Tangents
Big Dreams, <i>Little Dreams </i>
Dreaming. Photo: Ihtisham Kabir
Dreaming, and chasing dreams into reality, is a central experience of being human. In a sense, our dreams define us: they have made us who we are today. There is no end to our dreaming. Big dreamers and their dreams capture our imagination. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. dreamed of the day when blacks and whites in America would be equal in all spheres of life. His dream became reality for millions. King, though, paid with his life for dreaming his dream. When people of Florence, flush with wealth from trading during the Renaissance, wanted a building commensurate with their new stature, the architect Arnolfo di Cambio dreamed up a massive dome. One snag: no one knew how to build such a dome. It took over a century, and the engineering genius of Filippo Brunelleschi, to figure it out. Several more centuries have passed, but this dome still amazes us. When his beloved wife died at childbirth, Emperor Shah Jahan dreamed of building the ultimate memorial to love. It took twenty two years to build, but four centuries later, the Taj Mahal remains unmatched. Tim Berners-Lee, a scientist working in Switzerland, dreamed about effortless information exchange among scientists using computers. About the same time, computer scientist James Gosling invented Java. Along came the World Wide Web and changed the way the world works. In the middle of the desert, the Americans built a glittering city as a tribute to dreamers: Las Vegas. Millions pay tribute to this dream every year. Some find their dreams, others lose it. Closer to home, seventy-five million Bengalis attained the homeland of their dreams in 1971, but only after paying a very dear price. Our dreams have taken us to the top of the highest mountain, the bottom of the deepest sea, and even to the moon. But what about everyday people and their everyday dreams? Do they count? Take the child in this photo, for example. Does he dream of finishing school, becoming educated, and living a full and productive life? Are his dreams about his family? Perhaps seeing them living happily and without worry? Perhaps he dreams of watching a World Cup cricket game in the stadium? Shaking hands with the stars? Buying a smart new outfit? Living in a big house and driving a fancy car? Then again, his dream could be similar to the dream of another boy who chatted with me. This boy dreamt about the nasty neighbourhood thug who tormented the kids. In the dream, the thug, in his motorcycle, was chased up and down some hills by good guys in even bigger motorcycles, until he crashed ignominiously. “I woke up laughing,” he said, eyes twinkling. Will we ever be privy to the dreams of this boy, asleep clutching a two-taka note? I would wager much more than two taka that his dreams would surprise us.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments