Blah.

Time’s ticking for you and me.

Human kind as a whole has an inherent tendency to procrastinate. No matter how punctual you say you are, you’re still a procrastinator. Maybe you’re not as horrible a procrastinator as I am. Maybe you don’t on the outside seem like a procrastinator. But nevertheless you are one. A big one.

It’s something that has been passed onto us from generations. We are taught to dream but simultaneously we are indoctrinated with the norm of never rebelling against the system or the social code. Be what you want but always conform to what the society expects of you. And what is this society? It’s just a bunch of idiots like us who don’t matter in the least when they’re alone but can combine to form a decisive factor in everyone’s life.

Think about it. Why do you go to school or college? To gain education? Oh now now! You go there just so you can have fun with your friends all the while pretending to be doing what society expects from a reasonable person of your age. Is there anyone out there who writes exams or attends classes with a genuine quest for knowledge? I highly doubt if even Hermione Granger would fall under that category. We write exams because there’s no way out. We study for exams because we need to pass the exams and only if we pass the exams will we get a degree. And why do we need this degree? We require it so that we are able to showcase it out to the companies that will hire us to work as their corporate slaves. Do you hate the system? You do, but do you do something about it? You don’t. Have you ever wondered why?

It’s because you’re just a sheep in the flock. You’ve been programmed to be a meek sheep that never questions the authority of this intangible controller of your life- societal expectation. In pursuit of meeting the standards that the society expects of you, you are least bothered about pursuing your true dreams. The ones you might have had since you were a child, the ones you’ve tried to achieve since you were an angry teenager, the ones you still keep somewhere in your mind- they’re all in the process of getting eroded into nothingness.

The girl/guy you secretly love is never gonna know of it. Why? Because society expects you to maintain decorum and only sacrifice your single life for that one girl/guy with matching horoscope, good job, good family background and let’s not forget- handsome salary. And because society expects that and just that, you hold back your dreams and shut them in a dingy little room of your mind where lie all your other unattainable dreams.

The career that you’ve always dreamed of having is not meant for you. Why? Because you’re stuck  in a college that has as much to do with your dream career as salt has to do in the sweetest payasam that your mom makes. But since you’re constantly asked to give up on your dreams, you don’t even notice they are what your inner self desperately desires. You have grown accustomed to ignoring your inner cravings and just doing what every other clueless idiot is doing so as to make money and be respected in the society.

Among the long list of careers down voted by this society are those of being a writer, singer, dancer, artist, pianist, guitarist, martial artist, actor, athlete and pretty much anything related to arts, sports or entertainment. Obviously what matters is not your talent in case you harbour that delusion. It all comes down to the simple factor of money. Does your dream career yield money? If yes, does it yield quick money? If the answer is in the negative, the society has some bad news for you, and your parents have a big list of professional courses which you can strive hard to get in to and struggle harder to survive for 4-6 years in. 

But if you are a rebellious teenager who’s stubborn about pursuing his/her dreams that aren’t valued by the so called society, then you’re taught the age old philosophy of procrastination. Procrastinate on your dreams. ‘Be an engineer first beta. Later on, when you make enough money with your awesome job, you can resume your music classes and who knows, you may be the engineer rock star one day.’ The rebellious you are satisfied with this wonderful prospect, which I’m sorry to say, won’t come true most probably.

Love, hobbies, arts are all important in life but just not now. Now is the time to study <and also to procrastinate on the aforementioned things>. You can afford to have all of them only if you’re exceptionally gifted with memory skills (and not any other skill because our educational system only expects us to memorize things). If you’re one of those lucky few, you can fiddle with your studies a little. But if you are only an average Joe, procrastinate everything that is tangential to what ought to be your primary area of focus- studies. Irrespective of whether you like the course or not, study hard, earn good marks, pass with flying colours and don’t forget to keep your dreams of future at bay. Also keep in mind that this ‘future’ is always going to remain as ‘future’ and will never get translated into reality because well, what is procrastination for anyway?

Time’s ticking. Somewhere shunned in your mind, your dreams are calling out for you. If only, you’d lend an ear.