Shreeyansh Kar, Delhi, 23 December 2025
There is often a time in one’s life when they feel that they don’t belong. They feel that they are letting people around them down. Such a feeling of fear conquers everyone from time to time. This feeling of dissatisfaction had filled Pablo. However, to him, it seemed to have always been there. It never entered nor did it ever leave. The universe is a little bit like that. Time did not exist before the Big Bang. As soon as time began, the universe did too. Hence, you could say that there was a state in which there was nothing – not the universe, not time, and not space. Pablo often felt that he related to this feeling of nothingness.
It’s hard to think of nothingness. We are so used to there being ‘something’ that ‘nothing’ turns into an alien concept. Of course, after certain events and during times of distress, one may think that they’ve lost everything, they believe that they don’t possess anything. Such individuals can be considered narrow minded. A broad perspective would make you understand that in every situation, there is always something to look forward to and there’s always something with you. Only under extreme circumstances does this principle fall. Pablo was a part of this narrow minded group.
Pablo wasn’t exactly sure why this feeling ever began. There were certainly multiple reasons at hand. Maybe, it began because of his declining self-esteem. Maybe, it was because of his insecurities. Or maybe, it was because of his long list of separate problems.
Perhaps, Pablo’s biggest mistake, looking back, was ever being a part of this narrow minded group. If he stayed at the top of his game and never lost his spirit, God knows how many unfortunate events could have been avoided. But we shouldn’t think much of what could’ve and should’ve happened. The act of thinking of these thoughts increases the chances of us unwillingly falling into this narrow minded group tenfold. At the same time, we shouldn’t forbid ourselves from trying to learn from one’s life—Pablo’s life.
Consider this, you were born into a rich family. You got everything you ever wished for, you had the favour of everyone at the tip of your fingers. You could be the luckiest person ever and never know it because you were born into it. If you never experience the absence of something, you never get to experience the presence of it either. Maybe, just maybe, Pablo’s sense of dissatisfaction was not all bad. If he never experienced this feeling of emptiness, he might’ve never become the man that he did turn into one day.
Such is the tragedy of gifts and blessings. Someone who was born with nothing admirable, something that others would wish for, would know the true value of blessings. But someone like Pablo, who had close to everything in his life, couldn’t even value himself.
