' A Journey of Discovery'

"When the sun shines, darkness hides, only to return with its thick black blanket, covering the sky the following night. The sun bids it's time until it can shine radiantly again, to peek through the blanket and make its presence felt. The next morning, it shines brighter than ever, forcing an enemy retreat... That's life" said the second grade teacher in her moral science class, leaning on the teacher's table, with a white chalk firmly gripped in her right hand and a brown bound textbook in her left. The yellow walls of the school building hadn't changed a bit since Abhinav's last visit, a few years ago. 

A dark gloomy sky, waiting to break into heavy thunderstorms greeted him as he impatiently waited for his brother, Arnav. The teacher's words and the will of God had signed some kind of an agreement on that day, perfectly synchronising their words and actions. 

With Arnav still basking in his new found popularity, courtesy his hundred in the interschool cricket final held the previous week, Abhinav slowly walked back towards his black Royal Enfield, trying to kick every pebble on the way. The famed midfielder of his era, faltered at his kicks like a three year old in a football coaching camp, slipping over the ball to end up in a nasty pile of dust. His frustration was evident in his tensed brows and clenched fist. The once radiant and jubiliant self, for whom sports had always been a passion, had remodelled his whole life with the passage of time. 

He wished a teacher passing by with a huge pile of notebooks, on her way to the staff room. 

"Are you here to pick up Arnav?"she asked in a polite tone, for which Abhinav reponded in the affirmative. All his teachers remembered him as a 'force to reckon with' back in the day. However, that force was lost somewhere in the deep dark ranges of the Sahyadri, where he had met with an accident six years ago. His constant smile had been replaced with a thick beard, beyond which was a long scar, reminiscent of the half open wounds he was dealing with on a regular basis. The doctor who treated him, consoled him saying, "Wounds heal and scars fade overtime... Provided you give them an opportunity to recuperate and rebuild." But everytime he walked, the limp in his left leg reminded him of his handicapped and torn self. The star athelete, nicknamed 'The second Milkha' in the local circuit, for breaking the national record in the 400 metres track event, with the dominance 'The Flying Sikh' had once displayed, couldn't even run for pleasure today. The accident had left him with several injuries, out of which a broken femur bone along with a completely crushed knee cap couldn't be reconstructed, rendering the doctors unable to return him the full use of the leg, despite their best efforts.

A booming career faded into the depths of the realm of the darkness of anonymity. Though several coaches and players expressed their sympathies at losing a budding talent, their concern and touching words could not revive his scattered inner self. He was alive, but in bits and pieces.

'Hope' plays a funny part in a person's life. It always beams optimism from miles away, initially for the self and then for the people around. In Abhinav's case, it came in the form of the book 'The Motorcycle Diaries'. The adventures and a quest in

search of the unknown, a self he had never explored, stared at him with its ceaseless bounty of treasures, waiting to be explored. It was only a matter of picking up the opportunity and running with it. Yet, it wasn't easy. A change in mindset was quintessential to understand the change in his own reflection, he was hoping to find. He had to toughen up, accept the change he was forced to deal with in life.

An injury of the magnitude of which he had suffered, had broken him completely from within. His whole world had crumbled, slipping right through his fingers, with him being a mere spectator of the turn of events. A revival was the need of the hour, but with responsibilities and time, spreading its dark wings over the sensibility of the person, it was quite possible that Abhinav too, like many, would succumb to his fate with all the burden of blame placed on destiny.

"A sportsman lives to seize the moment. A life's wait boils down to that one second which makes or breaks a million dreams, a thousand hours of practice and a hundred stories to tell in the future" were the words of his father, he connected with on that day. A day, he decided to change, bounce off the past and dare to see beyond his injury. There was no looking back from then on.

The following morning, he packed his bags, kick started his beloved Enfield and was on his way towards a destination he had never planned. The roads were his guide, the skies his compass and the clouds his map. A journey he took to rediscover himself, to understand his motives and to burn the spirit of passion in him once again. His journey took him to the remote areas of the Northern Eastern frontier of India to the biting cold of the foothills of the snow capped Himalayas. Everyday was a fresh start, a new adventure and a novel entry to his book of memories. His interactions ranged from simple small teastall owners to strong and powerful politicians, from fruit vendors to prosperous businessmen, from techies to aghoris. It finally took a journey of a full year, to change his perception of life.

"Changes are inevitable. Lucky are those who live to realise their dreams. But, they are one in a million. The others are like tigers, who lick their wounds and moving on for the next kill. Giving up is never an option. If we were quitters, then we would never have evolved, mate" was one explaination to life, from a seventy year old traveller, filling his chillum with ganja,

for the third time since he met him, that forced Abhinav to consider about returning home.

Still, his grumpy self had not forsaken him completely. It would make its presence felt everytime certain places or experiences rekindled his glorious past. But, the Abhinav who returned, had change written all over him. Though not at his fluent best, his personality had evolved through his journey, enlighting him about the various prospects, opportunities and exposures in life. "Success is only a 'Perspective'. It fails to ignite the fire of perseverance to achieve more" were the words of a bodybuilder he had met during his days in Mumbai, who was happy working as a stunt double in the Bollywood industry. With such bits and pieces of invaluable knowledge, his return left him with questions he felt he could answer and several important decisions he looked forward to make.

From the first day of his journey, the book he titled 'A Journey of Discovery' never parted the inner pocket of his black leather jacket, sticking with him through all thick and thin, being the one true friend he longed for, at different points of time.

That day, as he sat on his Enfield flipping the handmade pages of his treasures possession, with his school and its memories playing a musical in the background, he saw Arnav walking towards him with the same air of confidence he had once walked with, in the same hallways of the yellow walled school building.

A ray of hope flashed in front of his eyes, this time, for a self he had loved, nurtured and cared for from the time he was old enough to understand life. Hope, he wouldn't let be smothered under the burden of fate or the pressure of time. Hope, he wished to water into a blooming flower one day...!