Dare to Dream
All names and places mentioned in this story have been modified to maintain anonymity
Kumar was just a clerk. He knew his life was never going to see beyond the borders. He knew that his education had limited what he could do and regretted that his education prevented him from feeling the things.....seeing the things......and being the things.....those things belonged to the movies. They were a flash before his eyes every once in a while, when he decided to treat himself and Parvati to a movie.
A few years ago, when they had first met, within a couple of hours they decided to get married. It was no Love at First sight. Kumar was the mappillai and had gone to her house to "see" the girl. Kumars parents loved this calm, quiet and respectful girl that Parvati was. And so they decided to get married. It was decided that since the stars were as they were, they would have to wait a couple of months for the marriage. This they did quite impeccably. Of course they were forbidden from meeting each other during this period. Their parents were very happy to note that their words were being abided by.
Those couple of times, Kumar and Parvati met, without their parent's knowledge....Kumar still can remember her eyes....Fear written all over them..searching all around for those cruel uncompromising society that kept watch....Her hands were trembling and when he offered support, they withdrew and that was when their eyes met. They remained interlocked for a minute or so. She was losing herself to this man, when suddenly the pangs of reality struck her and she started looking around again, with those same fearful eyes. Kumar was scared too but he never showed it to her. In fact, he has hardly ever let her know that during the many years that they have shared this wonderful relationship, there has been many an occasion when he was scared...Scared to think about the future. Scared to dream...
The first few years of marriage were blissful and best left their own private world. By then, he moved to Madras and had secured a small respectable government job. But then problems started because he started to dream again.
Dreams...well he had always been a dreamer...His mother was very proud of him but was afraid of what would happen to him if his dreams collapsed. He was six years old then. He was aware of the beach for the first time. And he had seen "Tinku" the playful kid from the Rin advertisement build castles in the sand. His castle was not as big or as good as Tinku's. But in his minds eye he saw a castle. He told his mother that one day, he would build such a huge castle. His mother just laughed him away. When he was 13 and they had gone to the village mela he decided to become a lawyer. He still has the photograph. Its stored away in the rusty corner of his small house.
They moved into this house soon after they came to Madras. Parvati had wanted to move into a slightly larger house, a house with windows but he shared his dream with her and immediately she saw reason. They moved into this dimly lit single room apartment complex. Well to be fair you couldnt call it an apartment complex. It was just a long corridor with rooms on both sides of the corridor. The corridor also had 4 common bathrooms that everybody shared. The room itself was everything they needed to live. Early in the morning, its a kitchen with Parvati delicately preparing mouthwatering recipes. In the evenings it was the study and late at night it was a bedroom. They were saving money....saving so that they could live their DREAM. Meanwhile, for the last year and a half, Parvati had started working too. She worked during the day as a shopkeeper and toiled through the rest of her time as a housekeeper. But they kept reminding themselves that it was worth all the effort. They had to live their Dream.
He entered their life three years later. They knew "he" would change their lives forever. And he did change their lives forever. They loved him deeply as though he was a part of them, especially Parvati. She loved the innocent smiles and the probing questions. And their happiness turned to ecstacy when "she" entered their life. She was always running around all over their "apartment complex" with so much life and vigor. The neighbours loved her and her parents were so proud of her.
It was time for him to join school. There was really no doubt in their minds about where he would go to school. Nevertheless, they talked, debated, talked again and debated whether they could afford the luxury. Not long thereafter, they were in the nearest convent enquiring about admission procedures. They had the shock of their life when they heard about the entrance exam for the kid and the interview for the parents. It seemed so wierd and unnatural. But then, they had no choice. So they coached him hard for the entrance exam and they prepared hard for the interview too. They wanted their son to go to a convent and to a convent he went.
Today, Parvati stood proud and happy at the convocation. Their daughter was now an Engineer, a computer Engineer at that. And she had her entire life ahead of her. When her daughters name was called tears ran down her eyes. She wiped it and proudly looked up and turned around to look at her son. He was now a doctor and was now studying the ailments of the heart. She didnt really know how to say "cardiologist", but she tried hard especially when she was talking to her neighbours.
That night they both sat outside their small house...the two of them alone...and they talked about their dream....and how they had lived their dream.....and how it had been worth everything...and how their children had made them ecstatic....
I turn around me and i look at everyone around me. There are doctors around, there are engineers around, there are entrepreneurs around, there are artists around, and there are scientists around....But are there dreamers around..Do any of them dare to dream anymore? I dont really have an answer..If you do please leave a comment
Kumar was just a clerk. He knew his life was never going to see beyond the borders. He knew that his education had limited what he could do and regretted that his education prevented him from feeling the things.....seeing the things......and being the things.....those things belonged to the movies. They were a flash before his eyes every once in a while, when he decided to treat himself and Parvati to a movie.
A few years ago, when they had first met, within a couple of hours they decided to get married. It was no Love at First sight. Kumar was the mappillai and had gone to her house to "see" the girl. Kumars parents loved this calm, quiet and respectful girl that Parvati was. And so they decided to get married. It was decided that since the stars were as they were, they would have to wait a couple of months for the marriage. This they did quite impeccably. Of course they were forbidden from meeting each other during this period. Their parents were very happy to note that their words were being abided by.
Those couple of times, Kumar and Parvati met, without their parent's knowledge....Kumar still can remember her eyes....Fear written all over them..searching all around for those cruel uncompromising society that kept watch....Her hands were trembling and when he offered support, they withdrew and that was when their eyes met. They remained interlocked for a minute or so. She was losing herself to this man, when suddenly the pangs of reality struck her and she started looking around again, with those same fearful eyes. Kumar was scared too but he never showed it to her. In fact, he has hardly ever let her know that during the many years that they have shared this wonderful relationship, there has been many an occasion when he was scared...Scared to think about the future. Scared to dream...
The first few years of marriage were blissful and best left their own private world. By then, he moved to Madras and had secured a small respectable government job. But then problems started because he started to dream again.
Dreams...well he had always been a dreamer...His mother was very proud of him but was afraid of what would happen to him if his dreams collapsed. He was six years old then. He was aware of the beach for the first time. And he had seen "Tinku" the playful kid from the Rin advertisement build castles in the sand. His castle was not as big or as good as Tinku's. But in his minds eye he saw a castle. He told his mother that one day, he would build such a huge castle. His mother just laughed him away. When he was 13 and they had gone to the village mela he decided to become a lawyer. He still has the photograph. Its stored away in the rusty corner of his small house.
They moved into this house soon after they came to Madras. Parvati had wanted to move into a slightly larger house, a house with windows but he shared his dream with her and immediately she saw reason. They moved into this dimly lit single room apartment complex. Well to be fair you couldnt call it an apartment complex. It was just a long corridor with rooms on both sides of the corridor. The corridor also had 4 common bathrooms that everybody shared. The room itself was everything they needed to live. Early in the morning, its a kitchen with Parvati delicately preparing mouthwatering recipes. In the evenings it was the study and late at night it was a bedroom. They were saving money....saving so that they could live their DREAM. Meanwhile, for the last year and a half, Parvati had started working too. She worked during the day as a shopkeeper and toiled through the rest of her time as a housekeeper. But they kept reminding themselves that it was worth all the effort. They had to live their Dream.
He entered their life three years later. They knew "he" would change their lives forever. And he did change their lives forever. They loved him deeply as though he was a part of them, especially Parvati. She loved the innocent smiles and the probing questions. And their happiness turned to ecstacy when "she" entered their life. She was always running around all over their "apartment complex" with so much life and vigor. The neighbours loved her and her parents were so proud of her.
It was time for him to join school. There was really no doubt in their minds about where he would go to school. Nevertheless, they talked, debated, talked again and debated whether they could afford the luxury. Not long thereafter, they were in the nearest convent enquiring about admission procedures. They had the shock of their life when they heard about the entrance exam for the kid and the interview for the parents. It seemed so wierd and unnatural. But then, they had no choice. So they coached him hard for the entrance exam and they prepared hard for the interview too. They wanted their son to go to a convent and to a convent he went.
Today, Parvati stood proud and happy at the convocation. Their daughter was now an Engineer, a computer Engineer at that. And she had her entire life ahead of her. When her daughters name was called tears ran down her eyes. She wiped it and proudly looked up and turned around to look at her son. He was now a doctor and was now studying the ailments of the heart. She didnt really know how to say "cardiologist", but she tried hard especially when she was talking to her neighbours.
That night they both sat outside their small house...the two of them alone...and they talked about their dream....and how they had lived their dream.....and how it had been worth everything...and how their children had made them ecstatic....
I turn around me and i look at everyone around me. There are doctors around, there are engineers around, there are entrepreneurs around, there are artists around, and there are scientists around....But are there dreamers around..Do any of them dare to dream anymore? I dont really have an answer..If you do please leave a comment
posted by vashok | 2:05 AM
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1 Comments:
Is there any one who doesnt dream? It may not be a rags to riches story or exemplify sacrifices but everyone has dreams. Its more about whether they are willing to go all the way to fulfill/attain them.
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