The Dreamer.

She sat in a group of nine. People from all across the world, sitting with her on a round table, talking about their dreams, their aspirations, and their goals.

Dreams they wanted to turn into reality, Aspirations they could die for, Goals that were sky high.

They were ambitious young people, wanting to change the world, me a passive observer, eavesdropping.

Talk to me about how you got lost on the roads when drunk, you possibly won’t hear a word from me, only a smile and an intent to learn your story and know more about you from your talks. But talk to me about your life, how you have evolved over the years and your dreams, I would be more than just willing to share my story with you. I have a penchant for dreams, for the courage of dreaming, goals that you may not achieve one day, but you dare to dream. I love when you say you will clear fifteen exams of Actuarial Science when you have only four years in hand. I would love to hear the story behind your laughter. I love it when you have life within you, and by life I mean the courage to dare and challenge yourself over and over again. You’ve just got one life. You know how people want to die with pride and respect? I want to live with pride and respect.

So the people on the table, basically played a game. A round bowl half-filled with small pieces of folded paper, with a question written on each. Each person picks up a piece, reads the question on it and every person on the table answers the question, one by one. There were nine rounds of the game, nine chits in total. I distinctly remember one question and the answers on it.

‘We always have a group of people in our lives/careers we want to impress, who are those for you?’

Eight out of the nine people answered that they would want to impress the interviewers to get a job, people at the career fair to land up into an internship, people they meet at conferences, friends, etc. Only one person said, and I’m quoting her words here,

‘I would want to have a good impression on everyone I meet, either on the road, or at formal gatherings. And also, I want to impress myself.’

She stood out. Not only in her answer, but also in her way of talking. I loved her courage and determination. Her self-control. Her lucid way of speaking of such a great thing. Why focus on a group of people when the world is so big, when you are most important to yourself? Why not focus on impressing yourself each day, than impressing those recruiters on one day, in the thirty second elevator speech? Dream high.

Dreams need not be big, they ought to be high.