Should You Sell Your Dreams For A Lucrative Corporate Job?

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” 

― H. Jackson Brown Jr., P.S. I Love You

You remember how as a child you would dream, dream to do wonderful things, and as you grow up, you cling on to these dreams, hoping one day you will achieve all those innocent dreams you have had as a child.

Sadly, reality comes into the picture when you turn into an adult. The dreams you've had as a child eventually fade and sometimes, you give in to the pressure that is thrusted upon you by your parents, family, extended family, and oh, how can I forget, the neighbours. 

You have mortgages to take care of, bills to pay, and you know, the dream of turning into something awesome takes a back seat. You are confused! Questions like "Painter? What will you earn? Ten cents? Not everyone can become a Pablo Picasso, you know", "Why can't you become an Engineer? Software industry has a better prospect", "Musician? You should get an MBA degree from an Ivy League." become a part of your life. And as much as you want to chide the people who confuse you with questions like this, you cannot help but agree that they are realistic too. Aren't they?

Should you sell your dreams for a lucrative corporate job? is a million dollar question that we twenty somethings face almost everyday. 

Dear parents, we are clueless too. We want to chase our dreams. We want to be a Jane Austen, a Pablo Picasso, a Bruce Springsteen. We want you to understand that we want to stand out and as much as absurd it sounds to you, we do not need riches. Practically, we all need money. Yes, we all do. But we are struggling here, trying to voice our opinions, and yes, we know the repercussions of not taking up a software job. What can we do? Our childhood dreams haunt us. They do not let us sleep in the night. They remind us of what we are and what we can become.

Oh, we totally understand that neighbour aunt's elder son is an investment banker and has a swanky car in his garage. We admit it, we cannot afford it. Not for the next ten years at least. But we are alright with it. 

So the next time you ask us how we would manage our rent, we want to ask you few questions too. When will we find time to travel and gain beautiful experiences? When will we meet intriguing people like us? When, just when can we do major goof-ups and blame our juvenile phase for it? When will we fail majorly and learn all the lessons? When will we fall in love and experience a heartbreak? When will we experience anything, just anything that is remotely different from what we are doing?

Not all of us here are meant to work under corporate honchos, and turn cynical by the time we turn 30. Not all of us here want an Audi. Not all of us here want an insanely ludicrous bank balance. We are happy to live our dreams. We are happy spending our life creating something beautiful. We are infectiously glad doing what we are meant to do. If we spend an eternity living your dreams, when should we live ours? 

We want to take a leap of faith, and is it too much to ask you to believe in our dreams? Because we are wired differently, and we believe in the beauty of our dreams.

Goodbye To Your Favourite Fictional Characters!

“I like stories about supervillains. They teach children that you can accomplish great things even when the whole world is against you.” 

― G.D. Falksen

I have a really annoying habit of getting attached to fictional characters. Like most of the readers, I laugh, cry, and jump in joy along with them. Ah! The little joys of being an avid reader, right? All good things must end and so do the stories. How does it feel to bid a tearful adieu to your favourite fictional character? How does it feel to bid a goodbye to your favourite childhood hero? 

I agree, a writer immortalizes the character, the protagonists, the villains, and the metaphors. But the book comes to an end. *Sniff* We won't experience the journey of the character again. Unless, we decide to read the book again. And again. 

Who comes to your head when someone talks about fictional characters? Of all the characters I love, Hector of Troy tops the list. Truth be told, it was awful when he dies. I could never fathom why Achilles is SO overrated. There were moments when I felt Achilles was outright ridiculous. I mean seriously, Hector is an epitome of a true hero. 

Sherlock Holmes, my childhood hero, is one character that most of us love. All the followers of Holmes, raise your arms. (Woot! I see all of them raising their arms. Some of them raised both their arms in excitement.) The question here is why, just why did Sir Doyle end the awesomeness of Holmes so soon? There could have been stories, more investigations, more mysteries. More. Just a little more.

Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina is one of the most beautiful characters. I fell in love with her character the moment I read the book. Needless to say, it was very painful to see her go through so much agony. Leo Tolstoy created one of the best female protagonists with Anna Karenina. Such beauty!

Doctoring her seemed to her as absurd as putting together the pieces of a broken vase. Her heart was broken. Why would they try to cure her with pills and powders?

Bruce Wayne! One cannot help but fall in love with him. And we all know how we felt when Bruce Wayne sacrificed Batman for the greater good. We had to leave a major part of our childhood there, and walk out. And we walked out, pouting and throwing tantrums like children. 

Jane Austen's Darcy is one of the most influential characters. Most of the women are SO into Darcy that they want their men to be like Darcy. How ridiculous! Saying goodbye to Darcy is one thing, but asking garbage to turn into gold? Not happening, ladies. Darcy is Darcy for a reason. If all men could be like him, Darcy would have never gotten so popular in the first place. 

I must also say that 90% of my friends wept when Harry Potter ended. They are SO delusional that they claim that it is a sheer injustice. They never wanted Harry Potter to end. They wanted to grow old with Harry Potter. Silly lives!

It is always painful to say goodbye to your favourite character. You treat your favourite fictional as a real person. You talk to it, cry with it, and laugh with it. I am glad I read, I fall in love with so many characters, live their lives and treat them as my own. We must be so glad, and thankful to all the writers who create such wonderful characters that were a part of us, and somewhere down the line, we'll meet more interesting characters. More stories. But the goodbyes are always heart wrenching unless the book is horrid enough for you to leave it mid way.