After a long day at a global workshop, we were stuck in late evening discussions on work topics again. Frustration, Challenges, hurdles, obstacles, demotivation – talking about all this made us still gloomy. “Let’s go to the Main station to see what Bremen offers us for Oktoberfest” Satheesh called out. We were too reluctant to start for an outing. “Let’s go to the Indian restaurant and come back quickly” said Mummu. “Yes!” Siva and I nodded. “Let’s go to the market area once and if you don’t like it lets come back in half an hour!” persuaded Satheesh. After a discussion of about half an hour debating, we finally agreed to get out!
Boarding the bus, we were just looking at each other uninterested about the evening. Hauptbahnof – The board mentioned. Much vibrant than the Rainbow – Colors were floating around! This was the first time I came out with a group. Although I appear an extrovert, I am a loner and like to just have a Me Me time during trips. Siva, Mummu, Satheesh and I had a good working relationship as friends too. This was the first time we were together on a Business trip.
“Roasted Almonds coated with Chocolate and Sugar” – smells like Caramel!” we exclaimed. Colorfully decorated, Heart shaped chocolates, waited for the kids to fondly grab them on their little hands. We took a handful of those and walked. “I don’t prefer sweets” said Satheesh who was the first and last one to grab many of those! “Jingle bells” rang the big entrance to the Oktoberfest. Colorful toys across – we wanted to cuddle – we got to know those are meant to be earned and not bought! We jumped into the first game – a lottery and tried our luck. There were 14 tickets that we were offered for 5 Euros. Each of us grabbed 2-3 debating who was the lucky one. I turned to be the luckiest with 3 colors. Finally we won an eraser – excitement of the little kids within us and we giggled! “5 Euros for an eraser – quite expensive” our rational minds did not work!
“Horse Race” – little balls need to be targeted towards the baskets and the more we reach the target, the pony moves. We competed against each other and I was in shame. My pony hardly moved. Mummu was almost in the lead but later took the second place. We won nothing but tried twice to atleast get another eraser but in vain. Losing 16 Euros to smiles, we came back.
“What a carnival without roller coaster, ferris wheel and other rides. “The Tower” – appeared lovely and colorful though scary. We awed at it with fear. Finally Siva and I agreed to try this and bought the tickets. The tower was moving all the way up vertically over hundred feet and then moved in circles on top. The cold wind seemed to attack our spines. We laughed and shouted “Bremen! You are awesome!”. Splash of colors seemed lovely and I dropped my eyes down to see the jaws of death! What an experience! As we retired down, we felt like going for it once again overcoming our fear. Not worse as it seemed to be.
Fiery Hamburgers, Glow wine, steaks, Kebabs, and lots more around us. The place seemed to change our gloomy mood we earlier had. Fireworks and people looking at it and shooting videos made us feel this is a good market for our Sivakasi Business men!
As we settled down for dinner at an Indian restaurant, we laughed on how our little kids within us came out that evening. We went back to our 90s when we were kids enjoying the carnival at home. We spoke about our funny experiences in school, college, marriage, work and how life changed in each phase. We laughed and laughed hearing from each other. Finally we left to our hotels and our gloominess left us!
As I settled down on my bed to fall asleep, I was pondering around the events that happened in the evening. We were reluctant to go out at first and then enjoyed every minute of the evening. We noticed the little kids within us.
We did notice those green memories to be cherished. Every phase in life did have funny, lovely moments. There is life more than the idleness, gloomy, sick feelings that we think are our destiny. “Nothing has changed since evening but how was that the mood we had earlier was lost and we became vibrant?” I questioned myself. Often we indulge ourselves in tough times and remark “What a life!” How many times do we really speak about the lovely moments we experienced? If we do that, we would remark “What a life!” – of course in a different tone!
We often hear “Life is not a bed of roses” but I feel “Life is a bed of roses” – yes it does have prickly thorns and gentle petals. Reaching for the colorful, soft petals is not possible without passing through thorns. But pricking ourselves with thorns would just hurt us. A balance of both is required. Colors of the petals attract and make us smile without looking at the thorns. Likewise looking through the positivity and lovely moments makes us overcome even the toughest situation.
“Bring back the child in you! Bring back the happiness in you! Indulge in life’s lovely moments!” Get yourself re-energized for every new challenge! “Life is a bed of roses”!