This is a very difficult post for me to write on as I simply did not dream of a 21st Century as a child.
My dreaming of any kind of future as a child was to dream about some toy or game that I was promised by one of my parents or a very dear uncle.
As a school going teenager, I dreamt of finishing school and getting out of the discipline that it entailed. Since I was in the Naval Wing of our National Cadet Corps, I thought that a way out of further studying was to join the Indian Navy and that is what I tried to do immediately after I wrote the last examination for the School Finals. My dream was shattered when I failed the Medical Test due to my myopia.
Then I simply stopped dreaming about the future and got busy surviving on a day to day basis. I have written about somethings that just happened to me that propelled me into a corporate career which landed me up finally in Pune where I have been living for the past more than thirty years very comfortably and without dreaming about any kind of future.
The last couple of things that I had dreamed of were to go on an all India motoring trip with my late wife and living in a farm house, both of which fell through due to her illness and prolonged need for home nursing.
These existential realities brought me into the 21st Century with a determination not to dream at all about the future and accept what comes with gratitude and joy and that attitude has given me a comfortable and peaceful life till now.
I hope that my readers will now understand why I started off this post with “This is a very difficult post for me to write on…”
The fact remains that the 21st Century that I see now is vastly different from the time when I was a child all of seventy plus years ago. In retrospect, I still go all nostalgic for those days. Typical of ancient specimens like me and perhaps even my two cohorts who will also be writing on the same topic today.
This is my take on this week’s Friday 3 On 1 blog posts where Conrad, Shackman and I write on the same topic. Today’s topic has been suggested by Conrad. Please do go over to the other two blogs to see what they have to say on the same topic. Thank you.