Living with peace

I was watching a Netflix special where the comedian tells the audience that he doesn’t know anything about his father’s life before he was born, which made me think; how well do I know my parents, in this matter? And the answer was nothing. I am not even sure of the colour they like. I would definitely fail in a family tag game.

After watching that show, I decided that I will try to learn more about my parents and get to know them a little more than I do. Following this path, I asked my mom a bunch of questions like, how she lived when she was 12 years old, any memories she has of her personal life, anything she can share with me before I was born. 

I wanted to know everything about her. I hoped that she would share her life with me. But she didn’t. I know it’s not possible to share an entire life’s stories with someone but it would be fascinating to know those stories. My mother asked me why I was enquiring her about these questions and I told her my reason. She told me that, she wants to live a life where she is not in the spotlight. She doesn’t want anything to be known from her life. She wants to live a simple life, in her own space. Supporting her answer she told me about the poem she read, when she was doing her bachelors, in which the poet say’s, that he wants to live a peaceful life and want to die a peaceful death, doesn’t even want people to come to his grave to pay their respect and wants to leave this world as he never even existed. She told me she wanted the same kind of life for her. She believes in living the life and doing whatever one wants so they don’t have any regrets later on. She knows there is nothing after death. She also taught me the same beliefs she has.

This entire incident made me question; 

What kind of life do I want to live?

My answer is I want to live a life where I am heard, where I share my stories and where I am listened. I think that’s why I found my peace in writing and have decided to continue doing it. Even though, it’s not the kind of life you see in the movies or read in the books. My peace might be different from other people’s peace but I am happy that I found it and I am going to keep it. I will live my life peacefully just like my mom did, but with my own style.

I learned that one should never be scared to live life differently than what they saw or might believe in. One can live a grand or a decent life, as the choice and life both is theirs. One should dare to live for oneself and live life with their own kind of peace and hold no regrets.

Writer: Anushka Kaushik