It’s just been A Year!

The day held nothing special about it- the sun still rose from east, weather was still unbearably hot. But this day, right a year back, with my backpack, all alone, I had ventured on a new journey. I still remember that day and my whole journey vividly.
If I take you back with me in my flashback, you’d find it interestingly boring. Confused? Don’t worry. Even I was.

Before that day, my life was simpler. I used to wander around from hole to hole; help my parents to gather food; learn the techniques to avoid getting trampled; understand the psychology of humans’ kids, who in their spare time, on the sight of an ant try to create a ‘Khatro-ke-Khiladi’ (Fear Factor) set for them; and also how to withstand gushes of wind and puddles which are found often in the outer world. It had been seven months since I started learning these techniques and practicing them among my friends, but I never had an opportunity to use those techniques for real. My parents being so protective of me never had let me go out of our colony. All I had seen in my seven months of life was only ants and more ants; never a real human or any other living being. Had only heard how dangerous the outer world was.

But I always wanted to see what that dangerous world looked like; how my elders survived in such world. And so one evening I took on to this dangerous world, all on my own. I was nervous. I was excited. I was exhilarated. But above all I was brave and bold enough to embrace that new challenge.

When I took off and entered in that world, inhaled that air, I must say- I, for the first time in my entire life, felt liberated.

But with excitement comes danger, and for me danger didn’t take much time to knock my door. (It didn’t knock technically, it knocked my door off.) Within a few minutes of my entry in that new world, I sensed a swarm of footsteps coming into my direction. Before I could notice and analyze whose those feet were, I hustled inside a nearby hole.
“Phew! I just saved my life! I dodged my first encounter to danger.” I must had patted myself on my back; I am not sure though.

When the noise dropped down, I peeped out of the hole. Yes, they all were gone and so I took my backpack, which had some food, and started off towards a huge, wide road.

“This world is so different than the one I used to live in till now.” My mind was thrilled seeing such huge monuments and oh! the humans and animals. When I saw a human for the very first time, I was mesmerized. My parents and relatives had told me about how humans have two long legs and arms and eyes…. I had presumed that they had everything in a pair. But no, I was wrong. They had only one nose, one mouth and I saw one with only one arm too; these humans with one arm must be special beings.
Another thing that was missing in humans was a tail. I had always imagined all the humans and animals with tails; but only animals had that.

I kept on walking for the first few days; delighted I was, but I couldn’t find any of my people. None. Nil. Those techniques and lessons that I learned in my colony were vivid in my mind, but I didn’t know if I were using them right. Also, my parents had told when, one day, I would go out in that dangerous world, I’d invent my own new ways of surviving there; but it had been a good one week and I was nowhere near to invent anything new.

Finally after a few days, I found someone. She was from the colony I never had been to. She too, like me, was out in this world with her backpack for the first time. We both were thrilled on finding at least one of us out there.

Both of us discovered new places- dark, scary, snowy, and a lot more. It had been a month and voila! my parents were right. I had discovered a new technique of dodging the footsteps.

My initial inhibition was over. My fear to be stepped upon was constantly there in the back of my mind; but with six months gone, I had become, well, an efficient survivor.

I was amazed on realizing my own strength, which till then I myself was unaware of. The way I managed to survive even under the extreme conditions of windy weather, you should have seen me tackling it. I was pretty good in it. Really!

I and my friend had parted our ways, happily, after four months of our acquaintance as both of us wanted to explore different range of things. But within the course of six months, I met so many of my own, mostly grown-ups- they shared their wisdom with me and also gave me their address in case of any help or emergency I would ever face.
Then there were many backpackers like me too. I gelled up with most of them; some were really rude though, I’d confess. Rude ones thought they were being honest but there are other ways too of being honest than being coldly blunt.

During that one year of my venture, there had been days when I stayed days and nights in a hole. I used to overburden myself with the schedules and then needed some time off.

Today, on 1^st July, when I look back to the day when I took off to this journey of mine, I realize that to make any day different it’s not sun that has to rise from east or set in west. I look at myself today and see a grown, wiser, and improved version of myself. I made mistakes at which today when I look, I laugh at myself; I went into wrong directions too; but I always knew it’d be right in the end if I kept going.

And here I am today- with a wonderful experience and hope of similar and better experience in future.

PS– Technically, this post should have been up on 1^st July. But I was in my hole. Hope you’d not mind reading it a day letter.

Happy Anniversary to my blog ‘Idle Muser’ in this world of blogosphere! cheers

IF YOU ARE A FIRST- TIME VISITOR OF MY BLOG, DO REFER ‘First-Timers’. IT WOULD HELP YOU IN EXPLORING THE PLACE.

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