A Dream Returns to the Cubicle

A dream is like a crop: it needs passion as fertilizer, hope as sunlight, and determination as water. In our early 20s, it grows like a weed, wild and free but as time passes, it starts to behave like an orchid, delicate and demanding. Dreams then need constant care and attention to survive.

We often hear of dreams igniting in a flash of passion, spurring someone to quit their job, hit the road, and search for their true calling. Some dreams emerge quietly, pieced together by doing many things until that one thing finally appears. But then, there is a rare kind of dream, one seldom seen, especially in India or, more precisely, rural India.

What is this "rare" category?

This dream is different: it’s idealistic, naïve even. It believes in world peace, treats everyone as equal, and has space enough for the entire universe. No, it’s not a “commie” dream; it’s a dream that might belong to a writer, a musician, or an entrepreneur. Experts say that because it arises so early, often before the first kiss or the first pay check, it rarely survives. But sometimes, against all odds, it persists.

This dream knows what it wants, even when everyone else disagrees. It isn’t a matter of "now or never" for this dream. It’s "now and forever." Once, it witnessed so much, but now it seems lost, maybe retreating inward to find its roots, maybe pausing to re-evaluate. Some say you can spot it in those cubicles, the very spaces it vowed never to enter.

It wasn’t always this way. Once, this dream had the time of its life. But then something happened. It’s hard to say exactly what, though many simply call it “life.”

They say every dream has its own lifespan. When we wake up, the dream may fade, but they insist it’s still there… traveling back to the cubicle, waiting for its moment to reawaken.