Episode 108: Forging trails
Hello Everyone, and welcome to the podcast of the Ordinary Maverick. This is Ajey, your host, an ordinary Maverick sharing real life thoughts and experiences and Maverick tips. If you haven’t hit the subscribe button yet, please do so, and you’ll not miss another episode.
I’ve always loved exploring and being close to nature. Perhaps it’s the influence of my childhood, with many days spent in a rural setting, experiencing simple living in the heart of India. Those were days spent in the sun, by the river, by the well and in the fields. And I guess that’s where my love for the outdoors, for gardening, started. One thing I observed is that despite all challenges, and against all odds, nature finds a way.
It’s like how water finds its way down a hill. Plants and flowers included. I am sure you’ve all seen a plant growing in the most unlikely places. Like for example from a crack in the wall, on top of a wall, in places where one couldn’t quite fathom how the seed got there in the first place.
As a child I got introduced to nature very early. Both sides of it, the rough and tough side and the soft and gentle side. And the sheer grit of survival always fascinated me. Plants that had no hope of surviving would flourish with just a little bit of care. Or sometimes, with seemingly no care but surviving and flourishing well. As I said, nature finds a way.
Reminds me of the famous quote from the movie, Jurassic Park, it went like this….’I’m simply saying that life…uh finds a way’. Ha ha….it does, right?
Fellow Mavericks, no complaints there from my side. It’s been quite a life. And yes, life does find a way.
One of the best legacies you can leave is in cultivating the love of nature in kids. I recall planting trees with our girls when they were little and then when we lived in South Africa, and were able to have a veggie patch in our garden, encouraging our girls to plant tomatoes, beans and many other veggies.
Recall the excitement at home when we could just go to our garden and get fresh basil, rocket leaves and chillies and use them in our dishes. I swear the dishes tasted better just because we had everything so fresh from our garden. Ha ha. And of course it encouraged eating all veggies because they were coming from our garden. Try it if you have kids…grow something with them and see the light shine in their eyes when they see the leaves coming out and a veggie or fruit. And then eating them and saying, this was the best dish ever!
But there is some truth to this. Fresh produce, taken directly from the ground brings a totally different flavor to the food. Can say that with practical experience. Recently, we’ve been fortunate to get fresh micro greens each week from a neighboring farm.
What are micro greens? They are young vegetable greens that are approximately 1-3 inches tall. They are considered baby plants, so not quite sprouts and not fully grown. They have an aroma, flavor and concentrated nutrient content. And are a great source of Vitamins especially vitamin A, E, C and K and minerals like calcium, magnesium, iron, selenium and zinc.
We learnt more about microgreens and got interested in their benefits some months back as we moved to our current home and had the opportunity to get these fresh each week. Microgreens come packed with super nutrition. In just a few bites, you get more vitamins than an entire bowl of salad.
These days we are enjoying our microgreens in smoothies, salads and in light cooking. If you get a chance and are able to get fresh micro greens, go for it. Yes, they are expensive. But the growing process is quite labour intense, one needs to check on the hydration, the nourishment and the temperature. All this raises costs of production and the ultimate cost to the consumer. But they are well worth it. There are all kinds of microgreens, kale, broccoli, radish, arugula, beet. Regardless, we love them all.
Well, we digressed a bit from our topic of nature and life finding its way. Let’s get back to what I wanted to share. It’s linked to the force of nature. Growing up close to it, had quite an impact on me and I internalized this drive and inner strength for finding a way regardless of challenges. And that has held me in good stead all through the years.
When you spend time outdoors and pay attention, you realize the patterns and can see for yourself how if there’s a rock, a stream of water will either flow over it or go by its side. You’ll see plants and trees growing in the wild creating a beautiful painting. I’ve been fortunate these last few months spending more and more time in the woods. And here’s where I discovered the pain and the joy of forging trails.
What’s a trail? Defined in different ways, it can mean leaving something behind, or walking and moving slowly…or it can be an unpaved path, example a trail that you follow through the woods when on a hike. It can also mean a series of clues that are left so one can kind of form a path as you pick up these clues.
It’s like a mystery novel or movie, when clues are left behind and the detective is on the job, on the trail so to speak.
Well, that’s what I did some weeks back, created a trail. Yes, a trail in the woods. There was a lot of overgrowth, plants, bushes…one couldn’t really see what was beyond. The earlier owner had shared that there was a trail back in that place at some point but it hadn’t been cleared for some time.
I started small….just clearing up the overgrowth, cutting through the trees. And lo and behold, it was like the more I did that, the easier it got. Kept going through. And you’ll not believe what came through.
The closer I got to the end, I could hear sounds of water…and was wondering where this was coming from…and guess what, the trail ended in a waterfall! There was a stream flowing through the woods, right in our backyard and we had no idea!
Today, we go on the trail each day, it’s part of our daily walk routine. Enjoying the woods, down the path, and the flowing stream. Nothing like some flowing water amidst the backdrop of green foliage to soothe the soul.
Just a few minutes there and you’re calm and centered and ready to take on the world!
In life too, there are many ways to get to the end point, to success. There could be overgrowth, many twists and challenges, but keeping steady and continuing to find solutions, finding a way around the problem can make a world of difference to the outcome.
Just like trails in nature, one can and should create their own path in life. We’ve heard this often enough…that each of us is unique. True, but despite that, we continue to compare ourselves, and get bogged down by biases, perceptions, measuring ourselves against score cards that we never signed up for.
Just like a trail that’s forged initially but then different people may walk it, taking their own path or finding their own way to the trail, doing the entire trail or stopping along the way and taking a different path, life is like that too. We take different decisions, end up in situations that may not quite be what we bargained for, but we do find our way out and reach the end point.
I recall the feeling many decades back, when I was young and fearless..and set out from a relatively small town to the big city to find a job. I was not unique, millions of young people do exactly that even today. Leave the comfort of their homes and set out to make their mark on the world. I didn’t quite realize it at the time, but I was in some way, forging a trail…making my own path.
It’s been a twisty, turny, curvy journey, much like clearing a trail, but where I’ve reached…at least for now, is beautiful. So, my Fellow Mavericks, as I stand at the edge of my trail overlooking the waterfall and hear the sounds of water gushing by, I tell you, do not despair if there is overgrowth in your way in the form of challenges, and you can’t see what’s beyond. Keep at it, clear the path bit by bit and for sure, your trail will emerge and it will be the most beautiful one as it’s YOURS.
Do keep writing your comments and sharing feedback at ‘theordinarymaverick@gmail.com’ and follow me on Instagram #theordinarymaverick. I love hearing from you. This is Ajey, signing off and wishing you have an amazing day and a super amazing year! Keep well.
This podcast series was put together as a team effort from the Bhardwaj family. Concept, design, title, researchers and reviewers: Ajey, Sanjana, Avantika and Niharika Bhardwaj; Script– Sanjana; Cover design – Niharika. All rights reserved.