By Jayshrita Bhagabati:
Yet another year has drawn to an end, perhaps not in accordance with the English calendar but definitely if you take the dreams of around ten lac students as any indication of the passage of time. After one year of whirlwind preparation, an enduring hope to do well interspersed with the inevitable occasional feelings of self doubt and unease the results of the class XII CBSE boards, 2011 came as a breadth of fresh air to a lot of deserving students, who saw their (until then) somewhat foggy dreams finally show clearer possibilities of transforming into realities.
New dreams were forged as students decided upon the next few steps that would help them earn the success which they crave for, and yet for a small segment of students the very same results shattered their equally important dreams. With the latter ended two young lives when their owners decided that death was a more preferable option when compared with the humiliation that failing in exams invariably entails for in India. It was a tragic and quite an unnecessary end to the lives of two young people, who could have, if they had chosen to, made anything out of their lives with perhaps just a bit more patience and optimism.
But probably it’s a phenomenon which is true not just for academics and perhaps not only for students. As life becomes more and more competitive we see two kinds of players who participate in it. One which will do anything to reach the finish line, no matter how bleak that prospect seems at the moment. Name, fame and money- the definition of success for the layman and the forces which drive him to go on living when there seems to be no help at all and no reason to live. Yet, he lives on and lives on willingly, living life with an admirable tenacity, aware that at the moment he is just another addition to the nameless crowd, a face unknown and a voice unheard but determined to tell his story one day to the masses and make the world sit up and take note of what he says.
And until that fateful day arrives he will go on fighting and competing for what he thinks to be correct and rightfully his, doing everything in his means to achieve his goals.
The second segment of people are the ones who drop out of the race before it even begins, who get unduly overwhelmed by the competition before them and let the negative forces of self doubt, cynicism and pessimism take precedence over their own capabilities and potential. There are probably a number of reasons why some people are ready to go on experimenting with their lives no matter what and the rest give up after a few short term disasters. But perhaps the most important among these factors is the availability of social support. Life, needless to say, becomes a lot easier when there are people to lean on and share our woes with. But even so, in the long term, it is himself that man has to depend upon. As life becomes harder than was ever expected, and everyone understandably becomes busy with their own lives, he realizes that there is nothing solid or real left on this planet apart from his own feelings and aspirations.
Hence, at every crossroad where man has to take a fresh decision on which direction to turn next, he has to remember that in life there is no one to show him the correct way, others can guide him but they won’t hold his hand and lead him till the end, when he falls down repeatedly there won’t be anyone to pick him up after the first few times, he has to get up himself and walk with his head held high, on the way he will face hurdles, which are but subtle ways of God to make him learn from his experiences and avoid making the same mistakes and as he listens to his own instincts and conscience he has to keep his vision firmly focused on that foggy and mysterious destination which means everything to him at the moment, a process which can be called simply as chasing dreams.