Sunday Short Story By Rudrapriya Sen
After Answering Truthfully…….
‘How do you wish to spend your life?’ This question is for both adults and children. People who already have a family of their own, a career of their own, and a responsibility to look after their loved ones may also find themselves answering this question. As for children, we can expect variation of answers. A child and a fully grown adult have different views, but no one can argue on the fact that there is a point in our lives where we are not content with the things around us. We wish for more, and we wish for the best. We may not always wish for ourselves; rather our wishes can be for a person we deeply care about. Sometimes, we want to renounce the life we have and restart a new one, where everything is perfect. It is not wrong to wish for something better, something great! Ambitious human beings are often seen with an evil eye, I have no idea why, but I think Macbeth is responsible for that. But it is not bad to long for more, and even obtain it, if you are not hurting anybody. Anyways, without further delay I would like to begin with the actual topic of this writing, ‘How do you wish your life to be?’ Or more precisely, ‘Do you want your life to be glamorous?’ This was a question asked in one of my classes in the previous week, I knew what I had to say, I want my life to be better, and I want to make a difference in the world when I grow up, and I wish that all my friends have the opportunity to do so too. My mistake? It was the fact that I said I wanted my life to be glamorous. What made things worse was that I was the only student to raise my hand and say ‘Yes’. My answer might have been taken as an appropriate one, had it not been for the word ‘glamorous’ itself. My teacher thought that a glamorous life meant spending life drinking and partying and wearing fancy dresses. A girl likes wearing fancy dresses, but I am so sorry if you think spending life glamorously means spending life drinking and gambling and doing all those things. Like I said, when it comes to children or youngsters, you may get a variation of answers, and some of them may not even match your own mindset. As for me, I want to be a writer, and I want to have a glamorous life. According to my teacher, ‘Writers should keep their profile low’, and the idea of me being a writer, and also desiring a glamorous life seemed absurd to her. Glamour, to me, does not have anything to do with a person’s profile or status. To me, having a glamorous life means having a bright life. Yes! Party sounds fun! But I think that having a real bright life means being happy. If I ever become a very popular writer, the most wonderful thing for me will be receiving hundreds and thousands of letters from my readers. That is ‘glamorous’ to me. I do not think I want to be an ordinary person and lead an ordinary life, nobody wants to, I want to make people happy, and I want the world to know my name, and I also know I will have to work very hard for that.
It is all right if you are satisfied with what you have, if you want to live a simple life. That makes you noble, and in some cases wise. But all that nobility will wash away once you mock someone just because they want their lives to be different. The point of writing this, was to tell that it is all right and very normal to tell the truth, and it is perfectly okay to dream for something big, grand and might I say again ‘glamorous.’
I know that I am not the only one who has been put down after hearing something which was unexpected. But if you have been saddened by something which was told to you, then do not allow it to get inside your head. Words are capable of anything, even manipulation. A single speech can crush your dreams or grant you a new one. What it does to you, depends on what kind of a person you are. There is nothing to be ashamed of dreaming big, and there is no point in thinking about other people’s words and tormenting yourself about what they have said. If you are not able to fulfil your goals then you are going to be sad anyway. So, what I mean is that you can wish for a bright and better life, without being shy about it. As I finish my writing, I would like to conclude with a line which was said by my mother right after this episode in the class the other day, ‘Yes! You are allowed to dream!’
