Better Late Than Never

I did a lot of things pretty late in life. Not the stuff like learning to talk, or count, or read, or crawl, or walk. My mom tells me I did all those things pretty early. At a significantly earlier age than my brother. But you know, most girls develop a liking (or an obsession) for junk jewelry and kurtas and skirts in their college days. Not me. I hardly worried about my clothes or accessories throughout my six years in the North Campus of the University of Delhi.
Barely ever thought about how I looked or how much I weighed. I know some people will find this really hard to digest, but I owned only about three pairs of earrings when I was in college. (I know Abhinav will have lots of comments to voice after the last sentence). I was twenty three years old when I first travelled by air. My mom was at least ten years younger when she did that. I lived in Delhi for twenty four and a half years before I visited Jaipur for the first (and so far, only) time. I mean, Jaipur is very worth seeing and it's only a longish stone's throw away from Delhi.

When my brother was in the tenth standard, he already knew that regular education was not meant for him and he was not meant for it. He, and a friend of his, who used to appear for re-test after re-test after being unable to score sixty percent in their pre-board exams, figured that they would get nowhere with this education system, and that they should give it all up and start their own enterprise. Just after barely managing to scrape by three years of college, he did start his first enterprise with the same friend. It's a different story that that start up did not do too well. But he did not give up on his dream. He went and started something else in partnership with another friend. He knew exactly what he wanted, kept that in focus, and never lost sight of it. These days he's still struggling, but he's slowly and steadily finding his footing.

I have a point.

I also knew, fifteen years ago, that I wanted to do something creative. Twelve years back, I knew what that something creative was. I knew that I wanted to write. I knew, at that time, come what may, I will, one day, write a book and get it published. I just never knew how important that dream was to me. I just somehow lost sight of it. I never knew that it would not be too long before something or the other would make me realize how meaningless my current job is to me, and that I needed to do exactly what is closer to my heart. Whenever somebody asked me if I ever thought about doing an MBA, I'd always say that I'd had enough college education and simply did not have the patience, willpower, or inclination for any more of it. And here I am today, suddenly telling my friends that I want to go to some foreign University and study Mass Communication. That's what I wanted to do right after school too. Only without the "foreign University" clause. That's what I always wanted to do. But is it too late in life for me to do something like this? Well, enough is enough. It is never too late to do what your heart desires. Never too late to make a run for your real goals. Never too late to fall in love. Never too late to look for happiness. We all owe it to ourselves.

Life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets.