A lot of us have many dreams and aspirations, which we only see at night. Many of us want to start-up, write a book, become singers...things we say would have happened if we were rich, born to different parents, among other reasons. But we slog off in our mundane jobs. Cuz, this is the way life is, right?
But there are some stories which give us hope, that in spite of all odds we can do what we want. All it takes is hard work and perseverance. Sandeep Katakam sent us this mail the other day... And we thought it's meant to be shared with you all!
"Hi guys,
This is the story of my friend, Pavan Kumar Bhimavarapu (Arun Bhimavarapu), an upcoming novelist.
He recently published a novel, 'After that day... I never saw her again.' (https://notionpress.com/read/after-that-day-i-never-saw-her-again). It started with great reviews and the sales chart is doing very well.
But, that's not the main reason I am writing this post. It's something much deeper than that.
I had known this guy from the last three years. We were once colleagues in TCS. Back then I used to remember him with his smile, which never left his face. Even on the day when he suddenly resigned his job, without any specific reason.
'I don't know... something here doesn't feel right' he said.
'Such an idiot...' I thought.
My friends from his project told me that his family was a normal middle class one, but may be his father can send him money for his basic needs until he settles down somewhere else. And I never saw him in office after that day.
It's on the morning of a normal boring Sunday, on which i went for some grocery shopping, I saw him again in months. He's working in the departmental store that I walked into. It took me minutes to convince myself that it's him. I hesitated to go talk to him while he saw me from the distance and waved to me. I waved back. One simple wave, and that gave me a friend for life. An inspiration that never stopped surprising me.
I saw him take blows from life, one after the other. I saw him work part times to meet his daily expenses and write at nights. I saw him visit n number of production houses with movie scripts and being sent out with empty hands. I saw him deciding to write a novel and being rejected by publishing houses. I saw him deliver 60 shipments a day in Flipkart, to collect money for self-publishing. I saw him sell his watch, a Titan sports edition that he bought with his first salary, to print flyers for the novel. I saw him distribute them to people near colleges and software companies. I saw him fight with all that he had, to reach what he love.
But... I never saw him cry. Not even being low. I never saw him at least thinking to step back, even in the hardest times of life.
After taking all the struggles to bring out the novel, he took only half the happiness. He made his name Arun Bhimavarapu instead of Pavan Bhimavarapu. Arun, his friend who always wanted to be a writer but never did.
It takes more than a friend to do that. It takes a great human.
I still thank God for making me walk into that store that day. Without which i would have missed a friend like him - a compassionate and helpful one as he is. And I would have definitely missed my chance to tell the world those words he once told me.
"Learn... either living life by your own terms, or waking up to a nightmare every day."
You can buy his novel here!
You can buy his novel here!
