Julie & Julia.

After many weekends here at Hyd, this Sunday my alarm went off at 6.15 in the morning. It was to be a rare Sunday when I would wake up early and go for a long walk. Surprisingly when I went to awake my room mates this morning, they all actually woke up and got ready to leave just in time. After a long walk which lasted till lunch, I got home to rest. That is when I saw this incredibly delightful movie- 'Julie & Julia'. It draws parallels from two true stories and I had a great afternoon just by myself, smiling at the my laptop screen. I started the movie loving Meryl Streep and finished it loving Julia Child.

I don't want to review it. Simply put, this movie will not disappoint those who liked 'Sleepless in Seattle' and ' You've got mail'. I posting this because this movie made me think a minute about my life. Both the women in the movie have a job. Julia after learning to make hats and playing bridge, decided that she would join a French cooking class. Her reasoning was very simple. Her husband had been transferred to Paris for a four year assignment. While he is busy with his work, she asks him one day "But what should I do?" He asks her about what she absolutely loves doing. Without batting an eye she says "Oh, I love to eat". That very honest acceptance lead to cooking classes and then writing the famous cook book "Mastering the art of French cooking".

Julie, the other protagonist is a self proclaimed failed author. She has a job that makes her cringe, has a husband who is always loving and a tiny home above a pizzeria that is always noisy. Her life has nothing to make her happy. She decides one day to give herself something to keep her occupied and make her happy at the same time. She will cook 524 of Julia Child's recipes in 365 days and blog about it. Why cook you may ask? Only because, when she has had a horrible day, she feels blissful cooking mushroom with butter, cheese and pork.

Though not generally unhappy, these two not-so-young-anymore women aren’t exactly sure what a satisfying life might be, but they know this ain’t it. Both Julie and Julia choose to do something that they got laughed at for. But it brought them and those that they cared for a lot of happiness, simple pleasures of life. Having been a vegetarian all my life, I couldn't help thinking to myself just how delicious would that Beef Bourguignon have tasted? I could smell that heavenly aroma of melted cheese and mayonnaise!

I asked to myself "what should I do?" That led to some more confused questions. Since a week now, I have realized that whatever it is that I should be doing, it certainly is not how I am leading my life currently. Yes, I have some great friends to share my laughter and tears, a job that pays me and a comfortable house. But, there is still this dissatisfied girl in me. I may be asking for too much maybe, but i want my happiness. I want to love each day when i wake up to do something I absolutely love! I don't want to work and crib, I want to do something that comes naturally to me and be thankful.

Now, that I did realize it, I am going to take some time off just to be with those thoughts and figure out which path I want to lead my life to. When I grow older and sip chai in that little house by the lake in Ladakh, I want to look back at the choices I made and not regret any of them. Not because now there is money, or fame, or any such trivialities, but simply because that is a new smile!

I am going to make those choices soon. Choices which will not be questioned by me, choices that will take my passion and convert it to joy. Choices I will take independently, intelligently to make those dreams come to life!