Balance of Light and Darkness

Date: 25.11.23

Location: Amuseum cafe, Althara, Trivandrum

Prompt: Balance of Light and Darkness: Investigate the struggle between good and evil, darkness and light, and/or the moral choices characters face.

Epilogue: Another writing workshop for starters I was not sure I would be able to make it because things were hectic. Understandably I was too tired when I reached the venue. When the prompt was given the first thing  that hit me was my conversations with my German colleagues in the past couple of months. These were regarding the stories behind the Indian festivals which we had been celebrating. Be it Dasera, Navaratri, Diwali every festival at its foundation has got the theme of good winning over evil. I was thinking of maybe giving it a spin and coming up with a story. Spent a good amount of time pondering over that thread but with the time ticking on ditched it and started writing. Remember there is only 30 minutes to complete your piece. 

Following is what I could come up with

When I wake up in the morning for the daily run  it is dark outside. When I come back home after the run it is bright and sunny. Somewhere during the run there is a Twilight zone when it is neither dark nor bright. 

So what happens in the twilight zone?

Ken is a happy go lucky kid in his teens who loves to play football with his friends. His life is pretty simple wake up, go to school, sleepwalk through the entire day of classes only to come back to reality when he is playing football. He becomes really good at the game as for the rest of the parts of his life he just ticks the boxes and is decently successful.

After college he quits everything and wants to become a professional footballer . Even after intense training for a couple of years his skill stagnates. 

He is not good enough to become a professional footballer and he quits. Gets into a 9 to 6 job and continues to play football in the evenings. The drudgery of his job is all forgotten by the intense play in the evenings. Within a couple of years he became really good at football. 

But he never wants to become a professional footballer again and the reason is simple: he doesn't enjoy football as a full time job. He excels in football only if it is a hobby.

A hobby is like being in the twilight zone, it is neither dark nor bright. You can't be in the twilight zone forever. Whenever you are there, be present and make the most out of it.

Prologue: First of all once I ditched the initial thread I wasn’t comfortable with the topic anymore. That is when I decided to flip the topic to something(Twilight) which I had been recently noticing during my early morning runs at the Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium, Trivandrum. 

The thread I was trying to explore was that nothing is absolute, light or dark , black or white there is always something in between and this transition is not permanent. 

I even tried to come up with an idea that there is always a struggle of good and bad within oneself all the time and our actions are determined by who is winning at that moment time. I ditched it when I could not come out anything concrete with it.  

Peer reviews

“It’s ok to make something a hobby…if it gives you joy it’s ok to be in that twilight zone.Here he comes alive when he is playing football as a hobby.So,what’s wrong with that???Don’t you think it’s better for him.In his otherwise mundane life,it’s this zone he looks forward to,that keeps him alive..it’s the brightest part of his day.Let him enjoy his twilight zone"

“Loved it. Its a life hack. Hobbies make and break happiness.”