Whether we like it or not – we have to keep changing ourselves if we want to move ahead in our lives. We all know this. Very well. Abhishek and Mansi too learnt something worthwhile about comfort zones when they were on their way home to Mumbai…
Mansi
I looked at the big group of fellow Indians in the lobby. I knew they would board the same flight that we were on. It was apparent. They were on the last leg of their holiday and were making the most of their time together. Their “josh” was infectious. I smiled to myself. I was going on a holiday too. And like them, I too wanted to make the most of it!
But after a while, their noisy talk became irritating. I could see the other passengers roll their eyes at them! Some were working on their laptops. One gentleman just closed the book he was reading and put it into his backpack. A young woman was trying to rock her baby to sleep in her arms and was looking at the entire group with utter disgust!
I wished they would calm down and behave decently and was relieved when we were all asked to board the flight. I assumed that we would have a smooth journey ahead!
We found our seats and I opted to sit by the window. Abhishek sat in the middle next to another young man. I closed my eyes and exhaled deeply. A few more hours and I would be home……I smiled again. I was happy. I so badly wanted to meet everyone at home.
None of us could relax after that. At all. Instead of sitting in the seats that were assigned to them, these youngsters started convincing the other passengers to change their seats! Almost all the passengers were annoyed and exasperated by their childish requests and refused to do so.
By the time they settled down it was time to take off. After a few minutes, the group started playing up again! The stewardess was serving dinner when a couple of boys started picking up a fight with her. The stewardess was clear about one thing. She was not going to put up with their nonsense. She marched off to the pilot’s cabin.
Within seconds, the pilot was standing in the middle of the aisle. He made a loud clear announcement to no one in particular. He said, “A few young passengers are finding it difficult to adapt to the norms of the airlines. This is a warning to them. We will be forced to make an emergency landing and they will be asked to de-board if they refuse to conform! This will inconvenience all the other passengers. But there is nothing we can do about it. Any questions? Anyone?” The pilot was looking at the youngsters with a grim stern look on his face. There was pin-drop silence for the next few minutes. He then said, “Thank you!” and marched off to his cabin.
I looked at Abhishek and said softly, “Why are they behaving like that? Where are their manners? Can’t they see that they were disturbing others by their rude rowdy behaviour? It looks as if they have got this kind of freedom for the first time in their lives. So instead of adjusting, they are trying to create a world of their own wherever they go!” Abhishek shrugged and said, “There is nothing we can do about it. They need to realize it for themselves!”
Abhishek
The young man sitting next to me looked at me and asked, “Are you both a part of this group?” I nodded my head vehemently and said, “No! We are just the two of us!”
He said, “The stewardesses have to deal with all kinds of people all through the day! They have a tough job but they do it with a smile and pizzazz too! She was pretty effective wasn’t she?” I smiled and nodded at him and said, “I’m going home to meet my family. What about you? Does your family live in Mumbai too?”
The man smiled and said, “No! I am visiting India! I am a deep-sea diver. I have been living in the middle of nowhere – in total isolation – for the past four weeks because I wanted to master the art of deep-sea diving perfectly.”
“Wow! That’s pretty cool! You lived all by yourself in a remote corner of the world for four weeks? I don’t know. I wonder if I would be able to live like that. Did you take a course to learn this art?”
“It wasn’t easy for me either! But that was the motive behind my entire plan. I was working in a great firm in Dubai for the past couple of years. I worked hard, scrimped and saved every penny I could because I wanted to take a year off to pursue my passion for diving! I can sustain myself for a year now if I spend carefully.
And…. no one taught me the art of diving! I learnt it on my own. I am visiting Mumbai to explore the job opportunities there. My intuition tells me that I can create a decent reputation for myself as a diving expert in India. I may not be able to make as much money as I did earlier. But that does not deter me. Right now I will be happy if I get a job and make ends meet! It may take me a couple of years to explore all the opportunities.
If all goes well, I will be able to pursue my passion on a full-time basis. Else, I will have to go back to working in an office. I may not get a job immediately there too. But I will be richer with all these new experiences! It’s a big risk to take at this age. But unless I break out of my comfort zone, I will never be able to discover my true potential!”
“I am impressed! It requires a lot of courage to take these kinds of risks. Most of us prefer security and like to live in our comfort zones for the rest of our lives. And here you are choosing to take risks so that you can pursue your passion for the rest of your life! You make me question myself!”
The deep-sea diver said, “We have to move out of our comfort zones at some time or the other. Else we’ll get left out. Some do it consciously. Like me. Some are forced out of it – like our lads back there!”
I nodded to him with a smile and said, “You have a point. I never thought of it that way! I think most of us keep moving in and out of our comfort zones all through our lives. Often we are not even aware of it because we take such things in our stride as a part of our lives.” The man grinned back at me, “Yeah! You too have a point there….” We shared a comfortable silence for a long while after that.
Mansi and Abhishek
Yes, we did have a great time with our family and we did enjoy our break thoroughly. But we understood the worth of that experience only when we hugged our parents before leaving Mumbai. We realized that we were able to move out of our comfort zones and cope with all the changes that were taking place in our lives only because our parents stood by us. Always. Quietly. Willingly.