15. The Wait

 The Wait

In the womb, you wait to be out into the world. Once outside, you want to turn around, crawl, stand, walk and then you cant wait to run. 

Once into school, you wait for holidays. When in holidays, with all the new books, new uniforms, new pencil box, colour box, new water bottle, lunch box and of course new shoes, you can but wait for the school to reopen. 

While a student you wait for exams.  If it is your favourite subject you wait. If it is not your favourite subject, still you wait for the exam to be done and over. Once exams are over, you wait for the results. Results out and you wait for admission into a college of your choice.  For that you wait for your name to appear on that list, in which you want your name to be in. 

Slowly you grow up and realise that by now, you are waiting for multiple things. You wait for exams, results and also wait for someone to come into your life and bring in fun, happiness and feeling of adulthood. While at it, when you fail in an exam or when you have a heart break, once again you find yourself waiting for better times to come. You work harder and again start hoping and waiting for better grades and a better person to be your partner for life. 

In the meantime, at home, your parents are waiting for you to complete your graduation, then post graduation and then a job and then a job with a very handsome salary. 

The more handsome the salary, the faster the wait for expansion of the family.  Your parents wait to hear from you that you are ready for marriage while you wait for that someone special to enter your life,  like in the movies. 

Cut the scene. Nothing happens in real life like movies. The parents fix your marriage to their choice of a groom or a bride, as the case may be. They then wait for the engagement ceremony, plan for the wedding and then again wait for the wedding functions. Ofcourse, you are now with them into this, so you also wait for the next, next and next. 

You have your dream job.  Its appraisal time and you wait for your scores. You wait to hear some recognition and praise. Alas, that wait never has never ever made any person the happiest yet in this world.  So naturally, you think about the change of job.  You give interviews and wait to hear from them. You get a new job and then you just cant wait to get there as soon as possible.  If you have a transferable job, you wait for the transfer orders. If you get a posting of your choice, you just cant wait to be there soon. If you get a posting other than your choice, you just wait to finish that tenure. 

In the meantime, domestic progress is expected too. The family is waiting for  your family to  be  made. Thats hard work and the ultimate test of your patience.   You have to work on the economical, social and emotional aspects.  If you invest, you have to wait for your money to work according to your expectations, if you look to buy a house or build a house, you have to wait for the construction to be completed.  If you have one child, you are expected to have another. So you wait for your first child to grow up little faster. And while at these things, not a single moment you can become emotionally weak.  Whatever ups and downs, come and go, you have to keep hoping and waiting with an attitude   that “This too shall pass”. 

In the household, you wait for the delivery, if you have purchased a TV set, or a refrigerator, or an air-conditioner or some furniture set.  You wait for the plumber or the electrician or the internet service provider after you have made a complaint.  Why nowadays, one  even waits for the food to be delivered home. Online orders for clothes, medicines and even garden implements and plant seeds.  Yes, anything under the sun can be delivered to you and your home.  But ………. you keep waiting for it. 

Just a year back, you were dreaming of a world tour and the pandemic arrived. Now you wait for the pandemic to end and you wait for normalcy to return. When you plan a trip, you cant wait to start your journey and while your trip is nearing the end, you cant wait to go back to your normal routine.  

When you are sick, you wait to recover soon.  When you are terminally ill and undergo treatment, you wait for death. 

But but but…. of all the waits you patiently wait, all the time throughout your life, the wait for that one beep of sms or a whatsapp message of something that is bothering your mind at that particular moment about that specific person, is the worst time of the wait, I believe. What you say? 

Life is just waiting and you thought it was a mystery to be solved :)