Learning from my students.

Four days a week and seven hours a day, my life in Hyderabad mainly
revolves around children. Every day, I sincerely admire their aura of
cheerfulness, optimism and innocence. Not to mention, each one has a dream
he or she is chasing, no matter how far-fetched. To me, most of their
dreams are unrealistic in a sense that they does not take one of the major
factors of success in consideration: money matters.

So I started to shatter the bubble in which they lived by telling them that
the farthest they can get is by inheriting their family business or being a
shop keepers. But one day, my student told me: “It is okay to dream”. His
statement deeply struck my sense of pride and ego so I deliberately ignored
him. As I was unwilling to admit it, I attempted to discard this statement
from my mind but to no avail. As a result, I began to ponder about it. It
was then that I realized how cruel, inconsiderate, and insensible I was. If
I were at their age, I would never have been happy if someone came and
shattered my dream no matter what. Upon this realization, I started to
reminisce my childhood and decided to write this poem.

The children are wonderful… they contemplate everything with pure curiosity.

Posing genuine questions, without censuring or rejecting the uncertainty.

They live, aspire and inspire to their heart content

Let us rediscover our own childhood soul,

Let us sing anew our favourite lullaby with our parents.

Grab various colour pencils, crayons and sheet of papers and a smile,

Most will abandon or procrastinate this activity; considering it
meaningless.

Meaning can always be created and sometimes priorities blind other
priorities.

Allow yourself a respite, a blink of blissful fantasy and imagination.

Draw your life, what does it look like?

Draw the life you wished, do you have remorse?

Admire your masterpieces, what are the differences?

“One picture speaks a thousand words” can you read them?

You just re-lived your childhood, can you feel it?

Congratulate yourself,

For the fun time your mind just experienced by being creative

For allowing your childhood soul to re-emerge

The identified remorse and differences are lying in wait back in your mind

Former dreams resurging creating a smile on your visage.

Allow them to be reshaped to your will.

May the regrets be new wishes and the differences be the beauties of life.