A Dream- To have and have not

We have all been through elementary school .. haven't we ? ( without that you wouldn't have reached this page )

Well, why i ask is because i want to know what you answered when that sweet lady (a cane-wielding lady .. in some cases) called out your name and said,

____ , What do you want to become when you grow up ?

I had too many smart kids in my class who knew they were going to be doctors and engineers (No senators or lawyers ... this was in India you see !) from the day they dropped out of their mother's womb.

I said i wanted to be a doctor. I liked the blue scooter Doctor Uncle used to ride.. and he smelled of merchurochrome, and, he was always there when i was in trouble. Enough reason for a role model to a 4 year old.

Thus, I was christened a completely normal obedient child with a perfect goal.

Well, that was as close to being a doctor I ever got.

Coming back to the question; What do you want to become when you grow up ?
Deep inside, don't we all want to be just Ourselves ? Isn't that all we aspire for ? I know there are some people who probably will only realize this after looking up from their graves .. but I am not writing for them.

Ma used to say 'Education is the manifestation of potential qualities inherent in a child' . This is the line she made me write when i was in class 4 trying to write an essay on the importance of education (I am proud i still remember it... probably because the statement was incomprehensible to me at that age, so, i memorized it ). I don't know if she had read it somewhere (By the way she often says such things which make prefect sense to me).. but its so true !! We get educated to be able to become ourselves.. sadly, in that process, so often , we lose ourselves.

Eons ago when a Guru stood on the porch and asked his pupil the same question, he did not intend to hear the word 'doctor' or 'engineer'. He was trying to manifest the potential in his pupil.

Understanding this simple truth has stood me in good stead over the years.

No matter what, You must pave the path for yourself. A path already traversed, albeit safe is not worth walking. It will lead you to someplace where another man wanted to go.. Not you.

I write this as a tribute to Ma for all that she has taught me. Am glad she showed me the right way.. Stupid as i am, i would certainly have lost my way without her.

"Long is the way and hard.. That out of hell leads up to Light"
John Milton- Paradise Lost