Khushi, Punit, an entrepreneur is shown to be doing so well in his career, but when it comes to him sitting in a room alone, it suffocates him. It makes him uncomfortable to be one with himself. It is a big decision- whether he'd continue with the Diaspora in his professional life or would he give himself a chance to be in tune with his inner self? To relax and let go of all the clutter that he has buzzed past without looking back and realising the pace at which he had lived his life so far?

But he takes the plunge and it was so refreshing to see a realistic character, living it up. No, he isn't shown to have lived his entire life in the short film, like a fancy fairytale. In fact what makes the movie interesting is its motto- Life is not about a start and an end. Neither is happiness a moment. Both are complimentary processes. Both are part of a journey that we're all walking. Some run, some limp, some sit down... The point is to keep moving, and take it at a pace where we can enjoy the journey as an experience in itself.

In this movie by Large Short Films, I reaffirmed to myself to take that one step...That one shot of craziness, that one belief in the moment of turmoil, that one smile through the tears-That is all it takes really.

But we complicate, and complicate some more, till we find no way out, till we have clouded our own vision with a thousand array of opinions, perceptions and doubts.Doubts arise fear and fear succumbs every bit of our endeavour to explore within ourselves.

I loved the film and I think each one of us who have felt the Fear to be happy, who have tucked their vulnerabilities under their pillows every night to sleep and to those who have felt the rush and yet haven't dared to take the plunge..Now is the time...Take it.

Because this moment will pass by too.