“Here we have Aadarsh – a teenager being ignored by his fool of a freelance Indian employer who refuses to pay him. What can he do except fume in front of his friends and fuss about it? Is this it? Is this what is left of the Great India? We are corrupted from within and we blame the foreigners for calling us uncivilized and corrupted. Well, aren’t we? Aren’t we?! We are, definitely. We have greed and selfishness running through us. No, we won’t change ourselves for better either. All we can do is point at other countries and crib about how we are demeaned by them. This is also why we fail to progress. Our image is in dirt worldwide. Who is to be held responsible? US.” With Cameraperson Vikas Singh, this is Alisha signing off with a huge sigh of disgust.
She finished her speech and beamed at her audience – her friends – Vikas, Aadarsh, and Nidhi all of whom were settled in her lime green and bright bedroom. There was silence for a solid 20 seconds.
“I am sorry. Why aren’t you a journalist again?” asked Aadarsh; who was lazying on the bean bag. “And hey, I am not fussing. I am cursing.” And he indeed cursed out loud.
“Because I was a loser when it was the time to decide and was too chicken to voice my dream. AND HEY! Don’t curse!!” She replied with contempt and slumped on the couch beside Vikas who was still eyeing her with awe. “Oh, look away Vikas. I feel shitty enough for not doing what I always wanted to.”
He looked away, shaking his head. “Sheer waste of talent this is.”
Aadarsh nodded but said, “But if you went on and on so brutally like this and linked everything that is happening to us to ‘corrupted India’, you’d be thrown outta the country!” Vikas and Nidhi laughed while Alisha made a face.
“Truth this is. I am just voicing it.”
“That is the thing. You don’t speak the truth Sweetie. It is taboo in India.”
She laughed now. “We are probably the worst Indians ever, dissing our own country like this.”
“Hey, better us than the super-powers!”
“Oh, yeah.” Vikas chimed in. He had a thing against foreigners for reasons only he knew. “Crap, they are.”
“But hey, this is not the end of my dream, right?” Alisha cut in and reverse geared to the topic about her choosing science over journalism.
“It isn’t?” asked Nidhi. “There is a lot of competition in journalism and I doubt they will take a fresher with no degree in the course.”
“I know there is a lot of competition. But my life isn’t over yet. What if I did take Science? Can’t I pursue it after Science?”
“And waste 3 more years? Are you crazy?” asked Vikas incredulously.
“No Vikas, you are crazy.” Answered Alisha. “You are the craziest guy I ever happened to meet. Know why? You knew what you wanted to do even when you had the choice and yet, you chose to do Engineering for a reason I still fail to comprehend. You had it in your hands Vikas and you blew it away. I am much better off than you are.”
Vikas quietened down, stung by her words; stung because they were true. He had indeed known what he wanted to do and yet, he gave it up for some silly, useless reason. Alisha was at least better off trying to do what she wanted to after realizing her dream.
“We have loads of opportunities and hey, if I am good enough I’ll get there even without a degree in Journalism.”
Aadarsh admired her for her determination and smiled at her. Nidhi and Vikas chose to keep quiet for the fear of being told off brutally by her. She had a very strong point and was very tenacious when it came to her dreams. Along with that, she had the talent to reach where she wanted to. Those tied up together made up an unbreakable combo. The three knew it and thus, did not say anything further.
- A year later –
“Good Morning Hyderabad! Here’s Alisha promising you a fresh start with your favorite songs on your favorite radio channel! . . .”
Vikas smiled at his RJ friend’s voice. Indeed, you could get there if you wanted to. Alisha was a successful radio jockey with offers for journalism coming to her from the local English news channels. She indeed got there. She indeed pursued her dream – without a degree, without anybody’s faith in her; with only her talent, her zeal and her determination to get there.
