I had too much to dream last night
Too much to dream
I'm not ready to face the light
I had too much to dream
Last night....Last night...
When the Prunes wrote this song I wonder if they substituted the word "dream" for "drink". I like to believe they did. Afterall, for many of us "Drink" is the precursor to "Dream", especially the vivid kind. Which brings me to the subject of Dreams. No not of the interpretation of Dreams ala Freud but of simply their Evolution. I recall the first dream I ever had was of having Gond Laddoos by the dozen. Since then I have had many (both Dreams & Laddoos) but their nature has changed dramatically over the years.
During childhood my Dreams used to center around riding a Yamaha and drinking Thums Up. As a ten year old, I used to dream of winning Wimbledon defeating Becker or that of scoring the decisive goal for AC Milan along with Van Basten in a UEFA Champions League finals (I am a Brit in all things except football. If its football, I'm Dutch).
As I entered my teens and the pressure to choose a career began to show, I dreamt of being HOD English at the Trinity/King's College, Cambridge. Not only that, I even dreamt of defeating the Oxford guys in the annual rowing race, a la Steve Redgrave. Too much of Kafka, Orwell & Russell had me dreaming of becoming an author and too much of Doyle, of becoming Holmes !
Late teens I was obsessed with "Musical" ambitions like getting Barrett/Harrison/Arthur Lee out of retirement to cut an album likeForever Changes. Or reviving Led Zeppelin for producing V. For some time I also wanted to be a Bhojpuri hero in a typical old fashioned patriarchal movies on clan worship. Then, I dreamt of having thighs like Van Damme, blame it on that leg stretching stunt of his. Oh, how I loved it !
As I moved into adulthood, my dreams also started moving outside the realm of "outlandishness" into that of materialism - like owning an island off the coast of England or driving around in the Beetle with Gwen Stefani/Shania Twain as the chauffeur ;-)
When I appeared for MBA entrances, I desperately dreamt of making it to XLRI. When I joined my first job, I fancied I wanted to be the CEO of L&T. That was also the time when I was besotted with Dali & Surrealism (still am) and so most of my dreams were too bizarre to relate.
Three-four years into my professional career, my dreams were relegated to owing a flat of my own and having sufficient Bank Balance (read Rs.1 cr) to lead a respectable life and devote myself to the study of Literature & Music. Maybe write a bit & come out with a sequel to "Three Men In a Boat". Or being Daag Dehlvi's protégé and rendering acid-soaked shayaris like him.
Today after almost 8 years of a Career, I dont get too many dreams. And whatever few I get are very basic. I still dream of eating Gond Laddoos. And I often dream of having a good night's sleep. And almost always of RIP.
No, not "Resting In Peace" but simply "Retiring In Peace" !!
PS - This post is inspired by Nair Sir Post "TIME, THE SCHEMING THIEF STEALS FROM LIFE", which I read this morning".
