The Road Not Taken...

What a year it has been...
The recession hit us, MJ passed away, H1N1 became the biggest issue, A black man became president, the congress won the election, someone won the IPL, India lost the championship that mattered, Sania kept losing, Saina kept winning and Steffi came back to tennis for one last time...

It was for most parts a grim year. A year where people didnt know what lay ahead of them for the next day, where their money went, how the future would pan out. It was the worst of times.

Not a great time to be turning 28 i would say. Life isnt always treating you at its best. You start noticing the first grey hair - which shatters you deep inside (yeah i noticed it in the A 320 bathroom on a flight from Bangkok to Singapore - couldnt eat or sleep for the rest of the flight. I think i stayed in the bathroom for about 30 mins hoping that its a trick that my eyes are playing on me, which worried the air crew quite a bit), you are out of place with the clubbing, partying singles crowd - mainly cuz your body starts aching after a few hours of jumping around, you have no idea who Jay Z is and what the big fuss is about, you are the only one in the club who screams out for joy when they play the mandatory "Highway to Hell" or "Summer of 69" and your sense of fashion reminds the others in the crowd of their dad.

Things are not that great on the other side either... the dark side... where people discuss prams, kindergartens, birthday parties, latest animation movies that can make their kids happy. They go to IKEA, Toys R Us and other sissy stores on Friday nigths, sleep at 9pm, unless of course if their kids or their wives cry and keep them awake all night...

So here I am, stuck bang in the middle. Two roads diverging on a yellow wood... well not that yellow in an equatorial region.. but still lets keep it that way for romaticism's sake.. I see friends moving on to the dark side.. Some reluctantly - succumbing to years of cold and calculated torture and emotional blackmail from "loved ones" and "relatives who care", others join the bandwagon with a false sense of hope - feeling deep inside that their lives will be different, it wont be like "other normal people" and yet others kicking and screaming and clawing for all they have till the last minute when they are thrown into the deep abyss.. of the dark side...

And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Well here I am, or was.. bang in the middle.. Knowing not what to do.. I could have depended on "loved ones" or people "with experience" or "God" to help me choose the right path.. it wouldve been easier - let others make decisions for you.. go with the flow.. blame ur fate, loved ones or others if things turn out badly...


Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,


But it wouldnt have made sense... I dont think i can take the easy way out.. its not me.. I wasnt born or brought up that way... It just didnt seem right...

I took the path i felt was right.. It wasnt what others thought made sense.. It wasnt the easiest for sure. It was irrational, stupid, ridiculous, over ambitious, probably not divinely ordained... but I took it anyways...

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.


So here I am, walking along the road less traveled, filled with fear, excitement, trepidation, hope, despair and anticipation for what lies ahead... I dont know if this will turn out to be the best or worst of times.. but i do know that its gonna be an make all the difference...

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference

PS: As usual, IM keeping this post vague.. will mail you guys in details about the specifics later.. wish me luck! :)