THE HORCRUX

In JK Rowling’s world, a horcrux is “a receptacle prepared by dark magic in which a Dark wizard has intentionally hidden a fragment of his/her soul for the purpose of attaining immortality.”

In my world, I’m the horcrux. To begin with I’m dark. Both literally and figuratively, and I love every part of it! I can’t be a wizard. Or so I am told by a Harry Potter fan (who at this present moment is doing nothing but annoying me by giving me Harry Potter trivia that I know) that I CANNOT be a wizard and HAVE to be a witch! {I’m just glad he didn’t say b instead of w}.

But the one thing I know for sure is that I have left fragments of my soul in many places. The immortality part…. well that I’m not too sure about.

Willingly or unwillingly, all of us have given away a part of our soul. It could be that street you explored where all the nooks and crannies made you never want to leave. Or the coffee shops/cafes you find yourself sitting at aimlessly. It could be in the pages of a book that sits in the corner of your bookshelf. And sometimes it could be a person.

I’ve got out of my comfort zone and recently found myself doing things I otherwise never would have done. Many say I’m inspired by Ranbir Kapoor, but I say “Main udna chahti hoon, daudna chahti hoon, girna bhi chahti hoon, bas rukhna nahin chahti.”[Fortunately “girna” is my USP, so I guess it works!}

I quit my job; I ditched a very comfortably pampering lifestyle to live alone, I’ve even started eating out and going for movies alone. As nice as it sounds its equally daunting! Movies/articles/books make it seem too easy but let me tell you, initially its nothing but unnerving.

Not many of us like change. We maybe not as anal as Sheldon Cooper…sorry Dr. Sheldon Copper, but the thought of change frightens many. I used to be one of them until I finally adopted ‘no fucks to give’ and moved to gradually making changes.

“Haath ka maael hota hai paisa” became my motto and I did everything I was yearning to do without foreseeing things. Unfortunately it didn’t take long for me to realize that only the rich have the liberty of saying such stuff. I was also told by many it’s the stupidest thing to do. But that’s the specialty of stupid people; they do what they have to do eventually.

For me it started with my first international trip. I “blew up” my savings by going to Madrid, Barcelona, Villanova and Valencia with one of my closest friend. Luckily for me, she is as cuckoo as I am. {She has an art of deceiving people into believing that she is always thinking something but in actuality she is in a parallel universe doing nothing. I for the life of me could never try to do it. I tried once and got distracted by a very cute European who looked like Ronaldo.}

I saw Coldplay perform live and cried my lungs out. I became a shameless glutton. I shamelessly gawked at men. {Turns out every second face I saw I wanted to keep staring. The grass really does look greener on the other side}. Walked for 10kms everyday, because… exploring! [Also, because when an Indian goes abroad, the penny saver in them comes out naturally. We end up comparing every euro to the rupee and get fucked]. I can make a dissertation out of my trip to Spain, but what I can’t write about is the part of me that still remains there. I’ve left a huge part of me back, which even now after a year and a half still seems happier to be aimlessly wandering there.

A part of me is in my boarding school; in places I’ve shot, in walks where not a word has been exchanged but silent company has been enjoyed, in people. My friends, best friends, family, and those who have left an impact on me.

It’s what makes us human. Sharing a part of our soul. Many times it ends up messy and leaves us in tears but so many uncountable times it leaves us feeling like the luckiest person. And we should take chances, make mistakes, and be stupid for a shot at that feeling.

“Things you should do before you turn 25”, “Things I wish people told me before I became an adult”, “Ditch your boring job to travel”, “Things millennia’s should know”. I’ve read them all. I’ve felt accomplished ticking things off someone else’s list. But I’ve realized that nothing teaches you better than striking things off your list.

DO IT!

If you want to leave your job do it. {I know there are a lot of factors to consider, the most important being financial security. Trust me when I say this. I quit my job without one in hand knowing I have rent to pay. But I did it. And who knows things may or may not work out. But at least I’ll know I tried}

If you want to travel the world/explore a city alone, do it! Quoting the love of my life “if you never try, you’ll never know”. You’ll either return wiser or broke or maybe both, but that experience will be you putting yourself out there.

If you want to date, do it. What’s the worst that can happen? You’ll end up getting your heart broken. You’ll cry day and night for a while and then, one day you’ll wake up not caring {also too exhausted to cry}

If you want time out from the craziness out there, switch off and be with yourself. You owe it to yourself to breathe.

Put yourself out there.

Make mistakes.

Take chances.

Spend time with yourself.

LEAVE YOUR HORCRUXES.

“Jaa Simran jee le apni zindagi.”

{Men: if you can’t relate to Simran, please insert another name or else picture yourself instead of the unibrow}