“When you really want something to happen, the whole universe conspires so that your wish comes true”, said Paulo Coelho in The Alchemist. But I feel that’s only a part of the story, if at all. I’m sure I speak for most people (if not all) when I say that there is hardly a day that goes by without a sense of ‘want’ that tags along. It’s almost as if the day mandates the want(s). The nature of the want, in most cases, is highly specific to the events of the day. But I must add that although transient, the importance of the want, in that very moment, should not be undermined. That want, in that moment to that person might be that one thing the person desires the most. After all, how many of us have or have had wants which have successfully sustained the test of time?
That is as far as the first part goes. About the second, I can quote more instances where the universe (at least the immediate universe) conspires that the wish does not come true. Also, on another front, I feel that if you really want something to happen and you have done something substantial in that regard, then you (should) know when to let go. There should be a point, that particular threshold when you know you have done enough and anything beyond that point is worthless and more often than not, results in the want not being fulfilled. No, I’m not advocating a laid-back attitude to everything. Rather, I feel that when you really want something to happen, it usually happens against all odds. Maybe it has something to do with Murphy’s Law.
I’m not, by any means, undermining the quality of the book. I love it; it’s a dream come true for the eternal optimist (quite literally!). The style of writing is impeccable and some of the thoughts, like, "simple things are the most valuable and only wise people appreciate them", may sound like mundane oversimplification of age-old philosophy and mysticism, but mostly overlooked or under-thought by most people. What concerns me is whether there comes a point while following your dream/want, beyond which it becomes too much. If yes, then how much is too much?
Is there a way to know when you’ve done all you can and now it’s just a matter of the annoying waiting game? I feel that it differs between people as well as the context. Yes people are different. Many won’t even subscribe to the idea itself that there comes a point when your innate ability to control your life is suspended for a while [1]. But amongst the people who do, is there a consensus on where to let go. I guess not (though I'm not sure). That is what makes it special, unpredictable. That is what makes it tick, makes you win some and lose some. I hate to speculate without reason. But for me, I feel that there is no hard and fast rule about when to quit, letting go. It comes with the context, and knowledge, and being there, involved, in the moment, feeling it as it dawns on you. You just know that it’s time, but you can’t quite explain. Call it the idiosyncrasy of a student. It may well be. But still, I think, it’s deeper than that.
[1] I know it is in direct contradiction to Coelho and the old king when he says that the greatest lie in the world is that at some point, we lose the ability to control our lives, and become the pawns of fate. But is that not a matter of desperation on our part that makes us want to believe the old king. I have often wondered, if that is what makes this book special; if that is what was on Coelho’s mind when he wrote the book. If he played on the oft proven fact that tell people what they want to hear, and you will never hear them saying anything you don’t want to.
Born in Chennai, India and raised in Scotland before her parents migrated to North America – This is the story of a 19 year old Non Resident Indian (NRI) Harvard sophomore called Kaavya Viswanathan. The teenager shot to fame in the ‘chick lit’ world when she was paid $500,000 for a two-book contract with the publishers Little, Brown. Following that, she reportedly got a movie deal from Dreamworks in California. The first of the two books, titled How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life, hit the stands recently. 