The Adventures of TinTin and Snowy

Picking up on a point Saurabh made yesterday about struggles, life is always a series of battles. Whenever you win one, yet another crops up. Climbing mountains is the same thing. You finally make it, huffing and puffing, to the top of the peak, only to see yet another peak looming ahead. Is it always going to be like this? Will we ever attain true happiness and contentment? Will we ever come to the point when we have no more battles to fight?

I'm sure all of our lives have been a series of battles but I've been blessed, in as much that, I've won lots of my battles. As early as the age of 10, my sister and I lived miserable lives with our "evil" grandparents. We were desperate to return to our emotionally shattered dad, who'd just lost his wife and our mother. My sister lived in constant fear while I stuck my head into the sand hoping that it would all go away. But one day, while on holiday with our dad, he suddenly decided that enough was enough and never sent us back. We never went back, not even to collect our stuff. Nothing. That was our first battle.

After a series of other battles ( which I won't bore you all with), came Ani and I. Its been such a roller coaster of a ride. In her final year, I thought that this was it. I wasn't foolish enough to expect long distance - cross Atlantic relationships to work. After a long year of grieving and trying to dull the pain of eventually losing her, by immersing myself in my General Secretary post, by a stroke of luck, the American Consulate refused her student visa, even though she had a full scholarship. She tried three times, and every time, she was refused. Each time she applied, I thought I would lose her. Then she kept applying for jobs. Again, amazingly, an 8 pointer Computer Science Engineer, didn't get a job. What amazingly bad luck for her. At the end of the year, she left KGP leaving me behind. The whole of my summer internship was spent in misery, drinking away with Shiv, Abilash, Pandey and Vivek. Pandey would keep singing 'Lady in Red' , just to watch me burst into tears. But again, fate intervened and she got a job in KGP as a GRA.

The year passed by with me not getting a job anywhere. I applied to the UK just because Ani was applying, but had no hope of getting a scholarship in the UK. Dad disagreed with me going to the UK for a long time. Then suddenly again, one fine day, he says, alright you can go to the UK. Once I got to the UK, the next battle was finding a job. Applied high and low. Got just one interview. Got rejected a million times. And when all hope was lost, suddenly my project employer offers me a job outright after an impromptu interview with the directors in a cafe. How bizarre?

Then came trying to get Ani's parents to accept me and to let us get married. Christ that was a battle. Both parents wouldn't budge and each had their "pride". My folks were more supportive but refused to take the first move and talk to her parents. Her parents just outright didn't want to discuss it and laughed it off. My parents insisted that I get married only after my sister. It was a bloody Nightmare. Again when we were resigned to the fact that Ani would become an old hag waiting for me, suddenly my dad says "Lets get you married in the next 6 months". What the heck?

So here I am. With everything I wanted. Surely there was divine intervention at each stage. Whatever it was, I'll never give up hope from now on. Coz its when you least expect it that providence strikes.