Carefree

Pursuing A New Journey

Deccan Herald; Date: 09-Mar-09

Recently, a dear friend called me to invite me for his wedding. He was ecstatic, and I congratulated him for meeting his soul mate. Just before he hung up, he happily confided, “Finally, my dream is coming true.”But, for some strange reason, his parents couldn’t agree with his decision as their dreams were different from his.

Today, these instances are the norm rather than the exception. Call it the coming of age of individuality or the gradual dissection of family bonding. I couldn’t help letting my mind flashback to my grandmother’s wondrously wise advice. She had said, “Marriage is a dream which parents wish for and children realise.”When parents decide to have kids and give birth to a new generation, it’s akin to closing their eyes on the blissful journey of marriage. When a child is born, parents share their dreams through the eyes of their child. And when the child eventually gets married, parents open their eyes to see their dreams come true. These married children then go on to continue the virtuous cycle by starting a new dream and a new journey.

In reality, when “I” takes over “we”, the cycle no longer remains virtuous. More often than not, when the child decides to abandon the parents dream in favour of his own, vicious energies like mistrust, hurt and discontent take birth. When will this cycle again turn virtuous? Will the next generation behave any different? After all, child is the father of man!

Is marriage a dream that children must realise for their parents?