Shattered dreams : An anthology by Karthigeyan Ganesh Shankar
By: Karthigeyan Ganesh Shankar
Tags: Storytelling, Reality, Goals, Dreams, Education

Photo by Jim Stapleton on Unsplash

Have you ever dropped a brittle object, to watch it scatter into odd shapes, demarcated to its initial perfect shape. During this very action when gravity performs its intent, everything proceeds in slow motion. A sense of regret, lassitude and depreciation is chided by our subconsciousness onto our tiny little brain. The following anthology is a collection of four short stories bringing into spotlight different timelines one goes through in a canvas of life. In the end, these short stories converge and chime into a common theme: shattered dream.

First : Innocence of a child and its embrittlement

“ What do you want to become when you grow old, child ? ” asked an adult who had been asked this question in her/his childhood.

“ An auto driver! ” said the child and beamed when he replied, struck my ecstasy connected to this thought. He continues to rattle, mimicking the noise produced by an autorickshaw/tuk-tuk.

An autorickshaw (Photo by Pj Go on Unsplash)

To this response the adult chuckles, dismissing the thought sprouted out of immaturity and continues to provide some unwarranted wisdom.

“ You know what, you are so good at building these Lego blocks, you must become a civil engineer! Think about it, you can construct buildings which touch the sky.” the adult adds.

“ But I like to ride in an autorickshaw. I can navigate through smaller gaps in quick time by insane manoeuvres. Also the sound it makes puts a smile on my face. ” the child protests.

“ Hahaha, you will change your plan shortly. Everyone in our family is an engineer and you will become one too. ” the adult reinforces her/his opinion.

And with that, a dream meets its demise. The child berates himself internally for welcoming such a dream. Whining and crying inconsolably is pushed to a later stage in his life. This conversation repeats itself few months down the line with another adult, to which the child replies.

“ I want to become an engineer and be able to construct buildings that touch the sky ” the child delivers without a second thought.

The adult replies “ Kudos, that is what is expected of you. You will become a great one! ” and pats the child in the back and bribes him with a sweet and some money.

Second : Know your limits, or you will be made to know it.

Photo by Mika Brandt on Unsplash

A ceiling fan brought mechanical sounds to an otherwise silent and lifeless room. In here, a school counsellor looked at a report with much deliberation and focus. On the other end sat two anxious parents with their happy-go-lucky child. The room encompassed three individuals of ardent attention nullified by the distracted child. The counsellor broke the silence which was starting to consume every one of them.

“ Your child has performed exceptionally well in quantitative aptitude and verbal reasoning. His score has been dominant in math and logical reasoning. This is indicative of the fact that he is destined to do well in engineering and sciences. “ — said the counsellor. Dismissive of the boy’s equally good scores in verbal reasoning and his interest in journalism and writing.

“ This is excellent news. We knew very well that we had a gifted child. He should do well in engineering, it is settled then. ” said one of the parents while the other gently caressed the boy’s hair, grinning from ear to ear. In the mind of the kid, his aspirations to become a writer dropped into the oblivion.

Few months progressed, a parent-teacher meeting was scheduled. The boy along with parents were seated opposite to the weary history teacher. Upon having a look at the boy, the teacher’s expression changes, smile fixated on her face.

“ Your kid is very inquisitive about everything concerning history. He seems to enjoy history by a huge margin in comparison to the other kids. He is one of the few reasons why I enjoy teaching history. He would make a great historian or an archaeologist. ” said the history teacher clapping her hands.

“ His math teacher told the same thing, he loves math equally. That should be indicative of the fact that he would make a great engineer possessing the required thinking skills. We are so blessed to have him ” said a parent with an aura of pride. Both the heads of teacher and student sunk, defeated. The plan was laid without any compromises. Further dialogue proved futile.

The boy upon completing his higher secondary school was left baffled onto what he would want to do after his high school. To the rescue came coaching institutions which ensured that given an intense dedication of two years, he could land with relative ease into a premier institution. What they failed to answer is that, what would he be pursuing there. Throughout these two years, they made him believe that he was made for this, constantly tossing and toiling him around to reach the best of his abilities. The boy gave in due to societal pressure and made himself believe that a premier institution was well within his reach. Without doubt, the coaching institution charged ridiculous fees to ensure that the boy believed in this vision. Of course, the boy should be made of sterner stuff, every child is destined to land herself/him into a premier institution.

Unfortunately, reality struck on the boy only on the day of the results. Two years of admiration and glass-like dream shattered, but no longer in slow motion. It was an initiation of several such shattering. Perhaps life is very much a diabolic cycle consisting of joy followed in succession with suffering.

A verse from one of my favourite songs :

Bachpan to gaya jawaani bhi gayi, ek pal to ab humein jeene do jeene do. (Our childhood has been lost and so has our youth, Now let us live fully for just a moment) - “Give me some sunshine” from 3 idiots (movie).

to be continued soon…..