The daughter lay on the bed facing her pillow, deep in the vividness of her thoughts.
Her mother asked, ” What is that you dream about?”
“Dream? I’m trying not to dream. There’s always a price you have to pay for your dreams.” She mumbled from inside the pillow.
“Aren’t you paying a price right now, for not dreaming?”
She sat up this time.
“Then which price is higher? Should I dream or should I only live what life brings to me?”
“Life will bring to you what you desire. The choice is between the price you pay for following your dreams and the price you pay for giving up on them. Come, lets go shopping.”
The two went into an expensive shop. The mother told the daughter to look for something that fits her perfectly. The daughter followed. She was surprised at the perfect fit and the high quality of the cloth. She felt confident wearing it.
Then the mother told her to abandon that dress and look for one which was a size bigger. The new dress hung loose on her. She did not look very pretty in it neither did she feel comfortable. The mother asked her to buy the loose dress.
“But it doesn’t even fit me, mother. Its of no use.”
“So what? It covers you, that’s the purpose right?”
“No that’s not the soul purpose. If it was so, why don’t I drape a cloth around me. That would cover me equally well.”
The mother then asked the shopkeeper the price of both the dresses. “The price is the same. They’re both equally costly, the only difference is their size.” Replied the shopkeeper.
The mother explained, “Living your dreams and giving up on them both have a high price to pay. Only one is a perfect fit and elevates you, while the other, as you said, is of no use to you.
When you did not give up on the dress even when I insisted, why give up on your dreams for any reason in the world?”
The mother is right. She teaches not only the daughter but us all a lesson. There is always a price to pay, it is on you to decide what it has to be paid for.
Go on. Dream freely. Live your dream. Then dream again.
Soumyaa Verma
Faculty of law, MSU, Vadodara
'Campus Writing' 