Once upon a time there was a small boy who lived in a big city. The boy loved to read prose, poetry, and comics, virtually anything he could lay his hands on. He loved to play Pacman on his father’s PC when he was not home. Our boy wanted to write something and become a writer but he was afraid to do so as he had very bad handwriting, his mother always praised his handwriting by saying:
<strong>”Handwriting say to lagta hai k bacha bara ho k Doctor banay ga”</strong>
(Handwriting suggests that the boy will become a Doctor when he grows up)
As he had no other choice, the boy kept growing as time passed. He was losing interest in all the Physics and Chemistries as he was growing up and literature and computers began to enthuse him.
As our boy passed 12th grade with not so flying colors, his father told him that a career in Accounting pays well. The greedy little boy decided to become a Meer Munshi (Accountant) but the writer in him always tried to punch his way to the top. The writer inside succeeded and our boy knew his handwriting wouldn’t be a problem anymore as he would type some half-baked pieces and send out to various publishers. His not so spectacular pieces soon started appearing and the writer inside gained confidence.
Our boy was like a Batman. Leading a normal life in the morning and donning a mask to seek adventures at night. As time passed by and he became not-so-boy, various realities of life started kicking in. The boy did not want his beloved writer to fade away but had no choice as Accounting was dull but far more rewarding in terms of monetary benefit.
An accounting job came, he reluctantly joined, and found he was no longer able to donate reasonable mental effort to the ailing writer. The writer inside went in the hibernate mode as his creativity was taken over by the dullness of academic writing.
The boy wanted to do more, to achieve something, to quench the thirst and extinguish the anxiety lying within, but he was unable to figure how to fill the gaping void inside. The greedy boy thought he wanted to earn more and worked even harder but the void started getting wider.
Lying on a charpai (bed), counting the countless stars and battling with some drunken mosquitos in a clear summer night he thought:
– Why am I unsatisfied? I earn well, I eat well, I have good friends who give me nice company… Why I am not satisfied?
– Is it money? A disease? What is it? Is it a girl? No, they are not so important! What’s the problem?
– Shall I go abroad to earn more money? Why shall I leave my parents and the comfort of my home? What type of person does that to earn more? duhh… I was getting mad…..
Do you think our boy will find the answer to his problem? Will he be able to understand and fill the mammoth void inside him? Will he go abroad?
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Written by: Bilal Mahmood Sulehri
Photo Credit: http://bit.ly/24CWZqA
