Dreams On An 18,000 Rupee Cheque

Maybe it was the weather; the fact that it was a little cloudy… dark clouds teased us with the threat of rain. Maybe the looming end of yet ANOTHER semester makes one muse about the future. Then again, maybe it wasn’t half as romantic as that, and we started talking about our dreams and plans for the future simply because Aruna’s zoology class is downright boring.

My mind was wandering already, the way it usually does – jumping quickly from one random thought to another, when I got a note from Chetana, who sat behind me. The note seemed to be in an old check from ICICI of Roshni’s - undoubtedly one she had forgotten to cash…or one she simply could not use thanks to some circumstance only Roshni could get stuck in.

“So what up yo! Ok…imagine yourself when you are 25. Where do you see yourself? Give a description right down to what you’re wearing, and what’s on your mind. =) ”!

My first instinct was to laugh. Only Chet could come up with that in the middle of a class on vertebrate respiration and really expect and answer. In turned to pass her a bemused smile, and got a toothy grin in response. “Alright…” I thought. “Where do I see myself in 6 years…?”

Ever tried answering that question? Answering it is crazy hard! Every response created a Polaroid image…a single snapshot – speaking a thousand words on what we want our futures to look like. I was amazed at the ambition and diversity I found in one section of one class… Environmental lawyers and managers, science communicators, films in the making, wildlife photographers, social activists, resorts, time capsules, wedding bells, leeches and khaki – all from 6 girls in the last two rows of a single zoology class.

Everyone secretly wants to save the world. One wants to save the dolphins, another wants to fight for human rights. We all want to save the Earth from global warming or find alternatives to fossil fuels…or merely tell the world the stories of those who can. We also know that a single person can’t change the world…but that isn’t about to stop us from trying. From dreaming.

Proud of my friends, I secretly wondered what it would be like, six years from now…to meet them all again. Perhaps on Roshni’s boat, talking about out lives over glasses of champagne. Who knows? For now…this is the stuff that keeps us going; the stuff our dreams are made of.