LIFE HAS TO GO ON. LIFE WILL GO ON.

Last week I have been visiting few places with my friends and I happened to meet an inspiring character. He was a 67 year old young man. Yes! You read it right - 67 year old YOUNG man. He was full of life. I dont know how we started speaking, but we just struck a chord. It was truly an amazing experience which taught me a lot.

Most of the times, we think something and we start believing what we are thinking. I dont know about everyone, but with me that is the case. And it becomes very difficult to come out of that uni-directional thinking. And that's where meeting people like these prove significant. It just refreshes your thinking.

He just looked at me and asked - " Is something wrong with you?" I just turned around and gave him a stare. What else can you expect? I don't even know him. Then he started speaking to all my friends and we were kind of enjoying his talk. We could make out that he wanted to share some 'gyaan' from what he has learnt from 'life'. He then started asking weird questions.

He asked me - "Are you tough?" I again gave him a stare and said , "Yes! I am".

Then he asked - "How can you say that?". I said, "I dont know how to justify, but I am tough mentally and physically."

He said -"Let me make things easier for you. What would you do if you go through a break up in a relationship?" It said "May be cry for months together, lose confidence, lose health, feel lonely etc etc...". He smiled and said - "Yes. I know you all would do that. And I know it's like living in hell"

Then he started giving his 'bhashan'(speech). It was more like what I call - 'a political speech'.He told so many things, but one thing he always stressed was - 'Life has to go on'. Soon we saw tears from his eyes and that is when we realized that he was not making a political speech. He had lost his parents in 1993 Mumbai blasts and his wife in the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai. He had come to south India to visit his friend.

For the first time, I understood the meaning of 'Life has to go on'. I really din't know how to react. I was stunned and had tears in my eyes. This is when I realised that I was not mentally tough. This is where I told myself, "I will now become tough. I will not allow emotions rule me".

It's less than a week I met this person and trust me, he has changed my thinking and my life. It has made me a stronger person. Indeed! LIFE HAS TO GO ON. LIFE WILL GO ON.