Welcome to my Caravansary

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” — Thomas A. Edison

Let me Tell you my Story

It is true that we, ordinary humans, will become true masters of our destiny only when human society starts controlling collectively the production of all that it needs; but the bad news is, it’s not happening anytime soon. Nevertheless, that should never stop us from defying the dictates of our social system that tries to hold us back, because the most fascinating and promising thing about we humans is that we are capable of fighting all odds to create our destinies on our own. Let me begin by telling you something about my life. I feel that I owe all the strength that I have today to defeats and failures. We fear failure in life, but believe me, they are necessary – to overcome our worst fears, to become brave and strong, to shed all false illusions about self and others and learn humility.

Starting from the Scratch?

After many failures in life, which seemed at one point of time to have crippled me, after realizing that there is no going back and correcting all that went wrong, after discovering that I was past that vital formative age when people focus on their goals and do the groundwork for a successful and rewarding life, a time came when I started feeling hopeless and lost. So, will I have to start again from the scratch? To set new goals? At this age? – such were the questions before me. But little did I know then that that loss also meant the loss of those fetters that had kept me enchained mentally and emotionally. It was a tremendous storm, it destroyed all I had built, it destroyed me, but it also destroyed my mental block and in a moment, I was free. Ravindranath Tagore writes:

“That night when the storm shattered my doors

You entered my room and I didn’t know.”

I have no regrets today whatsoever!

Why should I have regrets – All my failures have liberated me, made me a free bird who harbours no false hopes, who trusts but self, who is building her nest by herself. Failures teach you so much, they give you so much strength, they teach you perseverance. I have no regrets because there is but one thing that nothing was able to demolish – the desire to make my life worthwhile, to make best use of the talent I have, to see that my hand is one among the millions that are trying to weave a new and better future for humanity!

I have learnt to celebrate little achievements

It is said life becomes simpler and better for those who barely escape the jaws of death because they know that they have won a second lease of life. Therefore, everything they do, each breath they take in, seems like a reward, a blessing to them. I identify with such people. I celebrate every little achievement and progress I make and I don’t quibble or complain if I don’t. The best thing after losing everything is that there’s nothing more to be lost! When all your expectations are shattered, you get rid of the useless sack of bogus petty expectations, bloated ambitions, egocentrism, false relationships, and phony illusions that you carry on your head your whole life just to find it getting heavier with time. Kabir Das says:

“Good that my pitcher broke,

I escaped fetching water!”

Only an unburdened heart and mind can move towards truth and beauty and open his heart to the vast world burgeoning with life, ideas, possibilities, struggles that await us.

“The difference between average people and achieving people is their perception of and response to failure.” — John C. Maxwell

We just need to do our little bit

The realization of your inner strength makes you self-dependent. I am chasing my dreams. I don’t know if I will be able to make it big but I know nothing goes waste. Nothing. Failures of one generation make way for the success of the next. We just need to do our little bit and do it well – with all our strength and might. True success lies in the effort not in the result. All ideas about life and doing things, which I once swore by, now appear in a new light. I am not more responsive to different views, ideas, and I am willing to unlearn and relearn.

I am alive, I am still young and in good health!

Yes, I am more at peace with myself now. Nevertheless, just as before, I am still in love with the moods and shades and all the sad melodies of the seasons that come and camp like gypsies inside me. I carry them and all their haunting melodies and hypnotic hues inside me wherever I go. The night sky full of mysteries is still for me the most sublime, the most tender and the most graceful song of creation. Its breathtaking timelessness, its heart-stirring immensity and the shortness of the few days I spend here on this lovely blue ‘terra’ which itself dances day and night to that sad, immortal, empyrean tune, makes me feel so humble and so blessed that I am alive, that I am still young and in good health, and there’s so much I can still do. It’s never too late to begin they say!

I Promise to Stand up again Everytime I fall

Come what may, I have promised to myself to keep intact my faith in goodness and humanity. I dream about a future when humans will comprehend some of the mysteries of the beautiful, enigmatic, everlasting ocean high above, when life will start anew, when every woman and every man on this blue wanderer floating since billions of years in the endless ocean would be free. And I mean to fight for that dream till my last breath and stand up for it again every time I fall.

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

If you’ve read the whole post and feel that you have similar ideas about life, if you have been through similar experiences, I request you to share them. This Caravansary has enough rooms for all nomads who are out to explore the world on their own. Join our sisterhood that connects and transcends continents, let us become a community, and share our worlds!

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