NOTE: The idea for this article was given by a dear friend of mine, Arpit Singh. He is also the author of the short poem quoted in the beginning of the article.
"chal uth, uth jaag
aur jagade sabsoye sapne,
chal jaag , aur bhaag
mitake sab raston ke kaante
kar galtiyan , kar chah se
kha thokrein, har rah pe
kar himmat, na maan haar kabhi
tu ccheen , tu noch
kar le jo karna hai muthi me
na fikar kar
tu azaad hai!
iss band muthi ko khol de
jo chahe voh tu bol de
chal ab jaag, aurbhaag
aur jagade sabsoye sapne,
tu rukna nahi
TU AZAAD HAI!"
-Arpit Singh
I wake up every morning with a dream. A dream
to show the world who I am, to open up my soul to everyone, to stand up and
tell the truth. Every morning I wake up with the zeal to listen to my heart and
to be who I am. But as the rays of the sun falls on me, as the glares of the
people falls on me and the air they breathe falls on me, I lose my voice. My
head bends down in the fear of losing. I know if I stand up for what I believe,
I stand up alone. I know if I raise my voice, I will have a million voices
juxtaposing it. And I know if I break away, a thousand chains pull me back. I
think too much, I worry too much and I lose even before I really lose!
I am afraid no one will understand
me. I am afraid they will say I am crazy. Then I ask myself who are they to judge me? My conscience softly
answers, they are the world! They rule this place I call home. They make the
boundaries that I cannot cross. It is a war I shall never win, or is it?
When I feel all hope is lost, I see
another soul caged in this place called society, suffocating for free air just
like me. He screams out in his dreams only to an audience of empty space. He
writes down his thoughts only to read it himself. He talks about his passions
but only to the mirror. I know it because I go through the same unending ordeal
every single day. I see the fire to break free, in his burning eyes. It fuels
my own desire to fly away, soar like an eagle above all.
He talks of big things. He says the
day the Berlin wall fell, the day Abraham Lincoln abolished slavery, the day
our country won independence, were days that man won the war against those
suppressing his very soul. He says they faced society and fought in spite of all
the pitfalls along the way. He says we may lose many battles but if we listen
to the heart we will win the war. I listen to his words and my desire to fight
burns brighter than ever. I want to stand up and say “this is who I am, this is
what I believe and I am happy”.
I dream of the days of triumph. I
play the scenes of my free life in my head over and over again. Do not be
misconstrued! I do not wish to be free to do whatever I want, but I wish to be
free to decide what is right and what is wrong. I long for the day when I am my
own self without having to worry breaking the rules this world set for me. I
want my wings to open and lead me to where I belong…
The day is finally here. The day we
face the world and tell them they cannot hold us inside their unseen boundaries
anymore. I stand up and open my mouth. My heart burns like dry leaves on the
peak of summer. I cannot hold my soul in anymore. But just then I feel a cold
breeze chill my skin. I look around and I am alone… all alone!
He has left me all by myself.
Standing alone I lose my voice again. Responsibilities, consequences, duty,
wealth, family, career… he sacrifices his freedom for the same society that
suffocates him everyday. I see him choke for the free air that he gave up. The
flame in his eyes is slowly fading away as he gives in to this society and
allows them to bind him tighter and tighter to their rules. I look in despair.
I know I lost this battle but I shall never lose hope. I have lost, only to
come back stronger. There will be a day when I wake up with my dream and it
will come true. The day I break all boundaries around me and fly above all.
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