Not My Cup Of Tea
I have been fond of music since childhood. It was very natural for my parents to enrol me to a music class. I was very keen and kept on learning classical Indian music. But it was over a period of 6-7 years and after appearing for 5 exams, I realised that however sincerely I tried I couldn’t sing too well. I remembered the lyrics, the tunes but failed to sing melodiously. It is said that if we are not naturally blessed by a skill, we can gain same by learning. But till date my experience says there are some things in life which we need to do just for our own happiness. I listen to all kinds of music regularly and sing to my heart's content when I'm alone but I don't believe in torturing my near and dear ones by singing before them. Irony is my husband is a natural musician. He has a sense of music notes and can play all instruments pretty well. So, when people ask me whether I sing, I say good musicians need good audience. I serve that purpose pretty well.
Friends we love many things in life but we can't be good at everything. We need to understand this sportingly and take it easy when we lack some talent naturally. We can practice but without expecting any miracles.This I'm sure must be the experience of many. A friend of mine takes so much efforts and puts in all hard work for cooking exotic dishes. But unfortunately, every time the punch is missing. I really feel bad but she never stops experimenting. I know cooking tasty food is special blessing. In my case, I love cooking all types of sweet dishes but baking is one field which I never venture into. Somehow, I feel a sense of discomfort to try my hand in baking. From the beginning of this lockdown many people are seen indulging in baking beautiful cakes, cookies, breads. Whenever I see those baked dishes I am in awe and can’t stop admiring them but can’t dare myself to try something.
A colleague enrolled himself in driving school to learn 4-wheeler. Thereafter he got licence but could never drive the car confidently. He did refresher courses too but all in vain. Finally, when on call taxi services started, he was relieved. Later he kept a driver too. I really like his spirit. Instead of freaking out he searched for solution. A girl I know became engineer just to make her parents happy. She had to attempt every exam twice during four-year course. Once she got the degree, she enrolled herself in fashion designing institute. She had understood that engineering was not her forte. Today she has her own pretty boutique.
A lady fond of makeup always attempts something new to explore her makeup skills. She looks so elegant in her natural way but she has some notions about being impressive in superficial world. She does something which is not in her comfort zone making her look conscious and awkward always. She even feels sad when she doesn’t get appreciated as expected. I feel sad when I see people experiencing discomfort in life just because they wish to impress or create some notional image. They never feel comfortable in their own skin.
I remember watching people eating Pizza too with fork and knife at a high-end restaurant. There were some who didn't feel comfortable still trying to be fit in that environment. I have always felt that we should feel comfortable in our shoes to enjoy life. I ate pizza with hands without worrying about what people around would say. I feel till the time we are not disturbing decorum and silence whether we eat food with forks and spoons or by hands should not make a difference to people around.
Friends I have seen this happening with many people around. Lacking some specific skill makes them lose confidence about other aspects in life. They keep on attempting to gain that particular skill ignoring completely what other strengths they have. A senior in profession, extremely knowledgeable but always shying away from public address. Reason being lack of confidence to speak in English. He is extremely fluent in Hindi but equally embarrassed about English speaking. He has never thought of sharing his expertise in Hindi with professional colleagues. His journey to learn conversational English continues.
Happy are those who accept the reality and explore different options. One should definitely do what makes one happy but there are certain things in life which one needs to see and accept with open mind. Otherwise the pressure is unending and vacuum everlasting. I always believe that when we lack one skill, we are blessed with four others by Almighty. Rather than lamenting on skills we lack we need to work on what we are good at.
I have been practicing this for sometime now ignoring certain things as not my cup of tea and believe me it’s a great way of relieving ourselves from unreal expectations, paving way for many other happy and fruitful things in life.
