Idly-Vada @ 45 miles

Exactly a decade back, with all the excitement in the world I stepped on to the soil of Atlanta for my first ever on-site assignment in life. Accommodation was arranged in a beautiful duplex house where I had a studio flat for myself! Considering the bare-minimum-living experience till that date, I couldn’t ask for more. It was sheer luxury! Soon I started getting adjusted to the American way of life which was the case to be for the next three months. As days passed, deep down in me I could feel a craving building up. There was one thing missing among all the glory, our very own Indian food!

I had enough of all the junk I was having day-in day-out. Soon I realised that a few members in my team shared the same feeling. We all have been longing to taste the delicacies from the good old cuisines of India. Somehow we figured out the presence of Saravana Bhavan, a well-known restaurant famous for South Indian specialities. The GPS in the car warned us about a long ride of 45 miles. We were determined.

Soon enough we parked next to what looked like heaven to all of us. The aroma of idly and dosa filled the air. Never in our lives have we noticed eyes sparkling with the sight of tiny bowls of chutney and sambar. We all ate to our hearts’ content and returned home as a bunch of happiest young minds. The 90 miles journey that day, was worth every moment though till then I never imagined that one day I’ll travel a distance such as this to savour one of the simplest of the dishes in India’s wide range of cuisines.

Looking back, the trip that we did years back reminded me of a valuable lesson in life. As cliché as it may sound, a pair of idly and vada taught us that there is no challenge in life that we can’t overcome if we are ready to push ourselves that extra mile. How many times in our lives we might have given up on something stating it is too difficult a task? How many fights we would’ve had with our loved ones saying it is not possible? How many opportunities would we’ve let go saying it is too far-fetched for me? All these are the moments which if we stretched ourselves a little more would’ve helped us relish the fruits of our labour.

I recollect a recent conversation at a social gathering by a friend who said you could be happy and write all these as long as you don’t have to face issues in life. All what I wanted to tell that friend is, God has not placed us on an altar preventing all the challenges from reaching us. Instead, we’ve our fair share of issues that we faced in the past and we continue to face challenges every other day. It is a combination of prayers, love and care that guides us forward, especially during trying times.

Happiness is not a constant natural state of mind. It is the result of our efforts we put in, just the way we drove 45 miles to get idly and vada. It is important that we consciously take an effort every day in our life and for sure it will return us the investment in the form of happiness. No one other than us can continue to create the magic of happiness in our life. Many a times these extra efforts we put in is more like a long term financial investment. We may not see an immediate result but for sure will see the result soon if we are patient enough. When it comes to investing in relationships, at least we can clearly be happy that our waiting time won’t be that long as the usual market funds.

Remember this always, when the going gets tough there is always a plate of happiness waiting for you at a distance. You just need to reach out for it and experience the bliss though it may seem an impossible thing to achieve.

God bless!