'Nothing new' - Free advice to people who hate being away from home

It used to be my standard reply. When people asked me while chatting on Gtalk or talking on the phone, the first question they inadvertently asked was 'Wassup????' And as any other long term onsite assignment employee (read chronic illness patient) would open his mouth, suddenly popped out a lame 'aaah nothing new'. I had personally got so used to using this that I even had saved this as a template sms in my mobile and also on a notepad document on my desktop so that I need not type this in each of my conversations. I just copy - pasted and conveyed my boredom to the world. Wasn't that efficient? No wonder I am an IT guy. I had got so used to this message that I accidentally pasted this when someone just wrote 'Hey Utkarsh, I bet you liked my girlfriend' (OK that is a little exaggerated but you get the point.)

There was a time when I was the guy who always has something new to talk about everyday. I was so occupied with so many activities that I could hardly find time to sit down, relax and spend time with myself. Well I didn't even feel the need to. I remember the time back in Pune, when my day started at 6.30 am and ended at around 12 pm with no dull moments in between. There was so much to do and so little time. I was of the sincere opinion that sleep is a waste of time and is something which is just medically necessary for the human body to function properly. I used to pity people who used to sing paeans for their world records of sleeping.......aaaaarrgghh what a loser! I used to take pride in telling people that I sleep at around 1 to 2 am every night only to get up at 6.30 am for my Cricket practice. Cricket, Office, Gym, Jogging, Hangouts, Party, riding my bike etc. were a part of my daily activities. Those were the days !

But things changed, and quite dramatically for a person like me who loves to be in comfort zones for long periods of time. I started to get quite a lot of time for myself. Once home from office at around 7 pm, there was nothing much left to do. Well there was a little bit of activity in forms of gym and cooking your own meal but still there was too much of free time and nobody to share that with. Eventually this extra time got into my system and I started changing from the happy fun loving guy to a more serious kind of work troubled guy. Also the friends that I made here were not going to stay forever and eventually I became the guy who gets left behind and all his friends leave him one day.

I may sound quite depressing right now and I actually have been quite a bit down lately. However there are certain things that I realized that can make you utilize the time you get with yourself. Especially if you are physically away from your social life. The key is self motivation.

I learnt cooking for instance. For a person who could boast about coffee, tea, maggie and ice as the only real things that he could cook, making chicken curry is quite a leap. Then I thought, the best way to utilize the free time is to pick up a hobby and probably that is the best decision I have taken in a year. I went to the nearby music shop and got myself a spanking new six string. With the assistance of the the internet and a lot of self motivation, I can now play actual songs that people can recognize..(at least I think so....Click HERE to find out yourself) .

So the whole point I'm trying to make here is that at first the loneliness can suck you and you could choose to succumb to it and be miserable. However if you choose not to, you can get away from feeling blue by trying to make yourself more interesting and suddenly you would be ready to face all adversities and even loneliness with ease. Seems easier said than done. But hey what's the harm in trying something new? What is the worst that could happen? You would waste some time. But you already have plenty anyway. I personally think I'm a lot less miserable now thanks to my new found hobby and the sheer fun in tormenting my room mates with guitar practice every evening and also the cooking experiments that I often indulge into !!!

I think the next time you asked me 'Wassup' you probably wont get back a 'Nothing new' from me :)