Dreams for Slaughter
Through this note, I intent to throw light on a very funny human emotion. The sadness we feel when our dreams are broken. This sadness is made more acute when we are first made to believe some things to happen and then we are denied their reality. There are several examples to show this. President Obama as we all know reached where he is only because of the dreams that he showed the Americans. He promised them quick recovery from the financial crises and good healthcare bills and loads of other things. But once in office he couldn’t achieve all that. This made the people angry. They were first shown dreams but they soon realized that they were raised only to be broken. They were dreams for slaughter. Had he not promised them that much, then on an average, his reign has so far been pretty good. His handling of the Haiti quake shows his decisiveness in times of peril. He is manifolds better than Bush but still his ratings are low because he gave people the dreams which he could not fulfill. This hurts in the tender point. When you are promised something and then are denied that, you feel very bad. The dreams are introduced in you for slaughter.
My friend once recounted to me how his dad had promised him a laptop when he completed his 11th. But after he did, his dad couldn’t give it to him due to some financial problems. This killed him. He never had the idea of the laptop. But his dad gave him dreams and he took them, only to realize later on that they were dreams for slaughter. Had it been his own idea which was refused then he wouldn’t have felt that bad. One fine Sunday morning your dad promises to take you to your favorite restaurant and you become happy. But when this dream is slaughtered, you fell as if its doomsday. Although, if he hadn’t given this idea, you would never have thought about it in the first place.
On the other hand, this works the other way around too. If a person promises nothing and delivers even a little, then he is taken as the hero. This is very evident especially in cricket. If a bowler or a batsman is not expected to perform and he does, then he is hailed as the redeemer, even thought the feat may be considered ordinary for another big mouthed player. Take also for e.g. our PM. He never promises but delivers a little so he is generally accepted.
The things I shared here are very common and are experienced by all of us but seldom realized. I would like to conclude with the following equations:
Big promises x no delivery = loser (eg. Tata Nano)
Big promises x big delivery = successful, famous (Winston Churchill)
No promises x big delivery = more successful, more famous, savior, messiah (Abraham Lincoln?)
No promises x no delivery = no body knows you (Ram Gupta!)
