Page 132 - You Only Live Once [BooksLD]

Ricky has been depressed ever since I told him the truth. Sheen and I have
made numerous efforts at convincing him to play the drums again, but all
have been in vain. It’s New Year’s tonight and I just wish that I succeed at

my last attempt. I have asked Alara to reach Ricky’s early in the morning at
seven. Together, we will try to move the stubborn Ricky.
The board in front of Ricky’s today reads:

It’s New Year again! But did you really get a chance to reflect upon the
last year? If yes, did you jot down your learnings?
Here is ours: Set fitness goals, sing your heart out loud, dance to the

sound of the ocean, travel more, think beyond set limits, explore the inner
you, dare to dream, and believe in LOVE.
I greet Ricky. He is busy attending to clients. Ricky’s is done up in
balloons of yellow color. Alara pulls a chair next to me as she joins me.
After making me wait for half an hour, he comes and joins us at the table.

‘Nice write up on the board,’ I tell Ricky.

‘Sheen has put it up.’
‘What are YOUR learnings?’ I ask with curiosity.

‘My biggest learnings are very similar to the kind of experiences I had on
the ocean. Do what you love and do more of it. In my case, I love floating
on the ocean and, therefore, make sure that I go back to the ocean when I
need to heal. This process is like meditation for me. Circumstances are just
like the waves of the ocean. The more you try to fight them, the more you

struggle and eventually lose. Can you really challenge Mother Earth? But
the more you loosen yourself, the farther you move. In fact, the waves then
help you move. So, let loose of the circumstances, you can’t really control
things external to you.’ He takes a short pause as he continues, ‘Some
dreams can never come true.’

‘While some can,’ Alara says as she interrupts Ricky. ‘One such dream is
my mother’s last wish that I record an album. I feel it’s incomplete without
you playing the drums.’

Ricky doesn’t speak for a while. There is an awkward silence.
‘Why don’t you say yes? I remember that we spoke about closure. Would
this not be it?’

‘I can never forgive myself. She came back but I had left. She had no
family,’ he sobs. I was seeing Ricky shed tears for the first time. He was