Tag: dreams

  • Destination Unknown

    ..and few weeks back, it happened… at last. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar became the highest run getter in the history of test cricket, and the only man to cross the 12000 run mark. As Alfred Victor Vigny has said, “Greatness is the dream of youth realized in old age” I remember writing this about 3 years back, and sparking off a Gavaskar-Tendulkar debate then. And inspite of that, I still consider Sachin a greater player than Gavaskar. But thats just my perspective, and this post is not intended to start off that debate all over again.

    As always, it is the standards that the man sets off the field (Adam Gilchrist can take his stories down under) – including the locker room and press conference chats, that amaze me. His teammates talk about his indefatigable spirit and his joy in playing the game. While his fans were cheering him, and his critics were throwing stones at him, was he looking forward to this milestone, if not playing only for it? At 16 years, when he played his first test in Pakistan and fell to Waqar for a mere 15, did the boy Sachin know that he would make the 11000 plus runs that would make him a unique persona in world cricket? When Merv Hughes told Border that ‘This little prick’s going to get more runs than you, AB’, how did he know? When a person is doing exactly what he is meant to do, does the clarity reveal itself to himself and others?

    At a far lower plane, many of us have achieved those little milestones, the ones which we had looked up to in awe, and wondered whether they were achievable at all. I remember, about 7 years back, hearing about my project guide’s salary and saying that if I got that kind of money, I wouldn’t mind stagnating after that. And now i look back and smile at myself, because i realise how time changes everything. I also realise that I can keep setting higher figures up, and god willing, perhaps knock them down. But most importantly, I realise that when life brings us to that point of our imagined future, there will be happiness, but perhaps not joy. Like ticking off a box in a things to do list, as opposed to a whoop of sheer delight. Unless, I am doing what makes me happy, so that the inevitable reaction to achieving a milestone is joy, and there is simply no reason to contemplate such things as destiny and my reason for existence, except for saying a thank you.

    Is that cynicism brought on by the loss of innocence ? Or are the likes of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, ironically named after Sachin Dev Burman, a legendary music composer, blessed by the cosmos to tread only on the exact path destined for them, while I continue the search, hoping I haven’t “missed the starting gun”

    until next time, “the post is over, I’ve nothing more to say” 🙂

  • And he dreamt…

    Raj and Rahul always win always, but the good thing about SRK’s character in KANK is that he’s a loser.. no, dont go away, this is not a review, nor a commentary on the plot, its just that the basic character could have been straight out of a book i’d have written in a parallel life..of course, it wouldnt be a fluffy romance, but yes, i’d have built the character from the loser.. no, this isnt about the book either, because the book is only one chapter in the parallel life…they say every person has a story to write, his own, the rest is what brings out the creativity..i really do wonder if it is that easy…

    ..Remember how we laughed away the hours
    And dreamed of all the great things we would do..

    some people dont dream, and maybe that is bliss… some people dream, but it is seen as just that, a dream, a parallel life which snaps close when reality comes knocking, it doesnt affect the routine life.. some people go a few steps, and then something happens, an accident, a butterfly effect’ in the stomach which cost them the single chance to achieve their dream, a sacrifice for something that seems more important at that time… in all cases a single moment which alters the course of one’s destiny.. some people have the strength to get up, brush the dust off, and chase it, the really lucky ones get there, and the only lucky ones have the satisfactionof trying…
    And then there’s my hero… he had a dream too, and it lived with him and grew within him, and thats all it did, because it never grew up… it wasnt a single moment that sealed a destiny, it just didnt materialise.. maybe he didnt try enough, maybe it was only the flavor he wanted, and not the dish, maybe he was always waiting for a moment to dawn on him, maybe he thought it was romantic to just have a dream and keep it that way, he would walk through life, thinking of a million ways it could have happened…
    ..Oh my friend, we’re older but no wiser
    For in our hearts, the dreams are still the same..

    D loves walking on the terrace, and i am my usual lazy self.. a couple of days back, on an impulse, i called her to join me for a terrace walk.. and then it rained, and we had to come down…
    and so i wonder if it would be easy to write the book, or sing the song, or play the sport if thats the only thing you ever wanted to do… yes, hundreds of people do it, and then theres my hero.. 🙂
    until next time, dream a ream yet?

  • In my dreams….

    a couple of days back, someone told me about a movie called ‘waking life‘. think its an old movie (2001), but have somehow managed to miss it. in it, there is a hypothesis – what if our dreams were the reality? and the converse…. reminded me of the old one liner-“consciousness – that annoying time between naps”.. but what if…
    but thats not what this post is about, this is about dreams, the same dreams, but in a different context…
    once upon a time people used to have dreams.. a bunch of dreams that would be achieved over a lifetime, and the joy that came about due to the fulfilment of dreams was one of a kind..we have ambitions and aspirations now, but are we dreaming now?
    if i had to compare ‘dreams’ and ‘aspirations/ambitions’ , i’d say that ‘dreams’ are more humane. i wonder if you understood that, but i have no tangible way i can share it with you, its just a thought… and the way we have changed ‘dreams’ into ‘ambitions/aspirations’is by making it a lot easier to achieve them.
    earlier people dreamt of buying a home, but now its just an emi away, same goes for a car, consumer durables. instant gratificationis the new mantra – from flat screens to flat tummies and from intercourse to interactive TV..
    love, which is arguably the biggest dream factory, is also a very attainable thing – from confessionsof love by sms/ e-cards to marrying the one of your choice (which have moved from taboo stage to norm)….the argument would be “isnt it better that way”… yes it is, but not at the cost of dreams..
    once upon a time, a guy called lennon said “Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.” wonder if he would say that now..
    until next time, dream
    (P.S. the title also happens to be one of my     favourite songs 🙂 )

  • What dreams may come

    i have a hypothesis, is it possible that god has given a quota of dreams per person, maybe as small as one dream, that can come true..this is not about the dreams you have at night, this is more the aspirational kind of dreams…… that after you have achieved that one goal, god believes you have done the work you came down here for, and now your life will be a monotony of unachieved dreams, and the rest of your existence will be spent following them…..sort of like the donkey and the carrot…….or maybe He takes the passion/drive that is required to pursue a dream and bring it to its culmination….I was also wondering about the male of the species’ attraction to the T&A of the opposite gender….. another hypothesis now, could it be because it is always covered….imagine a scenario where lets say the ears were always covered and the above mentioned accessories always left open…..would the attraction be now directed towards the ears???
    goodbye, and heres manuscrypts trivia
    a lil paki bashing, because i am peeved that the indian government is sponsoring the surgery of three paki kids…. as far as pakistan is concerned, i have no humanity left in me…An Indian is having breakfast one morning (coffee, bread, butter and jam) when a Pakistani, chewing gum, sits down next to him. The Indian ignores the Pakistani who, nevertheless, starts a conversation. Pakistani man: “You Indian folk eat the whole bread??”Indian (in a bad mood): “Of course.”Pakistani: (after blowing a huge bubble) “We don’t. In Pakistan, we only eat what’s inside. The crusts we collect in a container, recycle it, transform them into bread and sell them to India .” The Pakistani has a smirk on his face. The Indian listens in silence. The Pakistani persists: “Do you eat jelly with the bread??” Indian: “Of Course.”Pakistani: (cracking his gum between his teeth and chuckling). “We don’t. In Pakistan we eat fresh fruit for breakfast, then we put all the peels, seeds, and leftovers in containers, recycle them, transform them into jam and sell the jam to the India.”The Indian then asks: “Do you have sex in Pakistan?”Pakistani: “Why of course we do”, he says with a big smirk. Indian: “And what do you do with the condoms once you’ve used them?”Pakistani: “We throw them away, of course.”Indian: “We don’t. In India, we put them in a container, recycle them, melt them down into chewing gum and sell them to Pakistan.”