Something which all of us acknowledge is the presence of the nagging voice in our hearts. It's the voice which tells us what we really want, what we are or what we have become. It's that tiny little poke which reminds us how we have somehow screwed up life and we should "un-screw" it. One of the common commands it issues is to break free and change everything. Call it whatever you want, I call it Aazadi.
Don't mistake me for the colloquial English synonym "freedom". To me Aazadi expresses much more than freedom. It reflects the pride of achieving our dream, cherishing our passion and our inexpressible joy at doing all of that. Someone finds solace in snapping pictures of animals while someone loves to play the drums. Someone loves writing poems while on the flip side, some find sadistic pleasure in being a critic. My point is that everyone has his or her own forte and guilty pleasures. But not everyone gets to do that. Some bow down to the pressure of economic troubles and some to social ridicule. Some are scared by the magnitude to scale and some have plainly lost hope.Some,like Santiago are still searching for their Alchemist while some are being their own. It's a funny thing how many people claim passion to be hokum,dismissing it as lore.I pity them because they don't know the feeling of true happiness. I'm on the path of achieving my own dream, and the rush,the feel,the emotions,the passion and the pure unadulterated exhilaration is simply unmatchable. People ask me with awestruck faces "You're 17 and you think you know your passion and your dreams?Yeah right!". I tell them this: Dreams don't have age,nor does your passion or happiness. As to how I stumbled on to my Philosopher's stone, it was easy. Just think and ponder over this question: "What would you do if money didn't matter?" and you'll find the answer.
To all those who still believe their thoughts and their dreams are entangled and chained in shackles, I quote my favorite song
Pairon ki bediyan khwabon ko baandhe nahi re, kabhi nahi re
Mitti ki parton ko nanne se ankur bhi cheeray, dheere dheere
Iraade hare hare, jinke seeno mein ghar kare
Woh dil ki sune kare na darre, na darre
Subah ki kirno ko rokein jo salaakhein hai kahan
Jo khayalon pe pehre daale woh aankhein hai kahan
Par khulne ki deri hai parinde udh ke choomenge
Aasman aasman aasman
Dream and dream on friends :)