While sipping black tea at office, a colleague mentioned that his Mama—maternal uncle –buys a lottery ticket every three months and keeps it under his pillow till the result is declared. Mama has been doing this for ages. My curious colleague asked him why he kept on buying the lottery when he never won it. Mama confided that it was no ordinary lottery ticket—it was the ticket to his dreams. By paying a paltry Rs. 10/-, he bought and enjoyed his favourite dreams. He imagined living and fulfilling his desires for 3 months, and then entered the next cycle of another dreamy-state, and then another…
I was put to thoughts—no harm day-dreaming—whether we buy, borrow, or steal our dreams. “Khayali Pulao Pakana”* is ok, if it doesn’t give indigestion to us and others. It’s fine if “Mungeri Lal Ke Haseen Sapne”** lull us into feeling pleasure and “all is well with the world”.
Some dreams we realize, most are shattered, a few turn into nightmares.
While we snore, the rapid eye movement transports us from the realm of reality to the world of fetish, fancy, and fantasy. We escape the mundane and embrace our unconscious desires. Freud’s interpretation and Jung’s expansion tell us—dreams reveal our hidden truths; thank God we alone encounter our embarrassing entity.
What is life without dreams? Like laughter, is this another unique faculty that separates humans from animals? Some dream for themselves, others for others—as immortalized by Martin Luther King Jr. in his “Dream Speech”.
Whether for self or for others, whether realized or unfulfilled—a dream which gives me hope and something to yearn for, a dream which makes me believe in angels—uplifts the soul. Spirit soars, and sleep-walking I hum: “I have a dream, a song to sing…”
*“Khayali Pulao Pakana”- To day-dream
**“Mungeri Lal Ke Haseen Sapne”- A Hindi serial about the dreams of an ordinary man Mungeri Lal
Pic: Yohann LC, Unsplash
Niru Sarawgi Blog 