DREAMS

As always let us start with a real story which involves me. It was in 7th grade, when one day a guest teacher came and we were happy because, he was not going to teach our regular subject rather decided engage in some light conversation. So, he asked everyone to come to the board and share what was their dream, to whole class. Never in the past had someone asked that question to us neither we ever reflected (And it wasn't expected from us either at that stage of life). When it was my turn, I gave an answer as bizzare as it can get. I said, "Mera sapna hai Pakistan par parmaanu bomb girana" (My dream is to drop a nuclear bomb on Pakistan). Yes, you are free to laugh at it because I did too, even today. I must say hear that my friend Shivom had put that idea in my mind and in trying to appear cool, I said it. Guest teacher was in no less mood either, he held my face to the class and said, "Inki shakal dekhiye, ye Pakistan par bomb girayenge", and the whole class laughed. 

I started this conversation on a lighter note because we never really understand what do we mean by dreams certainly not at school level. All we knew of dreams are the ones that we have after sleep or the ones which give us nightmares. But as Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam said that dreams are not those that come after sleep but those that don't let you sleep. It took me years to be able to grasp the gravity of what he meant and I am still doubtfull if I had even today.

The human life is characterised by ambition, goals, quest to find purpose of life and means that give us satisfaction and happiness. And if you could club all the above aspects under one umbrella then we can call that umbrella a dream. In short, when we try to give purpose to our life, when we work tirelessly to get something, when we sacrifice ourselves behind a cause, well, that is what is called a dream. 

So, now let us look into how dreams are shaped in ones life and how they evolve overtime and how our life almost starts to revolve around it. First, there are those whom we can call the first generation dreamers, those who may be doing something which many others might be doing as well but they do not really try to imitate someone but they actually like doing something. I guess, it got a bit complicated. Let me simplify it through examples. One can think of Dr. Kalam, "The Missile Man", yes, he was never really inspired by anyone to be an engineer or a scientist, it was his own curiosity that drove him to greatness. It is not that there was any dearth of personalities in India to inspire Dr. Kalam but one may wonder how much a boy from islands of Rameshwaram was aware of any of the greats of the time like Bhabha or Vikram Sarabhai, whom he met later. One more example can be Sachin Tendulkar, who was encouraged to play cricket so that he doesn't do mischieves, wasn't really aware of Don Bradman, yet, while serving the cricket, he ended up being synonymous to cricket in India. And today, hardly anyone in India trying to be a rocket scientist or a cricketer can claim not to know the two greats of their field.

Second category of dreamers are those who have role models who want to be like someone else in their life. This is the largest subset of the universal set of dreamers. These are generally the people who are inspired by the first generation dreamers. Today, one wants to be a cricketer like Sachin Tendulkar, an entrepreneur like Elon Musk or maybe Ratan Tata. One wants to be like Senior Bacchan or Sharukh Khan or may be a leader like Narendra Modi. So, it is not that these people lack some originality or authenticity in their ideas and vision but they rather have someone to look up to, just as an inspiration. Trying to be like someone is certainly not a problem but yes, one must not loose their authentic self. 

Now comes the third category and maybe the most widespread community of dreamers especially in India. This category, mostly constituted of young and adolescents, goes through a process called interpellation of dreams where what one wants to be is decided and shaped by everyone except the individual himself. The three most common members of this interpellated community in India can be found in the form of aspiring Engineers, Doctors and Civil Servants. At present, over a million appear for engineering entrance, over 2 million for medical and nearly a million for civil services and only god knows how many actually want to be something for which they are slogging hours days and years.

I know, alot of you who know me may find it very strange because I too belong to two of the above groups. But yes, let us be fair, impartial and value neutral in our analysis and so I did't hesistate in putting myself in this category. Most of us remember that famous hospital scene from "Three Idiots" where Rancho (Aamir Khan) sarcastically asks an unborn child to stay in womb as his future had already been decided by his future family. It appears quite funny but when one reflects on it, it hits you really hard ! Today, a new entrant in this third category is of entrepreneurs. Yeah, I know alot of you won't like it. But there can't be two standards or yardsticks to judge people where ones quest is tagged as innovation and ambition and other's dream is dubbed as lust for power, perks and prestige. 

So, having dealt with the variety of dreamers, let us dive into the brave world of these firing minds in pursuit of their dreams. Once a dream is set and shaped then how once proceed to it. If having a dream is declaration of war then achieving it is like fighting that war. Dreams according to me are very emotive, enduring, collective idea held by an individual and hence it takes everything from material resources to immaterial resources like time and emotions along with the constant support of your near and dear ones. 

So, the first step towards achieving your goals is to start believing in your goal and most importantly in youself. There is a Hasidic proverb that says, "Only when you gain confidence in yourself, you gain confidence of others". Then the question arises, how ? And the answer is fairly simple, through your words as well as your work. I know actions speak louder than the words, however, in todays time, one must be able to not just act but advertise too. I am not asking you to announce your plans but you must make your intentions clear. Here, another question arises, which is why dreams become so emotive and personal to many  then.....

I must refer to this beautiful line in Hindi which says, "Sapne Sirf Apne Nahi Hote Balki Apno ke Hote Hain" (Dreams aren't just yours, these are ours). Hence, I have always believed that neither we dream alone nor we achieve alone, there are those who live our dreams as much as we do and may be sometimes even more than us. Who on earth in general can discount the efforts and sacrifices of their parents, siblings or even friends in helping them to realise your dreams. I am not trying to propose any universal theory or some grand idea but yes, I do believe barring few exceptions, this is generally the case. I am pretty sure most of you must have heard the stories of Dr. Kalam, MS Dhoni or 12th Fail famed Manoj Sharma and many more, and the one thing that binds all the three together is the support system they had in the form of parents, siblings or friends. 

And this is the reason that when we fail, we cry not because we failed but whom we failed. It is not the failure that hurts but the people we fail that does. Though earlier I have talked about interpellation of dreams but yes, here also, I will accept the limitations of my own understanding. Sometimes, people just doesn't expect you to be something because of vested interest but it also maybe because they want to live their dreams through you. They believe in us not just because we have potential and competence but also because someone didn't had the privilege to do it in their time. 

So, is it only the support system around us that facilitates our tryst with destiny or the dreams, certainly not. As one often hear that anecdote that while climbing the mountains, the higher you want to go, the lower should be your baggage. In short when you are up for something big in your life go with the bare minimum which also include minimising the social and worldly relations. Alot of us must have gone through that phase of life where you are asked to be cutoff from the rest of the world, be it during 12th exams, JEE preparations or more pronounced during civil services preparations. Though, I myself, have not been very big fan of this celebacy approach during challenging days, however, it is highly advisable for those with too many distractions and too little opportunities.

So through our discussions so far, it might sound as if dreams are something very sacred and pious and not to be disrespected. Well, then, I must partially agree and partially disagree with this hypothesis. First of all, it is unquestionable that dreams are very long term and we are quite possessive about it. And hence even continous failures as well as obstacles of all sorts doesn't deter us from achieveing it and that's how the human nature is. As has been rightly said that "don't give up on your dreams just because it will take time because time will pass anyway". Even Swami Vivekananda also said, "Rise and don't rest till the goals are achieved". One can't do anything but admire these thought provoking views.

However, I would still disagree to this sanctification of dreams. I believe that it's good to have a dream but even better to know when to find a new one. The cornerstone or the keystone of the living beings is time. It is the most precious jewel of human life. One must remember that ultimate aim of life, according to me is happiness. Hence, one must evolve and improvise to change their means not the ends. The absolutism in life in modern times is surest way to disappointment. Through my argument, I may sound a bit pessimist but it is nothing but pragmatism. Dreams are fuel and fire that keep us driving and moving but realities on the ground are like breaks which are must to avoid crash.

Here, I would like to add one thing that this blog dealt only about individual idea of dreams and ambitions. However, it is not just individualistic in nature, as I keep repeating that dreams are collective and that collective can include a family, a society, a nation and humanity as a whole. When we talk about equality, liberty and fraternity, we dream for an egalitarian society, when we talk about Viksit Bharat 2047, we dream for a developed nation and when we talk about Carbon Neutral goals or nuclear free world, we dream for humanity as a whole.

While we keep dreaming and keep achieving whatever we want in life but some questions we must ask ourselves all the time, Is it truly ours ? Does it actually make me happy ? Is it justified to fullfill your dreams and ambitions at the cost of the same of others ? I know, with this blog I am leaving you with more questions than answers, more cluttered and more perplexed. But what can I do as I mentioned earlier, it is tough to understand and even tougher to explain. Anyway, keep dreaming while keep pondering upon the questions raised which even I have no answers to !!