I walked through the gates of the University of Lucknow for my Physics practical class at 7:30 AM. Waking up at 6 in the morning, and getting dressed half asleep was a battle that I used to fight every day this semester. I remember running through the metro station to prevent being screamed at by my professor for being late. One fine morning, I was going about my schedule as usual, but when I entered the campus that day, it changed something for me forever.
I saw a peacock sitting on the roof of the Department of Chemistry. This may seem like an ordinary sighting, right? So what if I saw a peacock. That is what I thought at first, but it wasn’t just a peacock. I have seen numerous peacocks in my life. I have seen a peacock dance with its feathers widespread, but this peacock was matchless. I felt that this peacock was truly different from every other peacock, then I learnt the truth behind it.
The glistening rays of the morning Sun fell upon the peacock, making it gleam with beauty. It was not just the peacock’s beauty that was spellbinding, but the rays of the Sun that had enriched its beauty. As the rays fell on the peacock, the vibrant deep blue colour of its body was enhanced to such an extent that it made the peacock look breathtaking. The green colour of its feathers was incomparable to the greenery of any tree present there.
Every day after this sighting, when I walk past the same spot, my eyes go up to the roof of the Department of Chemistry involuntarily. It was as if my eyes wanted to see that peacock, sitting there for one last time. My heart wanted to feel the instant peace and awe which it felt that day. The amount of calmness and serenity that the peacock had instilled in me was magnificent, and beyond words.
My heart held onto the feeling of witnessing such a mesmerizing sight. Something inside of me believed that I could see that peacock there again. Unfortunately, I could not see the peacock sitting on the roof of the Department of Chemistry ever again. But did my eyes give up hope? No. The involuntary movement of my eyes looking up at the roof made me wonder how important are our beliefs for us.
In today’s frenetic world, I truly believe that a lot of us have forgotten how to keep up our hopes for something. We have become accustomed to giving up so easily that in the next second we forget what we were aiming for. Just to cope with this high-paced world, we are losing our hopes, our aspirations, our desires. One thing goes haywire, and we close down the shutter for it forever.
Our hopes give us something to look forward to, something to dream about, something to manifest about. Unfortunately, we have forgotten how to keep up our hopes. We want to skip to the next chapter even before the previous one ends. As soon as we face a few hurdles for things we were aiming for, we lose interest and switch our interests as fast as lightning.
This instance was a small specimen which moved me to such a great extent, and I wonder how many instances would I have missed in a hurry. Everyone is running around trying to get their errands done, and while completing these errands we often miss such beautiful experiences. We wake up in the morning with a ton of things already quarreling up in our minds. We go about our day trying to fix the knots of our life, and that is how our day ends. We go to sleep without anything to look forward to.
We as humans are so busy surviving that we forget to experience life. We forget to enjoy the cool breeze in the morning. We forget to enjoy the radiant beauty of the sun while it’s setting. We forget to enjoy the rain when we are blessed with one. We forget to enjoy the moonlit sky on a full moon day. We forget to enjoy our time until it’s all over, and then it’s already too late.
We eat our food without relishing it. We talk without truly listening. We travel without observing places. We live without being truly present. We are so busy documenting our lives that we forget to truly enjoy it. We forget to count our blessings while we have them, and once they’re gone, we have nothing but a heart filled with remorse.
To the readers,
While you read this article, I want you to take a moment, and be grateful for everything you have in your life. I want you to take some time out from your day to sit back, and enjoy life. Life was never meant to be extraordinary every day, its beauty lies in the ordinary things we keep overlooking while waiting for something bigger. So the next time you feel that something is ordinary, it’s not, so enjoy it to the fullest.