From Shruti's Pen

Hey Readers!

Welcome to the first post of this year. I am sure the previous year has been a journey full of love, laughter and learning, and even if it hasn’t turned out the way you expected it to be, I’m sure you’ be grateful enough to have woken up to another one and make the most of it. It isn’t always about traversing the path that you planned for yourself, it is sometimes about the experiences that you gathered from whichever path led you ahead (or taken you back!)

I am subtly trying to connect to the very theme of today’s blog i.e. Being Lost! Generally, lost as a literary word is perceived in negative sense meaning to have been deprived of something precious or important or separated from where you wanted to be. But I recently discovered a new definition of the word from my 8 year old, who said “Being Lost” means “Adventure”! Me, my twin 8 year olds and my better half were traversing through the beautiful walkways in a huge nature garden when me and one of my twincesses lost the way and took a wrong turn where we could not locate where we started from. I just anxiously said to her, “Dear, I think we are lost!”. She chuckled and said, “Mom, I feel sometimes it is good to get lost, as we can have an adventure until we get found!”

I just smiled at her while continuing to figure out the way in absence of the GPS as I wasn’t carrying that little distracting chip box with me which has become a solution to many problems these days along with being the biggest problem itself! (Don’t fret, I am talking about the Mobile Phone!😁📱

While I was trying to locate where to turn towards, I started pondering deeply over what she just said. I was witnessing a mesmerising scene around, a narrow sandy walkway with colourful small rocks besides an arched bridge painted in sky blue over a beautiful lake. We stood at the edges of the bridge to see our reflections in the lake where we smiled at each other😊

Moving ahead there was a flock of peacocks who seemed to be playing Hide-n-Seek amidst the tall and dense old trees. The scene is one of the rarest of its kind that can be imagined in the heart of a metro city. The serenity of the place was immensely captivating and me and my twincess were heartfully enjoying it.

As we moved a bit ahead, there was a soothing earthy aroma of the wet soil which we love after the rains. Quietly stepping ahead, this little girl again whispered and said, “See, I told you, sometimes being lost is fun too😇”. She read my mind!

For that moment I was a bit relieved of the worry of us getting lost and the other two “lost people” (my other daughter and the Dad!) aggressively looking for us in the absence of the modern communication mode. Just when I got back to senses and actually reminded myself of tracing the way back, we encountered a huge flock of pigeons feeding over corn kernels spread over that area. I told my daughter that years ago pigeons were utilized as messengers. Immediately she said, “Great Mom, let’s make getting lost adventurous and send out the message of where we are through one of these pigeons🐦. We giggled over it but I actually felt like making that move. So, I took a big dried leaf fallen aside and with a thin sharp twig, drew the arched bridge where we were and wrote me and my daughter’s name on it!

I held a pigeon in my hand very caressingly and whispered the name of my “Lost Halves” in its ear along with holding that leaf in its beak and letting it fly away! While my daughter believed that the pigeon shall deliver the message to the intended recipients, I was just making “Being Lost” an adventure for her😇

To my surprise, while we both were holding hands and making some weird faces to see their wavy reflections in the lake, I heard a voice echoing feebly that resembled that of my other daughter! They seemed to get nearer, I saw them from a distance and yes, we were finally found!

Both my other twincess and this one met each other as if they had been separated for years! In that moment, while I was thinking my better half would express concern over where we were, he made the moment even better by saying, “We got LOST, I don’t know where this leaf came flying right on Kyra’s face and she told me…Look at this Papa, It’s Mamma and Myra near the bridge!”  He showed me the piece of leaf bearing our names! We, the adventurous duo looked at each other with utter surprise, the one on the face of my daughter was that of excitement, while my expression was that of shock! While I am still figuring out how did they get that leaf, my daughter was convinced enough of what I told her about the pigeons! But we both gained control over our emotions, laughed over it and all four of us headed towards the exit gate.

The entire narrative is symbolic of the word “Lost” not being a feeling but being a mindset! We all seem to get stuck, feel lost in various moments and phases of our lives where we seem to locate our sense of self (i.e.ego), happiness, contentment, solace, recognition, acknowledgement, fulfilment of expectations etc. etc. etc. but we seldom convert that mindset of being stuck or lost into an opportunity to unfold the unexplored!

Being Lost, in the words of my daughter, could be an adventure that might bring more fulfilment, happiness, contentment and the solace that we seek for when found! It also takes me back to the greatest lesson from Shrimad Bhagavad Gita i.e. to give more focus and put in our full attention and dedication in the journey we tread, irrespective of where(outcome) it leads you to, you might find your lost selves on the way and later the outcome that you might be seeking for itself could change!

Being Lost is the just the current reality which we perceive from our experiences and constructs from the past and fear of its outcome in the future. Due to this natural thought process that gets reinforced with our conditioning, we are unable to live with that feeling (or rather mindset) of Being Lost in the present! As this incident has left an indelible mark on my perception about “Being Lost”, I have gained a new perspective to modify my response whenever this feeling creeps in for me and make it an adventure (a turning point).

After all, we all feel lost in our own mysterious ways! How about enjoying that distance or perceived separation from what we desire for a while and make the most of it in exploring new ways of being found! Who knows you were just lost to find a better version of yourself or the other! It’s about the journey we embark on until we get found OR find what we are seeking for!

Would love to hear from your experiences as well! When was the last time you felt lost and how did that turnaround things for you?

Enjoying Being Lost,

Shru!