A bus ride with an 8 year old :)

I was travelling by bus on a Sunday evening. Sitting beside me was a woman who might have been in her early thirties and wedged in the small gap between us was a particularly talkative son of hers. A fine 8 year old lad.

As the bus kept moving and the boy kept chirping, I couldnt but help ask him his name.

"Rohit", came the quick reply. And yours?" asked the eager boy.

AFTER a round of introduction and my attempts to explain to an 8 year old what my job was,I asked him 'So Rohit, what do you want to be when you grow up?'

"A rocket Scientist" came the prompt reply.
"And what will you do after becoming a rocket scientist?" asked the inquisitive Infoscion.
"I will roam around all the planets and my photo will come in all the papers, with the helmet on my head", chirped Rohit.

We parted at the Mysore city bus stand. Rohit and his mom walked to the right and I headed left to meet my friends.

I didn't think much of this until late in the evening when my mom called up and asked me what my future plans were.

"An MBA, mom",i said with the usual lacklustre tone I adopt when she discusses my future plans.

And it was then that it struck me.

I was once that 8 year old child with big dreams. I had wanted to be a famous heart surgeon or a renowed scientist who would find the cure for some deadly disease.
I seeked fame and honour. And unlike now, I was enthusiastically ready to work for it.
There was nothing that could dampen my spirits then.
I had the audacity to ask life to throw its best at me and I was sure that I would fight back and win!!!

Havent we all been like that 8 year old boy?

A child with big dreams for the future, a confidence brimming from within us.
A charming zest for life, for each day. Looking forward with widened eyes and eager hands.

Then why is it that as we grow up we slowly let our spirits dampen, we get complacent with whatever we have. The urge to reach out for more gradually ebbs away.
Does the reality of life strike us so hard, that we just cannot recover from that?
Where is that driving force within us? Why do we live such that we barely manage to pass though each day...

Doing so we are committing a crime against our own selves.
We are supressing the joy within us by shrouding it under layers of worries and obligations.

True, as we grow up we become aware of our responsibilities and chores, but we also need to be aware of that inherent joy within us.

The joy with which we once woke up every morning and leapt out of bed..the joy with which we made friends..with which we ate our food...with which we sought new things.. The joy that once made the world look nice and friendly to us.


Indeed, we may claim that we have become wiser than our 8 year old selves, but the wisest among us is the one who can still look at life, its challenges and then throw his head back and laugh.. with the enthusiasm of an 8 year old child racing against the wind!