An alternate today……

Today I went shopping for books. Dumping some old ones and buying some i had wanted to. One is Makers of Modern India by Ramchandra Guha. Recently released, it details out the impact 19 individuals have had on the creation of modern India over the last 200 years. Another one is India after Gandhi by the same author. History of India after Independence. Have read this earlier, thought it as worth buying. Its a lesson in history independent of how the ruling classes wanted history to be projected. Was also looking for Sunny Days, by Sunil Gavaskar, but couldn't get it.

The third book i bought is For One More Day by Mitch Albom. Not a very recommended book, not a very celebrated author. The only reason i got it is because its small, easy to handle and read when travelling in bus.

For One More Day is the story of a mother and a son, and a relationship that covers a lifetime and beyond. It explores the question: What would you do if you could spend one more day with a lost loved one? More about the book

To me, on the last page, the book also asked one more question – If you had one chance, just one chance, to go back and fix what you did wrong in life, would you take it?

In an ideal world I would find that question stupid. Simply because I believe one cannot do anything about what's happened. Secondly, there is no way to know if that alternate future would be the one that you wanted. But there have been times in not so distant past when i have wished things could have worked out differently. The question is what it is that i would have done differently and what point to make things work out differently. And there is only one thing i would want to do.

Study chemistry better in FYJC (11th).

Yes. For reasons unknown, while I was good in the first semester (which comprised of inorganic chemistry) in the second semester i hardly focused on it. And it was all organic chemistry. C-H-C, and so on, ugh!. Anyways, when i reached 12th i was not at all strong in the basic concepts of organic chemistry. Was in fact lousy and spent a lot of time and effort catching up but never really gaining the required confidence. On the other hand, i was overconfident with Physics and hence started devoting more and more time to Chemistry. Mathematics was taking care of itself, Biology and languages were being managed. Finally,as it turned out, i did just reasonably well, scoring nearly equal, but not enough in Physics and Chemistry. My PCM and aggregate score took a beating and affected my future.

Yes, think of it, one thing influenced it all - the college i went to (not so much the stream thankfully) the experiences i had (good and bad), the friends i made, contacts , maybe even the person i have turned out to be. For all i know,most of you would have never read this blog, someone else would have! I would have been in a different job profile? My facebook and linkedin contacts list would have been different.

So many possibilities – and you don't know for good or for worse.

But the question remains, for you as well : will you take the chance, if you get it ?