About three weeks back I set up a poll on my Instagram stories. In the poll's question, I asked everyone if I should write an article compiling people’s stories through my words. It was meant to be a portrait painted by an artist, or a part of you that I could write, a compilation of your stories weaved by me.
The entire process of doing this would have been 100 times better if I could click each person’s picture personally and jot down their story as well, but the golden rule of planning has a condition applied i.e. things always do not pan out the way we want them to. Hence, I decided to digitize it and I asked 25 people to participate. I sent out a mail asking people questions on how they see their life. Fortunately, 14 replied within the time constraints.
When everyone started sharing their best stories and experiences, I realized how personal and dear they were to each one. The whole idea of sharing one's vulnerabilities requires a lot of courage and I am glad they trusted me with the same. So here it goes, a simple compilation of life from humans of the world. The words were theirs, I was just a mediator.
Diksha Jain
My story is simple. It’s a personal milestone I never imagined I could cross with ease. I used to be so afraid of dogs since one of my childhood experiences had left a mark. My fear of hogs was so paramount that I would refuse to visit my relatives, friends or neighbours who had a pet dog. Soon, my world changed in the blink of an eye when my sibling adopted a dog. I met her only after she was 7 months old, I met her at a circumstance where she was undergoing surgery for something. I was devastated with the pain she was going through and took care of her, despite the fear I had. In a few months when she was up and running, one day when I came back home and called out her name, she came running to me with so much joy that I will never forget that moment. Just like that, I got over the fear of dogs. Their love won over me, and I can surely say that dogs over humans any day. They love you with no conditions applied.
Snigdha Johar
One of the strongest epiphanies I had was when I was in the 8th Standard and my classmates who were no elder than me were falling in “love”. The idea was too naïve for them, but somehow, I had decided to fall for someone only once with the cliché idea of “TRUE LOVE”. To my luck and great choices 12 Years later I am glad I stuck by it.
Smriti Johar
People keep thinking to what do they want to do in life, looking for “their thing”. When I was at school I had decided to peruse fashion designing because I knew it made me happy, gradually it became my passion in no time. After I was accepted in one of India’s best colleges, my final degree and award everything in those four years revolved around making this passion even finer. No amount of hard work seemed too much; in fact, it was fun. I believe that one day it would turn out to be the foundation for my success. Right now, money is my biggest motivation, and the zeal for designing keeps the fire burning.
Anmol Ahuja
My passion, as anyone who would have spent anything beyond the casual minute with me would know, is cinema. It has always been a pursuit to incorporate films into everything I have done. So, they either manifest in passion projects (shout to TheFridayMan) or prove an accessory or method in regular work, whether it’s architecture or writing. Sometimes I like the balance and multidisciplinary stuff, sometimes I hate it. Because when I look around. it feels like things aren’t as sorted or unilateral as others have it or desire. It goes from being a cesspool of insecurities to being an all in one guy. I devised my mantra around it: I hope to cover as much ground as possible, speed my roots as far as possible, so that when the ground beneath my feet starts shrinking, I can land at somewhere I love. Guess what, it’s shrinking now! That’s about it. One may say it’s not a life learning per se, but of the self. Helps me make sense of most of what goes on up there.
Sharing two of my most favorite quotes that presented themselves at opportunities where it proved itself. Since then I have imbibed them. The first one is a quote by Robert Frost: In three words, I can sum up everything I have learned about life. It goes on. The second one, by Robert Louis Stevenson, is a very personal definition. It says, “in each of us, two natures are at war”. It continues, the quote, but I prefer it till here only
Kajal Patra
I once read somewhere that to unburden yourself from things that have been making you feel super heavy emotionally, you have to accept them first. One cannot simply run away from things hoping to have escaped them. The truth is- it comes back like flashes of a defunct bulb haunting you at times when your thoughts are empty. So, the best thing is to accept and take a deep breath.
Deep breaths help! Closing your eyes and drifting to your wonderland helps! Keeping yourself crazy busy and working helps! Or simply not doing anything and just lying on the bed listening to your favourite songs or reading a book helps!
After being through a turmoil of incidents that were not under my control I realized that no matter what every day is a new opportunity, a blank page. You got to doodle your way out in this crazy pretty mess. Dawn and Dusks make you feel nostalgic and calm. And things do get better, so, never ever give up on hope or faith. They do move mountains, sounds very bookish but the past few months have made me believe in them so much.
Himanshu Dhanwal
I have always been blessed with most of the things in life. I never thought much about the world and what was happening around until recently when I realized that there is a lot of suffering concealed by our comfort. People are fighting for their rights, there are suicides, oppression of the minority and so on. After being socially, and politically aware for the past three years I went to the Shaheen Bagh while there were CAA protests going on. The rage, determination and courage that I saw there changed my mind forever. That very moment motivated me to contribute to making a better world, to do something for the underprivileged.
Raunak Kaushik
I can’t describe my passion in one word, so here it goes. Imagine heavy pouring rain, a ball at my feet, running on green lush grass, 7-8 other people to pass the ball to, (no whooshing sound of the net because 3rd world country). It is my solace in chaos, playing on a sunny morning or after a midnight snack, football is my first love.
One of the best realizations I have had very recently is this, “The only thing that matters is the journey.” You might be wondering it's a cliche, but trust me, the more common it is and the truer it gets. But here you go, think about it, we “LITERALLY” came out of nowhere. Out of a null set and would eventually go back to it, where ever it is. It’s a liberating fact, Isn’t it?
In the end, it wouldn't matter if you lived a luxurious comfortable life if everyone respected you if you lived a terrible life if you lived alone, if you were loved, in the end, it wouldn't matter. No one will give us a report card. Thank god! And by the journey, I don't mean to ask you to go to follow your passion, quit your 9-5 job, or go for a tour, no. I don't intend you to take the road not taken. What I mean to say is, lay back, relax, take a sip of your chai and fall in love with your fate.
Pratik Borse
There have been innumerable epiphanies on a personal level. The one I will never forget is when I went out to do an internship after my 5th Semester in graduation school (Architecture). It was a course of time that changed my life for the long run. Before that, I use to take architecture very casually and was always focused on sports, missing my classes, deadlines etc. My mentor for that internship pushed me out of my shell and unknowingly changed my future in the field of design. I am now a Masters Graduate from IAAC, Barcelona. Happy to create parametric designs and change the world.
Shaurya Shatnam
The best learning that I have had in life till now is Emotional Stability and Ability to deal with Pain. From being not an expressive person to being an emotional wreck, and the hard work of trying to strike a balance between the two this has been one of the best learning so far.
Almost everyone goes through some form of emotional pain one way or the other. The art of being your cheerleader has taught me to lift myself in the worst situations. Of-course this process has a learning curve with it, it’s a continuous process, continuous learning and its different for everyone. I genuinely believe that Pain has an evolutionary purpose. In the end, it makes us better. Just like someone said 'What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger'.
Lavanya Chopra
I always felt like I needed to have something I felt even more connected to than just design. While design & architecture is my lawfully wedded spouse in terms of occupation, words have always been my first love. Languages were always where my heart was. I remember people sketching with ease to express thoughts, I could go pages & pages of words. In of the workshop’s I never planned to attend in one of college fests became the event of a decision of turning point in my life. In that moment I knew I wanted to do Architectural Journalism. So, I owe it to Architecture to have led me to my obsession with the written word. And it'll last a lifetime!
Samuel Sampayo
The idea of going out of my comfort zone and moving to a completely new country where I knew nobody was terrifying. I just had such low regard for my comfort then, that I took that step. And it turned out to be not just a learning experience but helped me understand the subtle nuances I subconsciously make while choosing my social circle. During this journey and also applicable to recent times, best learning I’ve had is that sometimes things don’t go your way, and regret somehow ends up taking more of your confidence away than failure. The time, energy and self-worth regret take from you sometimes isn’t worth the effort put into it.
Rupesh Raj
I can make you literally roll off the floor if you spend some time with me. How? Because over the last few years I have realized that my passion is nothing but to make people laugh. It has become almost integral to me. Every time, almost unknowingly I try to make any situation funny. To see people smile is what keeps me going.
One of the best learning that I have had is to take each day at a time. Problems will not cease to exist. Rather than waging a war against the whole situation take it, one day at a time. Things do settle down eventually.
Neha Deshmukh
I had a tough phase in Nov 2018, where in I felt anxious and stuck. The best learning that happened were a consequence of that phase. The first was that no matter what you are going through it always helps to talk to a few close friends and family and speak my heart out. I used to get absorbed in the momentum of life that I forgot to maintain these relationships when all it really takes is one phone call. Now, I make it a point to call up my family and friends more often than ever and share whatever I am going through. As a result, I have added a little more courage to the coffers of my heart to take more future risks.
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