I dream of me

We all have dreams. Some dream to be an astronaut, some wish to excel in sports while some wish to be scientists. But like an american moves on in a relationship, we move on too. Leaving our dreams behind. When we are kids, we are oblivious to everything around us. We are shaped in a methodical way that the society decides is perfect for us. Perfection in an Indian society usually means being a wealthy doctor or an engineer. Everything else is looked down upon, ridiculed and deemed worthless. And we Indian children do not resist what is laden onto our shoulders. Parents ask us to choose a career path we love and later that path is narrowed down by them to only two obvious, tried-and-tested choices. We go with engineering. Cheap, easy to get into good/decent colleges, easy to pass out, easy to get job. Easy life.
The struggles for an easy life dates back to the day we enter 10th grade. Everything that we enjoyed, the video game, TV remote, comic books are held hostage by our parents. "This is the most important year of your life" they say with a grimace. "This is the most important year of your life" is preached again after two years. After few entrance exams, we are a welcome addition to a politician's engineering college.  Finally. Our parents feel proud. They say "My kid is living his dream". But is that his dream? He's too stupid to think too. He has already seen a pretty girl in college. Engineering was his dream after all. After four years we have a tag. Few people enthusiastically put I am finally Er something something as their status. We bask in the glory of our achievement. We feel proud for fulfilling our childhood dream. Jobs are looming over the horizon now and we get one too. Everyone around you is so happy that you forget to ask yourself if you are happy.
Monotonous but mandatory job training starts. We desperately hope to last till the end. We loose track of ourselves. But we don't notice it as our colleagues are no different than us. They too are burdened with the expectations and a false dream that think is theirs. Sitting in the cubicle, the rebel inside us is sentenced to solitary confinement every day. That's why we crave for week-end. To have some time for ourselves, for once have coffee peacefully without any haste of catching the bus to office.
Then we start to wonder if you belong here. If this is what you always wanted. If this was your dream. Answers are always amusing and never firmly affirmative. Some of us remain deluded, some of us really enjoy it while most others get bored. Deluded ones keep working without an iota of resistance. Those who love it, never stop loving it. This is where they belong. Most others always decide to quit next year but decide otherwise every year. More so, when their children are growing up, like father like son is taken a little more seriously and that poor kid is forced to make same mistakes as his ancestors made. He too is made to believe in a dream that his parents believe. And that's a vicious cycle that'll go on and on till 2012.
Long story short, many of us at this very moment are not living their lives their way. Either our dreams are deluded or we don't have dreams at all. If you are bored of what you are doing, this is not what you are supposed to do. Dust the cobwebs off your dream and give an honest try to fulfill it. Then atleast for few moments, you'll live your life.