What is more unpredictable – Life or Hot air balloon!
“Zindagi kaisi hai Paheli haaye”..…..Most of us would recall this very famous song from the movie “Anand” and would have often hummed this at various moments of our life. Especially, the times when we are made to realise that we are mere spectators of this grand play called “LIFE” of which the script is written and directed by some Unknown mysterious Power.
Now does this sound heavy for the start of a holiday season blog- Maybe yes!! But most times life has a funny way of teaching us some great lessons about its fragility, randomness and our vulnerability thereon. Here’s my recent anecdote that made me not just ponder over such a heavy lesson but also inspired me to see how everything can just be a learning- only if we choose to see beyond it for once 😇
I was in Turkey recently for my much-awaited year end get away. As a tourist one of my biggest “To Do” was to fly in a Hot air balloon over the natural volcanic caves of Cappadocia and catch a glimpse of spectacular views created by nature. After much ado and planning – I did plan my stay in the city only after checking the weather conditions on at-least 3 websites and keeping a buffer of one day so that I don’t miss this must do thing in my holiday bucket list.
As thrilled as I could be imagining myself snapped in one of those sexy flowy off shoulder gown with colourful balloons flowing above some natural astonishing landscapes in the background (I picked orange btw to match it to the hues of sunrise- if you don’t know what I am talking about- you gotta google my friend- you are missing out on some of the top photo goals in life 😆
The day before the flight to the city – we got to know about the increasing cold and the bad weather conditions which might be non-conducive to the balloon flight (Alas- suddenly my gown had to be layered under some solid sheets of Heat techs- they are damn effective btw- Hail UniQlo !!).
Nonetheless, focusing on the goal of getting on to the balloon and enjoying the views rather being self-obsessed on photo goals- I maintained my Optimism Bias and because the balloon flight wasn’t officially cancelled yet- I was all ready by 6AM to be picked up and capture the world famous postcard scene of splendid sunrise amidst the caves with the colours of balloons complimenting the shades of sky. It was 5.55AM and the flight was still on in the temperature of -1 degree. Adorning the layers of clothes, and ready with my make up on (matching my lip shade to whatever shade these puffer jackets offer) I suddenly got the text- “The flight is cancelled”. In complete dismay- I went into my reminiscing mode of how much of all the planning has gone for a toss. Just bcos God couldn’t slow down the wind speed for ONE day- just that one day in all the 365 days while I had plans to tick one of the top items in my bucket list that too in foreign land. Phew- bloody we cant even control wind speed for one hour and we think- we have power to make our own lives- Ha ha !!
Nonetheless- to compensate- I went for a nice coffee and breakfast in a café across the street. Thinking about how unpredictable life could be or has been just like a hot air balloon- while covid clearly taught us we don’t know what’s gonna happen the next second- there are such small/big moments we encounter every-day which makes us ponder – do we even have power to plan, make things happen per our will anytime? And I was suddenly humming this famous Abida Ali song “ tere bas me kuch bhi nai hai, dil nu ae samjhana” (you don’t have power to control anything- teach this to your heart).
One day- you get a phone call giving you a job offer that could turn your life upside down, one day you just meet someone who feels like soul, one day people decide to leave you in middle of journey making you wonder if this is what you could have ever predicted, one day a long lost friend suddenly messages and you are all drowned in nothing but nostalgia, one day you are suddenly diagnosed with some health issues and everything else in the world seems irrelevant, one day you get a friend request from someone you have been wanting to make amends with since forever, one day someone pushes you so hard that you dive outside your comfort zone and do things you have feared all your life. It’s always that one day- right?
Ok agreed this was all very philosophical only after cancellation of one hot air balloon flight- like every other unplanned venture in life- I was determined to find a way to remediate this in best possible way. Get this rescheduled for next day or even rebooking one more flight to some other location having better chances of flying. After evaluating and executing all my further actions- to make sure I do get to one of the flight I was left wondering on the perseverance of human nature- how difficult it is for us to let go. How badly we strive to make things good once they have gone unplanned. How stubborn we are in our minds to make it happen just the way we want it to be.
Amidst the chaos of not losing the opportunity- the day went by managing the next day’s logistics. Next morning – the flight I got was an hour away from my hotel- so the pick-up had to be even earlier. 530AM. Damn- but as resilient as I could be- I was ready by 515AM in all my lipstick and mascaras yet again to be picked up and driven in the snowfall to a place where a balloon could be flown using fire. As ironical as it sounded- my optimism bias was still at its peak- cos in my mind it has to happen this way. Along the drive – 5 mins to the location- driver turned and announced- “flight is cancelled”. Alas!! this time was real setback. I had no more time in hand to try this one again. Back to human nature of pacifying oneself – I was again humming the same song “Sari khushiyan mil jaaye to ithe ki reh jaana” (if we get all the happiness in one go- what else we would have to look forward to). Maybe this could now be my reason to come back to this place ❤
After all the doom and gloom and surrendering to God’s will of me not getting onto that balloon basket, I was back to my human nature- how else can we now recoup. What else can we do with this saved money and time. And yeah, to my amusement, we managed to find a place 4 hours away all snowing with thick layers and ready for a ski adventure. I didnt leave the opportunity to make good of this and at the end it turned out to be a better tick to my bucket list than the balloon flight.
The day threw me again to some reminiscing mode in the comforting bed- hasn’t every lost opportunity pushed me beyond my limits? Hasn’t every failed relation- taught me a lesson and raised my bar higher? Haven’t I been compensated for everything I lost for in some better shape and form? With a heart full of gratitude- I continued on the trip.
And no- the story doesn’t end here. While on my last leg of the trip- where I went to see some hot water springs- to my surprise there was abundant sunshine at the place and guess what- hot air balloon was happening there too!! I grabbed the chance at the first on-sight and while the views weren’t similar to what I had in my mind- they were none the less spectacular. The only thing I was singing again was “jo hai tera labh jayega, kar ke koi bahana” (whatever is yours will find its way to you eventually) 🤗
And yes- isn’t that the way of life- we only get what’s meant for us at the right time. No matter how hard we try, we pray, we beg but it all shapes up only the way it has to be and at the time it has to be and yes life is as unpredictable as much as a hot air balloon flight. While this one flight in the air sums up my year, I did end up thanking god for the detours I made this year, feeling grateful for all the compensatory benefits I got in lieu of lost options, more acknowledging the unpredictability of human life and thus more accepting to go with the flow and surrender to his bigger plans. 2023blogsaylaaylinbloggerlifecreativewritingenjoylifehotairballoonlifequotespillingbeansstartupsuniqlowordsofwisdom
