Reminiscence

All of my posts lately( this, this and this one here) have been a result of something- a prompt, a photo or just a random thing, triggering those memories of my long gone days . Today’s is another such rumination, as I think about the dreams and aspirations I used to carry as a kid.

In school, teachers always ask what we wish to become when we grow up. I stood up and confidently declared that I would like to become a journalist. Heads used to turn and look at me in surprise because my aim was quite different from every other kid’s reply that resonated in the room. Doctor, engineer, scientist, teacher, architect, lawyer were common ones. While some teachers raised their eyebrows and said a plain “ok”, some others encouraged me to hold on to my dream. I really don’t know from where the desire sprung up , but that’s the thing about dreams right? They just dawn upon us.

Then I did what all kids do-grew up, and continued to cling to the journalist dream. My parents didn’t quite like the idea because they didn’t want their daughter(for some reason) to be running around in the sun and rain trying to collect bits and pieces of information, trying to fight the crowd to get just one shot of a famous person or a person who’s just been arrested, or putting on a trench coat and leaving home midnight when something big happens like a terrorist attack or a tsunami. I tried convincing my parents that it’s the love for writing that drives me and that I’ll just stick to the writing end of journalism. I used to be angry as to why they weren’t understanding and supporting my dreams. Now, I realise that was only because they cared and wanted to see me living a comfortable life with a stress free job. But my grandmother lighted up everytime I told her I wanted to become a journalist.

I also had another little dream which I planned on pursuing in case I don’t get to be a journalist. I wanted to become a forensics expert. Yes, a expert. Not any forensics analyst or pathologist, but an EXPERT. Talk about dreaming big! 🙂 All those lab assistants flinging the doors open and coming in with pieces of evidence that just don’t seem to fit and me effortlessly finding the one thing that binds them all together and pinning the culprit. Gosh, this should be exciting. This desire I attribute to watching all those CSI(Crime Scene Investigation) shows. Almost every episode I imagine myself as one of the CSI agents and try to draw a reasonable conclusion based on the evidence. I simply loved doing so. This one dream, however, I haven’t shared in public, just with few of my friends.

Horatio was my favourite CSI!

Time to fast forward to the present. So how far am I from realising atleast one of my dreams? Well, now I’m pursuing bachelors in computer engineering, so yeah you calculate the distance. Nowhere near. Though often I used to worry over it, right now I’ve come to accept it and journey on the path I’m in. I’m placed where I am for some reason so I better not whine. Having said that, who says lost dreams are lost forever? It’s not impossible for me to become a columnist someday. But today’s not the day. So I might as well continue to dream and continue to love the things that I love. 🙂