10 Lessons Imtiaz Ali’s Jab We Met Taught Us About Life & Love!

A huge shoutout to Imitiaz Ali, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Shahid Kapoor for giving us one of the most beautiful (and realistic) movies that Bollywood has ever seen! Jab We Met was iconic in every way possible – be it the way they showed relationships, how realistic and human the characters were and just how much it mirrored real life and all our struggles. Plus, let’s not forget the music that still suits ALL our life situations. So today, when Jab We Met completes 10 years, here’s our ode to the movie that taught us so much about love, life and adulting!

1. You’ll Find Friends In Unexpected Places

You don’t really know where you are going to find yourself a friend that will last you a lifetime – the one who is with you, no matter what; your partner in crime. Geet met Aditya on a train and he changed her life. So meet every new person with a smile and a warm heart!

2. You Need To Have Your Heart Broken At Least Once

There will be this one person in your life who will break your heart even though you thought they had your back. This is your first love, the one that got away, the one that you’d do anything for, just like Anshuman was for Geet. But the catch is, it is important for this one to get away to realise how you did not value yourself enough and embark on a beautiful journey of self-love!

3. Forgiveness Is Cathartic

Sometimes, the people closest to you will hurt you the most. Aditya was extremely hurt over his mother leaving his father for another man. But, later he realised that people aren’t really at fault for finding happiness outside of the boundaries of societal confines.

4. Your School Will Always Have Your Heart

School is everybody’s first love and second home. Even when Geet feels abandoned and alone, she goes to the only place she’s ever known intimately – her school. They take her in and provide her with all the love and care that she needs in her difficult time. Personally, I relate to it on a very visceral level because for me, my school and my school teachers mean a lot!

5. Never Underestimate A Punjabi Family

Never underestimate the powers of a Punjabi family. While they may be a bunch of loudmouths (do not argue with me on this, I’m a true-blue Punjabi), but their hospitality skills are next level. They’re going to treat you to mouth-watering, but, supremely fattening food all the time and you’re going to be subjected to multiple hugs and forehead kisses!

6. True Love Will Find You

Everyone always, ALWAYS ends up finding the ‘forever’ kind of love. You may have to go through a few heartbreaks to find it and it may seem like you are going to be alone forever. But, you should never lose hope. He’s coming, and when he does, all the past pain will be forgotten and all your struggles will be worth it.

7. Rock Bottom Is A Beautiful Place

Both Aditya and Geet hit rock bottom in the movie and it proved to be a beautiful place for both of them. When they finally rose again – Aditya as a businessman and in love and Geet in love – they were both better humans and more successful. So maybe, just maybe, hitting rock bottom isn’t the worst thing to happen to anyone of us!

8. Your Family Is Your #Squad

Everyone makes mistakes and no matter how badly you’ve messed up, your family will still forgive you and take you back in and will love you with all their heart, unless of course you killed somebody. They are your people, your clan and despite whatever’s happened, you can walk back to them anytime you want. They welcome Geet back with aplomb even though for 9 months, she was too embarrassed to go back and that is just heart-warming.

9. Your Instinct Is The Most Powerful Tool You Have

Remember when Geet says “Aisa lag raha tha jaise kuch galat ho raha ho, jaise koi train chhoot rahi ho”? That was her gut telling her that she’s not really in love with Anshuman; but, with Aditya. It’s really important to listen to your instinct, that feeling in the pit of your stomach which tells you when something is wrong, or right. That feeling is what helps you find true happiness!

10. Always Follow Your Heart

Always, always, ALWAYS follow your heart. Enjoy whatever you are doing and most importantly, have fun doing it! Life is too short and fun to be taken seriously. So enjoy it while it lasts!

GIFs: Giphy