How somebody holds the capacity of some deep diving into the story, sorry, deep diving into the philosophy that they thought of moving towards their whole life with that self-reflection is wherever they go, they start to find themselves until they create a form of art in a piece of painting, novel, sketch, cartoon, song, or any other relevant art in which they are a master. But they are still being so sabotaged that they aren’t sure if everything is on the right track. And when they took the risk of publishing it, they were scared of getting humiliated again.
Art is prominently one of the deepest, most secure sidekicks one always has with them to make them aware that they are good at something. But that something does not always become so sophisticated that only a person who has his art by his side makes others believe he or she does not create because he or she is good at it but because he or she needs to make a change from it. A healthy change.
Now what is a healthy change? Procuring dreams by earning money? Or establishing relations with oneself or the family or the friends in a better procurement? Or finding somebody totally opposite to them giving a sigh of relief, it is okay not to be okay. Yes, sometimes we find somebody who is either totally opposite to us or relates so much with us that they cope with the same grief, have been through a lot with the same pain, and have suffocated a lot with the same loneliness yet are so different from us.
How is it possible that somebody is so relatable to us and yet so different? The lifestyle? The mindset? The style of approach? Who knows, but it is always not such a pretending thing with these kinds of people to tell them who we are and who we are not. Having a sigh of relief from the gut-wrenching amount of pain, these people believe they are a burden to somebody or something, and despite that, they make us believe that self-sabotaging is a wrong thing.
A crazy puzzle to resolve or to know we are the puzzle and destiny resolves it. No, it is not a paradox or a symphony; one can be stuck and still sympathize with it. But it purifies a connection between the two people that deserves to know they are not a puzzle or a myth that people make them realize it is the baggage of too good to be true, and if you are, it is okay not to be okay.
It is the story of Aashima, who is lost somewhere in her life, pretending to be alright always when she is not. She not only wanted to escape reality but also found the reality in the books. An adult of 22 years old has its own beauty in the form of a poet with a rebellious nature not to adapt to the change but to change the adaptation of the orthodox society where it was believed that humans don’t have the connection already; they make it with a psyche one always has in the brain to think and give the time to understand other humans. And she learned this when a turning point hit her and she needed a change from everything yet could not leave everything.
Manav, an INFJ-T advocate, personifies human mental health and gives them advice for free. He himself came out of long trauma and depression and believes humans should be treated for free. And no amount of money can satisfy the healer if they are healing people who genuinely need a break from the system that they are following without any break, even though they know it is wrong to follow, yet they had no choice earlier. To earn money, Manav also works as an event organizer and performs gigs as a standup act that gives people understanding of philosophy better.
These two have the same beliefs yet are very far and different from each other, and how they interacted was the best purity of their souls. Manav was also the part-time writer and had already written two romcoms in the past 5 years, and now he’s gone in a more personal way and wrote a memoir named “A NEW CHAPTER.” Due to his several connections, he had a pretty interesting book launch where he made it understood how and why he wrote his memoir.
A few months passed, and he sold 99 copies yet did not find the perfect reader who could actually understand and connect with his book. He needed the 100th buyer, which is coincidentally going to be, to be a reader who connects with the philosophy first and then understands the meaning of writing the stories or essays in the book.
He was assuming the kind of review his ex-girlfriend Aarushi gave him of his previous release “THE UNWANTED WOUNDS.” Aarushi understood on the first go why Manav wrote that book yet gave him the honest review. “THE UNWANTED WOUNDS” was the second book Manav published. It wasn’t that success, but writing a romcom where people connected with short stories, he established himself as a coming-of-age writer. And with the reader like Aarushi, he had support that people would understand him better.
The best part about Manav and Aarushi was after their breakup, the friendship and that bond didn’t fade; it grew better than before, and they accepted that sometimes being out of love is a concept we are not ready for and it is also not a choice, though it is a chance one has to make oneself give to be more secure about their feelings and explore more what two cannot do in the relationship.
It was four years. Manav did not try dating, and Aarushi is now a married woman who always roots for the friendship they both have, and whenever they meet, which is quite a lot less in number now, they throw away all the anxieties they have through life. After Aarushi, Manav wasn’t able to find somebody like her, and though, at a time, he stopped finding too. And a call happened one day from his publisher.
Hey Pal, congratulations on your 100th buyer?
Manav knew it wouldn’t be Aarushi again, because he himself gave a signed copy to her. Still, he asked, “Is it her? Can you tell me, is it her?
No, Manav! You fool. Please forget about her; it wouldn’t be her. And why it would be her, can you please tell me? You have been ditching her for the past few months and expecting that she would knock down your door and say, “Hey, my exy! I really liked your book that you gifted me, so now I would like to buy another copy.
Hahaha! Stop it, Ranveer. Talking about her isn’t a joke; you know it very well.
Yeah, yeah! She is some adult, yes, obviously younger than you, named Aashima!
Yes, yes…. I am the oldest person alive. Everyone is younger than me….
Don’t be irritating, Manav. She got a letter for you.
Woah! A letter before reading. What is written there?
Dear Author,
It is such an honor to read a book of yours, since I am a massive reader of yours and really like your blogs and stories that I found online. When I found out you had published your new book and it was your memoir, I was like, “Yes, now is the time to solve the mystery,” but I was very unhappy when I did not get the time to purchase it. Never got the chance to interact before. But once I complete the book, I want to meet you in person.
I always support the Indian authors, especially those who are local in their cities, and believing you like to be local and away from the limelight has gained immense respect for you. I hope that who you are and what you try to show the audience would have all the answers in your new book. Also, I loved the title A NEW CHAPTER, which hints at how somebody is pleased to start a new chapter in their life.
Definitely, it would always be a go-to book for me. Not because you are my favorite or I like the way you are, but sometimes what you desire, you find that comfort you aren’t looking for in that place. It is pretty obvious expecting philosophy in your stories would be there, but a person like me who is always rebellious for a change isn’t a person who will deep dive into philosophy, so that’s why I said this.
Happy reading to me!
Hmmm, interesting character! Wouldn’t love to meet her either, mate.
Yeah, you should. She is the kind of reader you were always looking for!
Hopefully, Ranveer!
A couple of months passed, and Manav did not get any text or call or mail from that reader. She even found her on social media or via websites, but that wasn’t helpful. But one morning he was drunk and making coffee for himself while enjoying a cigarette. A pop-up mail just dropped. It was from the same reader Aashima. She really loved the book and would love to meet me, as she has some questions around it; she wants to discuss a few things!
That is amazing, Manav!!! Go meet her; give yourself a change. Also, you have isolated yourself for the past six months, and the only person’s face you have seen is mine, and that too in a video call. Go meet some new people, and interact with them…. She also texted you her number. What to wait for?
And don’t dare to call me for a few days; I am on a vacation with my wife now!!!
Damn it, Ranveer. You are married? Who is the wife you never told me about?
It’s Aarushi.
Which Aarushi? My ex or somebody else…? Hello? Hello? Hello?
People are nowhere to be found when you look for them, and when you stop looking for them, they are at your door knocking, and when you open the gate, the first sentence they say is not “Hello”; it is “I am very deranged, please help me!!!” Some came and told directly, and some they talked about indirectly. At a point in my life, I felt those people who did not ask for healing yet crave so much are my type of people, but other days when I am in my senses, I am a bit wrong because they always had a purpose of telling their pain in different ways, and I am always just half dead in the morning and pretending everything is alright! I am alright, and I do not need anybody to heal me; I would do it on my own for myself and for others. That is what I am made for, not to be healed but to find healing while healing others!
This was my life since I graduated from college, and for the first time I found someone who didn’t need healing, yet she was so broken; she did not ask for it, nor from my expertise did she need it. Just a few steps to follow and putting the rebellion cause on the right way, and she was good to go. Or was it? Her questions gave me a side-back to look behind why I left my house and parents and why I do all these things. I tried and wrote this book to find the root cause but was still confused, and after giving the answers to her, I got to know the problem has always been how one refuses to be in what steps to follow by their own principles. Which is not wrong, but they get lost in the loop of following them and getting updates accordingly.
And this girl, Aashima, she was way ahead of her time, and I kind of liked her when she said to me, “Brother!” That girl came to my city from very far only to discuss the questions she had while reading the book. And I also desired to make her visit that very place every day where I feel peace and calm, where there are no people, and where I healed myself secretly. Till then she stayed with me, and I will make her enjoy her stay and give her whatever she needs, and she asked me, “What’s that place?” And I said, “THE OLDEST BOOKSTORE IN THIS TOWN!”
A few days passed; she started noticing me, and I just connected the dots where all this is aligning. I mean, her life and my life weren’t similar, yet more she started to open up, and the more I learned and the more she cried while opening up, the more I became a big brother to her. The one who always doubted having his own family and in that process abandoned his own, I was seeking something that only after a long time she is understanding. Or trying to be; who knows, but we both have faith in each other.
Then the day came; she told me she wanted to visit that bookstore where I always hide or find my escapism. And I took her there!
The funny part was, Aashima was drunk last night, and her hangover wasn’t fully over. Still, she was in her senses, and if she wasn’t, I was there for her, as now she is my little sister. So, we went to the bookstore, and she picked up the book “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man,” which kind of surprised me for a while. I read that book years ago when I abandoned everything, and I still have this very book when I am abandoning myself, but that book is so close to me. I told her to read that book as her next classical philosophy.
And she made the face like, are there the secrets of your life?
No, why?
Come on, Manav bhayia! You were drunk too. In fact, you let me drink alcohol yesterday, which I shouldn’t be drinking.
I only had a couple of beers, and you drank half a bottle of rum without knowing what that is!
Okay, fine. But a couple of beers? You mean to say 7-8 bottles.
It was the India vs. England series going on. And that is the only thing I have been watching for the past few years.
Alright! Alright! I understand the concept, but can I ask a few questions related to your book?
Sure go ahead!
Q.1 What are the issues with your family that you believe abandoning them or your house is the only choice left?
Ans. Abandoning wasn’t my plan since starting not to them and not to myself and living in an isolation center that I call my flat, which actually it is not. We both stopped understanding each other since I was very small, around 7! And that is not the fact; being understood, nobody can accept this in life, neither today nor tomorrow or any other day. And it is only because you cannot change who you are, and not only this, but you also get irritated when people start to organize that in your life.
Suppose, being a person who does not think differently of changing things or people mentally and emotionally and carefully, he has grown in an environment where human relations are always used wrongfully and subjectively to define emotions that they never experience. With more aggressive ego and self-respect, they feel like they are moving forward with the biggest adaptation of leaving things behind. And honestly, that is not adaptation; that is something cowards do to not win the argument but to feel they are superior.
And whom they are superior from? If they do not have the audacity to sustain their abilities with their younger ones. There was a time my own brother tried to kill me. My own father had issues with me and thinking, “I cannot bring solutions to the problems one always has.” Day by day arguments increased, and I left it.
Q.2 The story where you are with your singer friends, did you really go to London and sing your own song?
Ans. Honestly, if you just forget about that story, it would be helpful.
Okay, stop making puppy faces; I am telling!
I had two friends, both guitarists; both were singers, and I was just the guitarist. And one day we all were high on marijuana, but we three knew what we were saying. And so we planned to have a band, but life does not always have its unique plans that we follow. Life gives us paths, and we make plans, and if we are not capable of making plans, the path is the only way to go ahead, and the destination will come back to us. Then we are not the ones who can complain about what we get and what we don’t.
One of them had a huge addiction to marijuana, but he knew the music he created was for showing he was something; he had plans, and you are only allowed to make plans when you are sober, or else you make mistakes. He did the same. Being in the mountains, singing in a high pitch, he remembered he had a family to serve. He does not leave music completely now but only does it when he is happy. His girl left him; he cried, and he was like, “Hmm, sad. Anyway!”
Another one, he was devastated with his plans and felt betrayed that now he has to make music all alone, and despite having no further plans, he uses his skills now to encourage students to make music. And me? I am and always will be a writer, writing stories about reaching the destinations but do not know when I will be reaching them!
But you’re still in contact with them, right? Aashima replied.
No, not at all! And why is that? I too even don’t know, but let’s get this straight: one day you will feel this too. People will be there for you, making plans, and by overnight they will change it too, and you will be the one who is left behind. Then you will have a fear: what if it happens again? It will happen again, but not the betrayal or the trust, with the right people!
Elizabeth was a character in the last I created only because I could remind myself once I was very fond of music, and going back there feels like once I had a dream of creating it too. And will be doing it with the right amount of people.
Q.3 The metaphors you used for your last love. Do you know she will come back?
Ans. She would be. I mean, we ended our love but not the terms, and if I were to find anyone again, she would be the first one to know and meet her! I may have ditched her wedding, but I hope she won’t.
She does not know that I still love her, but she knew this before meeting the right person who could give you the right amount of life at that very right time when you needed it; love for that person fades away, but it does not end either. You,, then just stop thinking about them in that way but love to transfer their emotions to another. And that bond is always there.
Those are quite fair enough answers I get. I don’t know that you will ever be satisfied with your life, but you will surely reach the destination wherever you have thought. Aashima answered.
I may have the slightest answer for that.
And what is that?
I am heading to Japan. A friend of mine lives there! Very fascinated by poetry and all types of art. And I guess I may need to learn that.
Got fed-up with India?
No, Aashima. It is not like that. I am not escaping from reality but living in isolation for these months. I have realized I can go as far away as I can, but until I have peace and silence, I am not satisfied. I am looking for peace after several years and living in isolation. I thought I would learn the silence, but the more I have understood peace, the more I need the environment that holds the capacity of breathing. And I need to breathe now first!
I wish I could come on this journey of yours.
You can come now still.
Who will give my exams then?
But I pray, my little sister, that one day you get your own story to pen down!
I think I already have one story that we discussed being drunk, hahah! You were drunk and I was not; I still remember.
Well, then, wish you luck; write it. Publish it. Promote it.
But importantly, write for yourself. Both said it together.