Buffet!

 

Yesterday I attended a birthday party, where there was a buffet. Now when you imagine a buffet you generally see starters, main course and desserts and they are expected to be eaten in this very sequence. Starters are usually served on the table so you naturally have them first, but for main course and desserts you have to queue up. Initially the queue is for the main course and after that it is at the dessert counter. So for a change, after looking at the long queue at the main course, I decided to re-route, and headed to the desserts. It was all empty, waiting to be devoured. And I picked my bowl and had my favorite tiramisu, it was heavenly! Then I had a second serving of tiramisu and enjoyed it along with my main course. But while I was standing in the queue for the main course, everyone questioned me that I was done already, and I had to explain that I started from desserts. And then of course ended it with a third round of all the desserts. Now you all must be wondering what is different in this, many of you must have done this before or must be doing it always, so why am I writing the obvious, but this is where the actual blog begins.

 

In life also we follow a fix sequence of doing things. Like for starters we have to pass board exams of class 10th and 12th and graduate in some subject. Then for the main course we either choose post graduation, job, competitive exams, start-up etc. and then for desserts we have our hobbies and passions. And here also if we change the sequence we are questioned. But in life just like in a buffet, the starters and main course fill us up so much that we hardly have any space or time left for desserts of life that is hobbies and passions. Starters in life just like a buffet are inevitable and unavoidable, so we can't change the sequence there. But when it comes to choose from among main course and desserts, we don't dare to break the sequence here, as we all end up choosing main course over desserts and fill ourselves so much with them that desserts become a far-fetched dream. They become a part of our bucket list that remains unticked for the longest time, until we realize we are not here forever. I wonder what a world would look like if all of us get an opportunity to make our passion our profession. That world would be full of writers, poets, dancers, singers, sculptors, painters, travelers, artists, chefs, photographers and a lot more. There won't be a competition for who is the richest man on the planet, it would be who is the happiest man on the planet, as happiness would be the real wealth then. Our hobbies and passions give us satisfaction and a sense of being, so it is our responsibility to ourselves to keep us sane and satisfied for as long as it is possible.

 

That was quite a utopian thought though, but in this competitive world this seems quite impossible. Best what we can do is, follow our hobbies and passions alongside the main course of our respective lives. Not all of us will get a chance to have desserts first, nor will many of us have time or space for it later, but because of this all those kids who once wanted to be writers, poets, dancers, singers, sculptors, painters, travelers, artists, chefs, photographers etc, in the slambook are stuck in a 9-5 job, which is the main course or so to say the main source of wealth, but for a better mental health a little dose of hobbies and passions are must. Also you never know, what if your desserts become the main course and that would surely be sweet, I know the chances are too less, but hope is what keeps us going!

Happy Reading,

 

Siddhi Bhosale.