Perspective

School kids in uniform - right from the elementary all the way to high school... teachers explaining lessons in the typical loud and clear tone... water coolers, playground, tiffin boxes, lunch breaks - 'recesses'... school buses lined up just outside... and of course the buildings... school buildings. Some years later college students - 'guys n gals', seniors, juniors... profs... lectures, pracs, submissions, exams, grades and everything in between...

Not many days back, I dropped my friend to her little sister's school so she could come home in her sister's school bus. She had to show the driver the route to her house on the first day of school. We reached a little earlier than the school got over.

The familiar classrooms, long corridors, painted railings.. everything was so... familiar; though this was not my school, it strongly reminded me of mine. Then again, I guess it's just school time - that time, that environment, that very world of our own in that age! As school kids we are all in such a protected and limited environment; in a comfort zone; in the company of so many peers, friends and teachers; no doubt then that it is our second home indeed!

In our childhood life is simple, life is easy - well for the most of us and barring the lesser fortunate ones; so much so that we are truly unaware of what life is! I'm sure many people, much older than me, would probably say we - people of my age group - are still yet to find out what life is. This is, however, not completely true; and definitely not a function of age. Life is not some kind of a mirage behind which we run all our lives. The mere transition from one phase to another does not and should not warrant us to believe so. So what if our environment and our very idea of life changes from a toddler, to a school goer, to a teenager, to an adult, to old age and finally to death; the very path of life remains unchanged throughout. What this means is simply that we all have to, and will 'figure it out' someday; that we all will gain the 'right perspective'. And how do we know when we have gained this perspective? well, we just know it; we know it when we can, honestly 'look ahead' and know where we're headed.

Having the right perspective does not, in any way, mean that we don't screw up things, that we don't get into trouble or that we don't damage ourselves. It also doesn't mean that we don't stray away from our goals and ambitions, that we don't mess up our relationships or most of all that everything, everyday will be hunky-dory.

In the end, life's a roller coaster - a monster one at that - you can either choose to sit and puke in it or open your eyes and enjoy the ride, or at times switch in between the two; whichever one you choose, when you feel you've seen the entire coaster ahead, that's when you've got it - the right perspective!