Change is the name of the Game: My Musings from Life

In 1860, one of the defining pioneers of biology as a science, the English genius Thomas Henry Huxley coined the term ‘Darwinism’ which in very eloquent terms yet brutal connotations, states the fact, that for a species to survive, they have to take recourse to evolution, otherwise they would be eliminated through natural selection. This was a construct far devoid of the romanticism prevalent in thinking at that time, yet it stands today as probably the most accurate depiction of natural reality. 

Change is inevitable, most importantly it is one of the defining constants, which have shaped my life in more ways than one. Quoting from one of the most evocative works of Indian fiction, The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai;

“The present changes the past. Looking back you do not find what you left behind.”

Which beautifully captures change as nothing more than a mere enigma of time, a constant filtering of reality as events swing between the past, and the present before hurling away toward an unknown if not unremarkable future. 

And it is this tinge of uncertainty, even though tempered by the finite grounds of my ambition and vision that has sort of determined the drama of my life, crisscrossing the heroes and villains on the way, like how trees shed their autumn leaves, disjointed, random, yet all coming together to make some sense. 

Change here could be nothing more than the desire to broaden your canvas of growth and expectations, a need to create a legacy that would be remembered and spoken about long after one has left behind their mortal identity. It was the urge to realize this that motivated my father to move from Haryana, a relative backwater as one would say, to the skyline of Bombay or Mumbai, the city that gives, takes, shapes, and reshapes with maximum effect. A move that first made me breeze through the old lanes of Ghatkopar before I landed right in the tony yet salubrious neighborhood of Altamount Road, a place fabled with its own tales of power and intrigue. 

In some cases, change can also mean embracing the right path toward progress after a major setback, either personally or professionally. This is what happened to me when I had to repeat my ninth grade, as I was about to hit adolescence. It was a humbling experience for me, and also a moment that pushed me to mend my ways and become more focused.

Change for me could also be a liking towards something, which, from an outsider’s perspective, would look like a lone square peg trying level best to fit into a round hole. Here I am talking about my love for poetry, a romance that started around the age of 13 and has in many ways defined the way I approach things. Stories, in my opinion, are a verbal tapestry of experiences that inspire, enthrall, empower and in their own way guide you to become more adept at facing and resolving things. And to be brutally honest here, literature has been my therapy, my way out, and my weapon of analyzing and understanding situations, especially when facing challenges, because it gives you a context to relate to. 

Change for me, or for you, could also be that hunger, which drives you towards realizing excellence in what you do. For me, it involved achieving the very fulcrum of scholastic brilliance, by becoming a double alumnus of the prestigious Harvard University, where I not only conquered the dialectics of entrepreneurship but also perfected the intricacies of design, that mysterious yet impactful medium through which nature and fantasy achieve their impeccable symbiosis. The need for knowledge, and the thirst to do something different, guided me towards working extra hard, making those sacrifices, and embracing the change that was needed for me to reach that immaculate level of academic vigor, which was expected from me. 

Change for me, could also be the need to push the benchmarks in my space, that intense will to create the most perfect living spaces imaginable, icons of brick and steel, which would stand as masterpieces commemorating my contribution to the real-estate sector. This pushed me to become the first developer in Mumbai, to use stainless steel TMT bars for all my sea-front projects, even if that meant incurring expenses that were beyond prohibitive. 

And Ultimately change for me, could also be that tumultuous challenge, an obstacle not of my own creation, but forced down due to external forces way beyond my control, a failure, a derailment, that pushes you to become stronger, that creates the ground for that memorable comeback. And I live for comebacks, especially after what I faced during the rather fated years of 2016-2017 when I had to undergo detention for a significant period of time. This event didn’t define my life, I didn’t allow it to, but it did encourage me to envision and execute things in a more sustainable fashion.  

To conclude, I would say this, change is inescapable, but once you start realizing its beauty, then you are able to operate at a level where you can truly maximize your potential in, every way possible. To be more eloquent here, if life is nothing more than the most complete composition ever made, then it doesn’t really make much sense to waltz on just one single tune, one needs to shuffle the beats, a little bit, to truly enjoy its multifaceted feels. 

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