Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Dreams visits sometime

If you can dream- and not make dreams your master.

If you can think- and not make thoughts your aim.


One of the most wonderful truths about life on earth is this very fact, that there’s a piece of verse for every situation. Rudyard Kipling’s prescient words couldn’t have been more perfect for the situation I’d found myself in. With yet another set of mid-semester exams less than touching distance away, I had a browser window and a notepad file open detailing how my ideal trip across Europe would be. If one were to write a Wikipedia article on it, the ‘cultural references’ tab might just be the only one on the page. From fiords in Norway, to the clichéd walk along the Champs Elysees, across tulip fields in the Netherlands, and the six hundred-year-old canals of Belgium, down the Calais-Dover ferry to London, and culminating with hitchhiking across the northern countryside to my Mecca- Old Trafford. Midway, there’d also be the castles of Wales, saying ‘Why aye man’ at least once in Tyneside, and a late evening spent sipping coffee watching the citadels of Edinburgh, as high on the parapet, a Scottish piper stands alone, playing the Caledonian blues. That’s just Western Europe. But, the final tab leads to a quick reality check, as I ponder over applying to this random coding internship, with no stipend and food arrangements in either Gurgaon or Bangalore. And, years of reading novels and watching movies still hasn’t made me insensible enough to imagine a huge thud as those rosy plans come crashing down to earth. I plainly close the windows and stare at Mark Knopfler on the desktop. He’ll be touring the continent over the summer, with a week’s dates at the Royal Albert Hall in London. I try to distract myself by logging into Facebook- hoping others’ happiness on the anniversary of St. Valentine might just seep in, but the cruel cycle of events over the past year may have left me with a lot of hope, but little luck. Things get worse as I see Kondy’s status message, beaming ‘This day, last year’. I shut the lid down for good, and trudge wearily for a coffee. But the Shiv Sena or some sister society’s warnings had left all indoors and Nescafe teeming. Sighing, I called Mum and walked back to Azad. Thankfully, her reassuringly cheerful voice has remained one of the few constants from my time in R, and sunset over the main gate combined with that to gladdening effect. Formatting the magazine wasn’t exactly a welcome distraction, but it did take my mind off greyer matters. And, as I returned to my ever-welcoming quilt, I felt lucky to have somebody’s arms to fall into. Hope is a good thing.



There’s a chink of light,

It’s a burning wick-

There’s a lantern in the tower.

Wee Willie Winkie with a candlestick,

Still writing songs in the wee, wee hours.

9 comments:

Arun said...

Hope is a great thing. And dreaming is simply awesome. A Eurotrip is the stuff of dreams for me too. Especially the Old Trafford part.
That reminds me, check out the Website of Dreams- http://www.stretfordend.co.uk/

If all our dreams could come true, would it still be called a dream?

Anonymous said...

Hope is a great thing and all, but hell, I feel I am way too old to ghiss all this crap! All I want to do is watch SIENFELD, FRIENDS and do math. I can dream on and on, but well, I NEED to ghiss :(

Murty said...

@MGay
Dreams are the drive for our imagination. Once there's no imagination, there's no colour ra babu.

@Shagga
That's why I never sacrifice sleep during the exams. There's at least something decent happening.

Anunaya Jha said...

You got that right Murty!
Hope is ever so welcoming, and it never leaves your side. It's a loyal companion!

Saagar said...

Among the many entertaining chapters that I read in the Gulmohar readers that were assigned to us, there was one about Pandorra's box and it's opening. The one that followed was about how the fairy Hope was also in that box and therefore emerged later, once all the evils had gotten out.

The last line, if I remember correctly, was- And Hope has been with us since.

Murty said...

@Anunya and Lefty

Knew it. Knew it.

Anirudh Arun said...

There is no emotion, there is serenity. There is no senti, there is hope. There is no death, there is the Force.

And Murtha, laugh da... If we cannot laugh, there's nothing left to do.

Murty said...

@ Kondy

You seem a lot into the Force lately. I wonder what's making you go into Lucas' theory so much.

The Decayed Canine said...

Murtha, it can't be that bad. Come to Bangalore, food and boarding on us. Just no sentiap allowed.

@Kondy: Neat. I like this new found sense of humour about life. :D

@Lefty: Ah. Gulmohur Readers. Ah. :)