This world is a weird place.
We have built a society that values marks over knowledge, brand over quality, religion over humanity and so on and so forth. Mankind has spent millions of ages trying to perfect the nature and structure of society and this is what we have today.Schools, colleges, companies, clubs and what not. My mind starts to ponder. In this imperfect world, does the individual have the ability to discover the dream? We grow up as kids, are sent to school, then to college, then to grad school and the list continues. In between all this, we are told to 'dare to dream', to 'aim for the skies' and so much more. But, if we can just stop for a moment, press the pause button and try to acquire a holistic view, maybe we can extract something much more worthwhile for ourselves.But no one has time. Everyone is so busy trying to engross themselves into something they don't belong to.
Every individual comes in this world because he is special. He has something that no one else in this world has. Or does he? Is he just amongst the many others who have similar likings and similar talents and similar skills? Even if he is, how does a person discover his dream??. How does he understand that I have got just one life, just one opportunity ? Sitting at the study table the day before the exam or sitting in class during the exam, why do I feel the urge to go down and play football, to grab a pillow and blanket and immerse myself in sleep, to surrender myself to the mystic land of classic music ?? Of course, if I want, I can do all of this. But does this mean that I don't enjoy the process of gaining knowledge, learning new stuff, that according to society will be very useful to me in the future? Maybe yes and maybe no.Unfortunately man has created a mechanism for pseudo satisfaction. A thing we colloquially term as 'success'. How does someone derive enough motivation to continue to fight something he may not like from the bottom of the heart. Its this success. Its the feeling of jubilation,of victory, of reinforcing and acknowledging that I am damn good. In fact I am better than one fifty of these other blokes. You want proof. Here is my mark-sheet!!! Why do we have to grade everything? Why do we have to score artists, football players and professors ? Why cant we just enjoy the game, why can't we just sink into the music or delve into the deep sea of ever profound knowledge?
You are prey to this 'success', I am and most of mankind is. In fact, I feel we are fooling ourselves. We are like living a dream which isn't even ours. How can we aim for the skies when we don't know what our dream is? But then is it that simple? Is it that simple? Will we just find out some day what the right thing to do is? But what if that time is when I am eighty years old? Does it really matter that it came so late or should we be happy and thankful that it finally did? Is the reason that because the discovery of the dream may take so long, that society has carved out defined paths for individuals to follow? Is that the reason that society has created a stigma for those who choose the wrong path and want to tread a whole new direction? Or is it because humans finally thought that it was a waste of time and not worthy of a shot? Instead lets create a world with defined roles, 'customizable' job positions which can hardly be changed, 'flexible syllabi' which are ever so rigid? And if you really get lucky, you will be in the exact right place at the exact right time and be able to live your dream. But otherwise don't you think, that sometimes atleast, we should sit back and relax and try to discover the dream. Give it one honest shot and maybe it'll come to us.
But then how would you know that its the thing, its the dream? Honestly, I don't know but I think you'll know. Because when I watch one shot from Sachin Tendulkar, hear one song from Lata Mangeshkar or read one paragraph from JK Rowling, I know they knew. Once you know your dream, then you can aim for the stars and beyond,because then the skies will become too close!! For then you will not crave for success but instead for genuine heavenly satisfaction!!
There are a lot of questions, arguments and counter arguments. I know this blog is hopelessly incomplete. I don't know if I ever will be able to fit all the pieces of the jigsaw together. Nevertheless, have I got some part of the mystery right or have I messed it up altogether? The best part of philosophy and why I love it so much is that there is no right answer. Just perceptions, opinions and attempts to crack the hack. This one is mine. If you ask me whether I have discovered my dream, I would say no. What about you? Have you discovered the dream??!!!
