A City of dreams through the gates of sleep

Shortly after you get down from the train of everyday life at the station of dreams you take a cab and  drive straight through the bustling town of dreams you would see a valley of flowers that is as mesmerizing and beautiful as the face of the first love. After a 20 kms drive not far from the forests of everyday life is a town called “tomorrowland”.

No readers this is no alien town, it is a town similar to Delhi, New York or Paris but without a sense of reality. In this town after you get inside the gates of “sleep “you see the people living here. They  talk just like us and go to their offices everyday just like us. Here they live inside houses that are called “goals“, which are made not of bricks or woods but by their hard-work, the hard work that they do each and every single day in their big offices that lie just outside the realms of this city.

Like us mortals these people also have vehicles but here they don’t drive any Hondas, Hyundais or Marutis.  They drive in their aspirations. Well actually the size of  the vehicle  defines its kind here vehicle of small size are called “ambitions”, the medium ones are called “dreams” and the abysmally larger ones are called “fantasies” and if  you dare to think of a bigger vehicle than the fantasy you have the ultimate beauty called “greed” . The intriguing thing about greed is that although everyone big or small in status thinks or wants to own it actually nobody does or can. So to satisfy themselves they try to go in for multiple vehicles and take pride in themselves and for that they work night and day to earn more, after all greed is costly even in a fictional world. So ultimately they slog at work so much that they forget the way to the town which goes through the gates of “sleep”.

But hey I forgot to mention about the people with no cars, actually they are an endangered breed not worth mentioning about. They talk of something called “contentment” and “higher self”, idiots somebody tell them that the status and position in the society is ultimately defined by the number of cars driven and plots purchased. So let’s not talk about these laughing stocks of the town the contented ones. Let’s content them with just one word that defines them best “losers”.

Coming back to our dreamy and fantasy world once again, I see a solid structure here where everyone sits in silence and bows their head. Some bow in front of a cloth covered coffin, some sit fanning a book and some stand with folded hands in front of the idols. I notice that these idols are crafted with perfection these are so perfect that you barely can tell the difference a male idol and a female idol. So whether a book, idol, a coffin or in some cases just a mathematical sign of addition these are all housed inside a structure called “hope”. Everyone whether big or small, irritated or contented comes here to satiate their hope. A hope to have a better tomorrow, this is the only thing that is shared by everyone. It gives them reasons to wake up and get on with the day.

Here the town has three seasons in a year. The difference is that these seasons are personal to each citizen. The first is the season of loss, and then comes hard work and ultimately success. These seasons repeat every year for each and every person and the longevity of each season also varies from person to person. Everyone can’t be successful always after all.

In midst of all this these, people miss out on small things that result in happiness. No matter how much they try to make it big or try to reach the place between the stars as they call it, the happiness is elusive to them as it was yesterday. Some are happy in chunks and some in pieces. So there is this new trader who has his shop set up just outside the city of dreams on the outskirts of the city of reality. This trader swaps the dreams, aspirations and fantasies of the citizens for smiles. So everyone who comes to this trader leaves with a smile. The trader, yes you guessed it right is the man whom everyone respects he is called the “money- man”. People trade their bad memories from the past and leave with a smile. If you thought everyone leaves behind their bad memories and goes with a smile you are wrong because it is tough to leave our past behind, isn’t it. Everyone likes dwelling and remembering there past particularly the bad memories. We feel a bitter pain that accompanies this reminiscence followed by the self pity and ultimately that half hearted smile accompanied by shaking the head from side to side  that acts as the ultimate pill and brings us a flood of tears that swell in the eyes. But some people like to be happy and tend to leave their bad memories with the trader, after all past is past and whether bitter or sweet it is gone.

The next time you happen to go to this part of the world just remember to pay a visit to this town that lies just outside the kingdom of realty and the road to which passes through the gates of sleep.