I stayed back at my hostel for some work after my semster exams were done with. While everyone else left for their hometowns, I spent my days in my hostel room whose lone corridors now echoed with a mere sneeze of mine. The deafening silence that I had been living in for almost four-five days now was making me wonder if the things I'm chasing in life are vague and the big diabolical question of 'Am I truly happy?' began haunting me but this was not all, these were accompanied by other such philosophical and introspective thoughts that often kill a person's hope and make him/her gloomy. But then when there is too much darkness around, you know that light is just round the corner!
Now let's come to the present day. About an hour ago, as I was passing through the Laitumkhrah market that's near the back gate of St. Edmund's College, I saw a lady walk by and she seemed really familiar. She was wearing a navy blue Jainsem(the Khasi traditional attire for women), and carried a black hand bag and was the most confident lady I had ever seen. My admiration for the way she carried herself made me really inquisitive and I stopped on my tracks to take a moment and figure out if this was indeed the person I assumed her to be. In spite of being pretty sure that this was the person I've been desperately trying to meet for the past one year that I've been in Shillong, I opened up Facebook to reaffirm and indeed she was the lady I deeply admire and follow- Madam Patricia Mukhim, who apart from being a renowned social activist, writer, journalist and the editor of Shillong Times, has also been a recipient of many honours which include the Padma Shri.
Now my admiration of Madam Mukhim dates back to the time when I was around eight or nine years old and an avid reader of the 'Planet Young' section of Assam Tribune. They used to publish an interview of a renowned personality in each of their editions so as to inspire the children to work towards the right cause. One such interview was of Patricia Mukhim who talked about the adverse conditions she went through at an emotional and financial level when she was young which later inspired her to chase excellance. My father really liked this piece and got the published interview photocopied and handed out a copy each to all his three children, meaning, me and my elder siblings.
Coming from a middle class family myself, money has always been scarce and hence there have been times when frustrated with the circumstances, I was rebellious and hard to control. On such occasions, my father would always cite the example of Madam Mukhim who turned out extremely well in spite of all odds. This has always kept me going. And though Shillong was not my first choice to pursue my graduation, one thing that kept me content here during my initial days was the consolation that staying here at Shillong increases my chances of meeting this eminent personality, who has been a motivation to me ever since I was a kid.
I have made several attempts to meet Madam Mukhim personally in the past one year, going out of my way to discover unknown, isolated paths on foot, not caring whether it rained or shined but have failed in my all my attempts. But walking through the streets of Laitumkhrah market today, I met her out of the blue! In the most unexpected and uncalled for moments when you're out of hope or motivation, isn't getting the privilege to meet someone you've been dying to get in touch with a blessing!?
I went to her and introduced myself as the girl whose story you just read and she looked really pleased to find an overwhelmed fan and admirer approaching her with a little tale of her own. I was at a loss of words, I couldn't express myself very well and yet I didnt stop even for a second once I had begun talking! It was indeed an encounter that shall remain with me forever but now, when this excitement and happiness has subsided, I realise that this was not just an accidental meet up with my idol but also life's way of teaching me two very important lessons:
1) The right things come to you at the right time. No matter how hard you try, things do not happen before their time is due.
2) Listening to one's heart and intuition is the key to a happy and guilt-free life. Had I not listened to my heart and stopped a second to confirm whether she was Patricia Mukhim for real, I would have never got the opportunity to talk to her!
