“GRANDPA! No way!” I said to my mum, taking off my headphones and turning off my MP3 player.

“What on earth do you mean no way? You’re going to spend your summer vacation with him and that’s final!” my mother said as she started packing taking out my luggage from my cupboard.

“But mum, I can’t live there, seriously! He literally lives in a forest for God sake!” I said trying to change my mum’s mind.

“Manners! Where are your manners, Arif? You will go no matter what, and by the way, what will you do here, huh? Go to parties, take pictures and do useless stuff!” she said while walking out from my room.

“Mum, it seems useless to you, but for us this is our life!” I said firmly but was quite perturbed by now as I had so many plans for these summer vacation – parties, shopping, movies, but instead... I guess I had no choice.

The next morning, I was already in the car with dad, going to stay with my grandpa. I could see the reflection on the car window of my sad face.

“You’re still cross with us aren’t you?” dad asked.

“Yes!” I said with a low voice.

“Look honey! I am sorry but your grandpa is alone and needs someone; your mum and I are busy and after your grandma... ”

“Yeah dad, it’s alright,” I answered.

“Okay, be a sweetheart,” mum said taking my luggage out from the car and moving towards grandpa’s house, where the main door stood wide open.

“Well, well! You’ve grown up!” a voice came and I recognised it was my grandfather standing behind me!

“Grandpa!” I cried with joy and hugged him. I was so delighted to see him after more than a year.

He then turned towards dad and greeted him warmly. Soon we sat down to a tasty lunch made by his maid from the vegetables growing on his farm. After lunch, dad drove back to the city.

The days spent there with him were full of fun, we would go on walks, played, talked about various things and had great discussions.

One day, I asked grandpa what made him live so far away from the hustle and bustle of the city. He didn’t answer me for a while, and then said, “Come with me, Arif!”

He took me on a long walk and after walking for a long time I asked, “Grandpa, where are we going, we’ve been walking for hours.”

Just then he stopped and said, “Look!”

“Oh my God!” were the only words I could utter as I was witnessing the most beautiful place on earth, a place where the sun shone and green mountains met a very blue sky — I could see the valley deep down in the lap of the green majestic mountains, where birds of all kinds flew, a place whose beauty could not be explained in words.

“My dear child, I could not answer you earlier because I wanted to show you the real beauty of this world and only then you could understand why I chose to live here — and this is why I live here. See the birds, animals, the lake, sun, sky and fresh air. Don’t you think this is the real, natural world which you all have forgotten because you are surrounded with cold technology and busy in a hectic routine? I prefer to live here because I feel fresh, content and alive. I am not asking you to live here. Just live the way you feel happy and content, wherever you are. I feel happy and content here.”

These words made me think. They showed me something I couldn’t see earlier. I realised that we all are just too busy in our hectic lives that we have almost forgotten what it is like to be content in life. The realisation that how we are wasting our precious lives in things that are not too important changed me forever!