A CHOSEN MOTHER

I am wondering as to how to start writing something that can only be experienced but can’t be expressed in words. Yet, here I try to jot down few words that ‘at least’ might judge the echoes of my feelings – my inner thoughts.

This is a story. A story about a dreamer and his dream, his ways and the ‘not-so extraordinary’ life he has been living. It’s a special story, for; it’s a true story – my story.

How would you define someone who wants to achieve something that is far beyond his limits, or something that can’t be obtained through mere attempts? May be over-ambitious or a stupid dreamer who should have formulated an aim that has been accustomed to traditions of good-known goals for centuries. He might be a stupid for he thinks he would succeed and he is so unknown that new ideas are hardly accepted by conservatives mind all around.

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Curtain fades out. He is happy today. It’s the first day to school. A new world begins that would probably never end. He is surprised to see one of his fellow classmates, crying out loud, for his freedom’s been taken away, demanding his parents not to leave him alone in an unknown place - school. What could Parents do, they want their son to be a doctor, look after them when they would get old and for that – they would have to sacrifice many things - his freedom being one of those. So, the boy continues crying, yelling hard, asking his parents to come back and take him away from this scary place. But, no one hears him. His sound touches no any strings. Well, life begins, after an hour, this boy looks glad to meet new friends.

He doesn’t know a big change that has just phased into his life. He would now no longer be a child with innocence, coz, it’s the time to learn all sorts of lessons and games which would lead to exams formulated with rules, regulation and strict commands with exception to few cheats and tricks. Fear of teachers, the dangerous outcome if homework would be ignored, and lessons to be swallowed in and pour downed into demon faced teachers’ ears and exam papers…our boy is no longer free from burdens.

World slowly changes and demands him to face new challenges, new exams and yes, a new game – competition. The Principal inspires our boy and kicks him into a pool of water which he names ‘life’ without lifeguards or a boat. He needs to be on top, not more or less than first in the class. Now there remains only one option, he remains all alone in the middle of a pool and he has to swim and reach that unknown landmark set by parents and teachers who stare at you like whales, octopus and water snakes, and within a given time frame. You can’t escape; they won’t allow you to drown. So, my boy, all you can do now is, stop panting and swim through. They won’t teach you how to swim though, all they want from you; reach that unknown landmark on that given time frame. If you are able to reach, you will be considered successful and will again be thrown into a bigger pool finally leading to an ocean where swimming never stops. If not, you have failed. And, then you would have to face the scariest scene on earth, frightening eyes of whale, terrifying punishment by octopus and poisonous ignorance by water snakes. Failure is no longer considered a malfunction of their (parents & teachers) behavior but as your focus distracted out of the track – they had demanded you to walk through, you missed it out, and you are responsible, ‘only you’, no one else.

Our boy is quite lucky. He didn’t have to face humiliation amidst his friends like many of his classmates do when they score ‘below level’ marks. He is lucky for he has managed to reach the landmark that his teachers defined as ‘landmark – 1st Position’ – ‘Excellent’ – they attributed. He is surprised. What has he really done such that everyone is congratulating him and treating him so well? All he did was that he spilled out everything he had swallowed in the class, wrote everything same what teachers wrote, comma, full stop…everything same, and he got this excellent marks. He gave a thought and learnt, oh! This is how he needs to swim.

He doesn’t learn but records what he is taught. Those words that teacher writes are to be recorded exactly- no addition, subtraction or multiplication of thoughts. A comma in a notebook if commanded by a teacher, would always remain a comma, if misplaced would manifest into a negative mark. It doesn’t matter even if you are not aware of its meaning; all you have to do is record and burn it on the exam paper. If you are able to do so, you are there my child ‘Excellent’, if not, you are a dumb illiterate.

Well, that is how our boy started living his school days.

(well, there is much more to the story..has just unfolded, stories like these never end on single sitting : ) ..sorry if I made you bored, you are too late now... : ) )
To be continued_ _ _ _ _