The winter had just begun and every student in the classroom was rubbing hands to get some comfort. The teacher closed her attendance register and started explaining about Indus valley civilization. The lecture was no doubt boring, but most of the students were engrossed in it, seeing the colourful pictures of the seals found in that era. Everyone was looking directly into the teacher's eyes, attentively.
But there is this guy, sitting quietly on the third bench in the last row, looking directly into the eyes of the teacher, but his mind was wandering like a pigeon.
In some other world, at some other time, he was saving the students of his class from a terrorist attack.
The teacher was explaining about the excavations and the recent developments related to the topic, and he was firing his AK-56 towards the leader of the terrorist group, targeting his right foot.
Things were going well - until the teacher started asking questions related to the chapter. But it was quite comfortable for him to accomplish the mission while raising both his hands and facing towards the wall.
This was a little story picked up from my life when I was still a kid.
The children who were born at the climax of the 20th century can be termed as super dangerous species. Black and White televisions were bidding goodbye and colour televisions, of course with a handful of channels and a cable connection, were ready to greet us. Movie theatres were no longer an inaccessible luxury. The Actors were becoming heroes, and heroes were becoming superstars.
Those superstars with their classy movies were creating a long-lasting impact on the youth. Out of a sudden, innumerable youngsters were visible roaming around wearing t-shirts written "Gap" on them. Colleges were considered something "Cool" where you can dance and sing, and can do everything possible on the planet - Of course, except studying. Society, as a whole, was evolving in the direction majorly guided by the movies running in the theatres those days.
But there was nothing wrong with that evolution if one could restrict the impact one can have after watching those movies. I was a super imaginative kid. I failed miserably most of the time in differentiating facts from fiction. I had a core belief that no matter what the situation is, a Hindi movie song can surely fit into that situation. Like, if you are feeling a bit down, a song will always be there to let you dim the lights and help you curse the cruel world.
If you are planning to propose a girl, be it a train compartment or a public park - there will be a song for you - specifically designed and altered just for you. You can sing that song and shake your legs on it. And a dozen more people will join you, dancing behind you, and dancing exactly like you. And the girl will, of course, accept your proposal... But wait, this is not how it happens.
You Both will look into each other's eyes... from a distance of a couple of miles. You both will smile at each other and will start running in slow motion towards each other. After a couple of minutes... maybe hours. When you both are less than a meter apart, both of you will stop. With glittery eyes, you'll look at each other... and then you will embrace each other. The Sun was waiting for you to embrace each other so that it can peacefully set in the background.
Perfect.
Bollywood, the way we recognize the Hindi film industry, has undoubtedly influenced the mass population of our nation. And I'm literally ashamed to say that most of the content they deliver has influenced us in a bad way. The frequency of that influence might vary from person to person, but it has created a kind of havoc in our mind, which has the tendency to hamper our daily lives.
A time came in my life, I think it was the year 2006. Every night I used to go to the bed early so that I could devote more time imagining things and creating a parallel world in my head. And of course, I was the hero of that world (I think I've mentioned it before).
There I was saving the girl from the goons. There I was fighting a dozen people all alone. I was even cutting my wrist to impress a girl there.
But there is no harm in imagining things, until you do I in the real world, right?
Wrong.
Imagination is one of the most powerful things accessible to humans. It is a starting point of every good and bad thing happening around us. It doesn't differentiate between construction and destruction. And I was moving towards destruction.
There is a wall between imagination and reality, and one can make that wall thinner by letting the imagination wander wildly. My wall had become a fence.
The more I was distancing myself from reality, the more I was realising that I was special.
I'm a blessing in disguise for humanity.
I'm the lucky one.
Everything is possible for me.
Hard work is not for me, I'm smarter than everyone.
Heroes don't do the hard work.
And all those things made me lazy, distracted and lost. My dear reader friend, You might categorize all these things under some psychological disorder. I don't know, but it took me years and years to even recognize that there is actually some problem. These problems are not visible like some physical ailment. You might find people like me decent, and generous at first. They are excellent to talk with until you say something which is considered false and doesn't match their imaginative personality. Then things can turn really dangerous. They might respond to you in a violent or a rude kind of way. Or they might not respond to you and eventually, will stop talking to you. You may call them egoistic, but they always feel that they were correct on their part. They are never on the darker side and seek sympathy in most situations.
Luckily, some good influences helped me in recognizing what's wrong with me. It took me a couple of years to detoxify all the load I was carrying in my head. It took time, yes, but it was worth doing it.
It breaks my heart when I see that things are much more dangerous for kids these days. Those influences are not bound to Bollywood movies now. It has branched further. Now already influenced people are trying to influence other people also through various mediums. With more technological upgrades, things are becoming worse.
I wish I could conclude this on a happier note. The least I could say is - I see light at the end of this dark tunnel.
Love, Laughter, And Peace
Himanshu
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