Friday, May 31, 2013

Shock, challenge and bliss : A tale of the unexpected


Till date, there have been countless times when I have blessed government of India and RBI for printing the currency notes on a fine piece of paper. It is strong enough to go in a wash with the clothes, and still come out in one piece after the dried clothes are in our hands. The note in the above picture was the latest addition to the list of such notes - the notes that have given me so much happiness so many times, just because I never expected to find it in my pockets.
In our lives, there are too many things happening unexpectedly. Some, at times bring shock with it. The very first paper in the engineering exams (the beautiful Mathematics) was one such example. News of one particular person hooking up with another one particular person, was another. Of course, with time there have come to my knowledge too many pairs of such "one particular persons" that the shock value of it has been reducing. Being posted to Chennai and in effect Trivandrum after training with Infosys, was another example, however momentary that shock was. On a more serious note, there are far more shocking news that reach us every day, and first reaction that we have is "It was so unexpected!"
I have always believed that it becomes very imperative to digest the shock as soon as possible, and take it as a challenge instead. I somehow again have to go back to the above mentioned mathematics paper (no, I will not go back to the other example I quoted : At least till now I have never had to take up such challenge). The challenge involves gathering all the available resources, come up with a quick strategy on how to utilize them, and implement it to the best of the abilities to get the best possible result out of it. (In context of that mathematics paper, it went as follows, in the above order : Limited knowledge and the person sitting in front of me; finishing quickly and rightly whatever I knew and verbal and chit-written communication with the person mentioned; ensuring that I attempt as much so that I don't fail in the exam.)
However, it was the part when the unexpected brings the "bliss" along with it, that the note in picture represents. 10 rupees may be a small amount comparatively, but still when one finds it when it's not expected, the bliss is eternal. At least for me it is. When a friend suddenly appears in front of me after a long time, that moment when I spot this friend makes the day and probably next few for me. Of course, that person actually needs to be a friend in my mental list. Recently after enjoying a wonderful afternoon at a place called "SODA", when the bill came, it was a brilliant moment. Why - because the bill was almost half of what I was expecting, because we happened to be there in the "Happy Hours" period. And then, how can I fail to mention all the surprises in the birthdays, and even otherwise!
The same reason why Ross, Chandler, Joey, Monica and Phoebe decided to celebrate a birthday of Rachel one month before the actual date, for it could be a complete surprise. Though they forgot that poor Chandler's birthday was to come even before Rachel's. You might not understand this last one if you haven't watched "FRIENDS". In that case, this unexpected piece of information will prove to be a bliss for you, as you should hopefully be wanting to watch this series...!!!
As I conclude this write-up, Raghu from MTV Roadies comes to my mind - "Expect the unexpected!"