Call it half empty, then fill it up !!

Here is the final-essay that i submitted to MIT, containing about half the words of the first draft -

“Look for the best in everything”.

One of the oldest quotations I know, and something almost universally agreed with.

I beg to differ.

No, I am not a pessimist. I love my life, and am very happy to be the person I am - born to absolutely fantastic parents, with a sound body and mind, having proper education, and loving friends i.e. a beautiful life.

Its just that the question is of my dreams, and these are largely based on what is wrong rather than what is right.

Allow me to explain –

Dreams can be as well based on the “bad” as on the “good”. Dreams of something good – e.g. that sleek new Lamborghini Gallardo or a night out at Mt. Everest – seek to achieve it, while dreams centered on the things that appall – e.g. the little kid picking rags from the trash or a pup run over on the highway – seek to correct the wrong being done.

For me, the latter holds more appeal for two reasons –

1. It doesn’t end with me and makes the world a better place
2. It means going for something that no one before me has either cared or dared to do. (Good things you see have already been achieved; the wrong you see hasn’t been corrected yet…)

After all, it’s the thorns that need work, roses are beautiful anyway.

Mine is certainly not a groundbreaking idea. It’s almost a tradition in my family.

My grandmother runs an underprivileged children’s home, while my mom loves tending to dogs in distress. The two of them have eyes only for the poor, disabled and hungry. As far as they are concerned, well-fed children and thoroughbred dogs may well be a part of decorations. Their reason is simple - happy children and healthy dogs don’t need them.

The rest of my family - including blood relations (my, mom, dad and sister); adopted relations (the 76 children living with my grandmother); and interspecific relations (The several dogs that call my mother ‘mom’) - couldn’t agree more…

My dreams pick up where they leave off.

I dream of a life for my grandma’s children that goes beyond food, shelter, clothing and elementary education. I dream of an education that allows them to compete with the rest of the world. I dream of the day they’ll be writing their own college essays…

I share my mom’s dream of giving every dog a place to call home, of owning a huge chunk of land, where all our pets can run around and be themselves, plus an animal hospital that actually takes care of them rather than just getting them to work again.

And then some more…

I dream of picking up every beggar I see on the streets and giving him a respectable life. I dream of being powerful enough to correct every wrong I see, there and then.

All these ask for more than good intentions, muscle power and ‘awareness’. Most of these require money by the truck loads and a bit of clout too. Celebrity status would be an added advantage.

That said, the ideal career for me seems to be politics or administration. But my observation finds it easier to kick a government into action from outside than to get it moving via proper protocol. Mr. Bill Gates, in a single visit, was able to push the Indian govt.’s AIDS program several ‘years’ ahead.

So there is my target in sight. No activism, no politics. I aim to be a billionaire businessman, and a popular one at that, So that when I appeal to people to shun female feticide, they sit up and listen. The road couldn’t be clearer. Get into a college that gives me a spring board into the arena (read MIT), and then fight it out with all I have…

Its not like luxuries of life don’t appeal to me at all. They most certainly do. But they are too small to seriously bother about. After all, when I’m able to do so much, I sure can spare some money, and buy myself that Gallardo!!