I am what I am

“Hope, it is the quintessential human delusion, simultaneously the source of your greatest strength, and your greatest weakness.” – The Architect, The Matrix Reloaded.

If life was ruled by reason and logic then it probably would’ve not existed, the entire essence of life lies in its unpredictability, and the main sail bearing the gusty winds of life happens to be Hope. It refers to a great deal of persistence, the long wait for your moment of glory even when there is some evidence to the contrary. Hope unlike optimism is rooted in reality; it is the dazzle in our eyes which keeps us treading on our path in search for happiness.

Hope is what you see, when you see a young athlete struck by a deadly disease and with desperately thin odds of survival, fight back and win the sport's top prize, not once but seven times in row. Hope is what NASA had, when they sent three men to step on moon, knowing that they had not put up even a single astronaut in the orbit before that. Hope is what the black guy had, the dream of becoming part of a democracy again as he stood up against Apartheid. Hope is the strength of a mother who has been waiting for his son’s homecoming for years. Hope is…sitting in the couch and watching the video clip of ‘Dhoni, smashing the ball to long-on and sealing the world cup in Wankhede for India’, despite a recent 8-0 drubbing overseas. Hope is what fuels you to write even after you screw up CAT.

At some point of our lives, we feel as if nothing is going our way, everything around starts to come about as unwanted and we start counting our demons. At that moment the greatest weapon in our arsenal is Hope, it wipes out the tears, dusts us off, recuperates us and reminds us that THIS TOO SHALL PASS. It helps us realize that we have more reasons to celebrate than to cry, we have more friends than enemies and there are still more than 300 days to go for the apocalypse.

 Most of you might disagree but I have a different theory with hope, even the false ones drive me and bring a smile on my face. There are perspectives attached to everyone in this world, while some admire the grey shining of the moon, there are some who appreciate its dark distinct boundary which accentuates its shadowy side. Even our mythology supports it, when Karthikeya and Ganesha set out for a race around the world, the former rode on his peacock and moved about ‘THE WORLD’, whereas the latter, the more oriental one, raced around ‘HIS WORLD’ which happened to be his parents.

 I believe hanging on to false hopes might just help you sail through a rough ride; for in dreams we enter a world that is entirely our own, the veneer of happiness which we’ve put on for a fleeting duration becomes convincing and real in no time, In fact a false hope is a hope for a hope. (Last line could be taken for ‘Inception of Hopes’). So clinging on to false hopes is not that bad an idea, this is a head fake, our very own decoy to fool life. To be happy you don’t have to have the best of everything, you simply need to make the best of everything.

Hope is both a provocation and an incentive; it is the nitro boost of your engine and also the Pink champagne awaiting you at the podium. Life will throw many obstacles at you, you will face many roadblocks, many detours, and both fear and hope will sail into your harbor, but make sure that you only let hope drop the anchor.