Today morning, I reached office while juggling a backpack in one hand and my Kindle in the other. I had been reading ‘Around the World in Eighty Days’ and my cab journey ended abruptly while I was still in the last leg of the virtual tour I was taking around the world. I hurriedly got out, cursed for once the lack of traffic that interrupted my reading, and rushed to my desk. Being an early bird at work, I forgot the laptop and set up my kindle instead on the desk. I wouldn't care if colleagues who started coming in later, looked over and judged me because I care for nothing when I am close to finishing a book. Sleep, food and other pressing things have all been forsaken for the cause of books earlier.
This book had been the top-most on my to-read classics list from a long time and given that 2017 was the lowest point as far as reading fiction was concerned, I never got round to it. Having got myself a kindle at last this New Year, I resolved to conquer this classic after all. Giving it the honour of a first download on my kindle, with the cherry on top that it came for free, I began my journey around the world, with the eccentric protagonist, Mr. Phileas Fogg.
Pages were turned, countries were crossed and I was having a jolly good ride in the journey that spanned the world of the late nineteenth century. The protagonist didn't suffer from any lack of obstacles in his path - storms, misinformed foreigners, murderous pillagers - all wreaked havoc on this man’s bet that he would complete the journey around the world in the existing travel means of those days in exactly eighty days. Despite all the havoc, Mr. Fogg never for once lost his calm and continued on his quest knowing that he will win the bet he made at a cost of the then humongous sum of 20000 pounds.
Travelling virtually beside a man who knew what he wanted and always sought opportunities in the midst of calamities, I learned again a lesson that life has taught me recently. It is that we only need to keep our goals in mind, know fully well what is it that we are in need of and paint a vivid picture in our mind of our destination and travel towards it incessantly. The tempests and the tribulations will diminish against our strong will, and the imaginary picture will reveal itself on the tangible canvas of our reality!
As I flipped the last page of this amusing classic that was a delightful read, I knew what needed to be done. And all that we need to do, is to take the journey as Mr. Fogg did, go on the tough long paths and keep our composure in the chaos. The journey will spring surprises, reward us for our steadfastness and the waylaid paths of our course will join in time at the crux of that which we seek!
PS: This is a post I had written 7 years ago and never published it. Revisiting this write-up brought back a lot of memories from the time I was figuring out life in mid-twenties. The lines written then give me fresh hope today in the times of juggling complex adulthood in the 30s and much needed philosophical pick-me-up during a PMS week. Sharing it with minimum edits and bringing this old blog alive today. Hope you like it:)
