A boy, his dreams and reality...

That was December-14-1982. People didn’t know whether it was a good or bad day. They still don't. Only the future will tell that. But, they celebrated it a lot.

A boy born on that day, three days after his aunt died of appendicitis. He grew up in a village of small size studying with Telugu as the medium of instruction. He never knew what happened outside that village. His maternal grandmother used to come visit him once in a fortnight. She used to bring lots of chocolates and ice creams. He used to boast with friends that he has all the things in this world. He got the second straight handle cycle in his village and he showed that off. He was not the topper in class until 4th class.

It took a turn in 4th standard. He worked hard and became the topper of the class. His mother worked in the same school. His father is a banker. He has got the advantage from both of them. He was got the math skills and science skills. But, there was a competitor who always beat this guy in math and science and this guy bet the competitor in all others there by maintaining his edge.

He used to play with his friends at the temple site. They used to play a lot of cricket. Once his mother sent him to get some groceries and he went to play cricket and did not turn up until late. His father chided him for that. On another occasion, he did not want to go to school and was telling stories to his father. His father bet him with the power cord of their old radio. It was the first and last one from his father.

It was 1994. He became the topper in his manadal(a small group of villages) in 7th standard. He celebrated it with his teachers by buying cool-drinks (INR 3 each) for them. Everyone was happy. His father never came to school. There was never a requirement to come.

He did not work hard for the next 2 years and lost his edge. He topped his class in 10th standard but, could not top the boys from other schools. The time has come for his father to decide on where to send him for his intermediate (+1, +2). They could not afford the high fees being charged at some of the best schools. They were ambivalent till the last moment and decided to go to a good school. Went to a couple of schools but they were late. Seats were filled up. After searching for ac couple of more schools, they got a seat in one. He did not have the money for school. His grandfather and relatives helped him. His father did whatever he can and arranged the money.

The medium of instruction was English. He could not understand many of the things. In one chemistry class He spelt principle as principal and got the wrath of his chemistry lecturer. But, his math skills helped him and he moved to the top section after quarterly review. He got the best training possible. He Worked hard and could not spend money as he did not have much. He stuck to his friends from his village and worked on hard on physics as it was his best interest.

Things turned out positive and he got a rank of 185 out of more than 100,000 contestants for one of the engineering entrance exams. He did not have the money to pay the deposit for Undergard School. Again, his father borrowed it just the day before the admission day and He got a seat at one of the best colleges in the country.

He moved to the undergrad school after spending a couple of months in his home village. It’s a new world and new people. He was a conservative boy through out and he remained the same. He mingled with everyone nicely but, he has got a core team of friends. They played hard but never studied. He was able to get first class and a job finally. He has big dreams. But, He joined that manufacturing firm and worked over the hot pouring steel. He had to work in night shifts and learnt it the hard way.

After one year he moved to work in his uncle's firm. Then he moved to work with one of the software firms. He could not find much of these things interesting and that made him think about his forgotten dreams. He worked on them. But, he almost failed when the last ray of hope did turn in. He just jumped on to the last thread of hope and is hanging there now. This was one of the threads that he dreamt of in his under graduation 4 years ago. There were many personal failures along the line, he was able to cope up and come out. He was passionate about his people, his work and his way. He lived life his way.

Now, at 25 years of age, he is trying to use the new thread to go to the places which he did not see before and was dreaming to see. He has to invest some of the things that he did not possess and tried hard to do that. Again, he almost failed to get them till one of his relatives came to help.. Now here he is..Pursuing the dream..Sometimes thinking whether this is what he wanted..