{"id":1578,"date":"2011-12-01T10:21:26","date_gmt":"2011-12-01T04:51:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/shekharkapur.com\/blog\/?p=1578"},"modified":"2011-12-03T10:53:04","modified_gmt":"2011-12-03T05:23:04","slug":"i-wish-i-could-be-a-kite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shekharkapur.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/i-wish-i-could-be-a-kite\/","title":{"rendered":"I wish I could be a kite"},"content":{"rendered":"
I wish I could be a kite, by Eshla<\/div>\n
I crave freedom.<\/p>\n

Everywhere, \u00a0I look around there are challenges burdening people. \u00a0Some are trivial, some are heart-breaking. \u00a0\u00a0Some are losing loved ones to disease, some are struggling to make ends meet, some are trying to hold onto the small family business, and some are simply caught in the mad chase of life, yielding to what we\u2019ve knocked ourselves into thinking is the utopia.<\/p>\n

As a writer, I\u2019m constantly selling myself to editors, trying to convince them not only is the idea intriguing, but that I\u2019m the right person for it. \u00a0Why would I be the right person for a story? \u00a0Because I\u2019ve gotten all the accolades, because I\u2019ve published in so many \u201cleading\u201d publications, because I have the resources and contacts for this kind of story? \u00a0Rarely, does passion, love, fervor for the story come into play. \u00a0Why can\u2019t I write because I write decently and genuinely love what I write about? \u00a0Why so many other pressures? \u00a0Why do I have to prove myself constantly? \u00a0It\u2019s the endless selling of oneself in today\u2019s world, the endless marketing, the endless chase to the top. \u00a0Technology has only helped us do that in many ways – all the social media platforms, I\u2019m advised, are ways to market oneself. \u00a0Use them widely and you could be a global \u201cname.\u201d<\/p>\n

But they don\u2019t understand. \u00a0I don\u2019t want to be a global name. \u00a0I just want to write stories that feed my soul. \u00a0I just want to do some good. \u00a0I want to use my hands to build something. \u00a0I want to use these platforms to learn from others. \u00a0Can I not be silent and listen to what others are saying? \u00a0Must I also chime in? \u00a0Must I also constantly bother others?<\/p>\n

I have young students in high school come to me, seeking advice on how to get into a particular institution, how to market themselves for different colleges, how to get the top spot at an internship, how to do the \u201cright\u201d activities that will get them into the right school, then the right internship, and then the right job. \u00a0\u00a0I\u2019m exhausted. \u00a0I\u2019m exhausted hearing them and I\u2019m exhausted by the chase, by the quest for the ideal.<\/p>\n

And yet, that ideal is what\u2019s breaking around me. \u00a0Friends in comfortable jobs complain of boredom, stagnation, bureaucracy, lack of creativity, inactivity, and so much more. \u00a0\u00a0Why don\u2019t they leave? \u00a0They can\u2019t, they say. \u00a0Why not? \u00a0You\u2019ll survive on less money, I tell them. \u00a0But how can I let go of all these years of hard work, how can I let go of this \u201ctitle,\u201d that I\u2019ve worked so hard for, they respond, anguished by the thought of even abandoning the so-called \u201cideal\u201d world.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re not bad people, not even greedy really. \u00a0They\u2019re just caught in what increasingly we\u2019re told is the right path, the way to succeed. \u00a0\u00a0Eventually, it\u2019s the house, the family, the school tuitions, the bills, the car that begin to burden them and it\u2019s too late. \u00a0Their burdens are far too heavy to escape, to fly freely.<\/p>\n

So, the cycle of consumerism sets in. \u00a0The little purchases fill a void; it\u2019s the tech gizmos, the vacation home, the fancy dinners out, the extra car. \u00a0\u00a0But, why? \u00a0Do they really love these things? \u00a0I doubt it. \u00a0Rather they bring a short moment of excitement, a short excursion from the mundane, the thrilling detour that quickly loses its charm.<\/p>\n

I recall the rabbit in Alice in Wonderland, the one that endlessly exclaimed, \u201cI\u2019m late. I\u2019m late. \u00a0I\u2019m so very late.\u201d \u00a0It\u2019s as if we\u2019re all too late, too wound up in what we\u2019re told, chasing something; then, smack, somewhere along the way we realize, that in our tardiness, we\u2019ve lost track of time. \u00a0For now, the days have slipped by, the years have too. \u00a0We must be content with what we\u2019ve built. \u00a0We must make ourselves fit into the box, be it the lifestyle we constructed, the job we took up, the \u00a0\u201cdream\u201d that we achieved.<\/p>\n

But why not be free? \u00a0Why not savor time? \u00a0Why not dismiss what we\u2019re told? \u00a0Why not put all that energy, fuel, money into something that helps others? \u00a0Why not let the chase be for a different cause – for a gentler, kinder, more people-friendly dream?<\/p>\n

Why not be a kite once in a while and fly against the wind? \u00a0Why not be free from the burdens that we\u2019ve placed on ourselves? Why not get others to join us?<\/p>\n

After all, I hear that \u201ckites rise highest against the wind, not with it.\u201d \u00a0Or so Churchill tells us.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I wish I could be a kite, by Eshla I crave freedom. Everywhere, \u00a0I look around there are challenges burdening people. \u00a0Some are trivial, some are heart-breaking. \u00a0\u00a0Some are losing loved ones to disease, some are struggling to make ends meet, some are trying to hold onto the small family business, and some are simply […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nI wish I could be a kite - Shekhar Kapur<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/shekharkapur.com\/blog\/2011\/12\/i-wish-i-could-be-a-kite\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"I wish I could be a kite - Shekhar Kapur\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I wish I could be a kite, by Eshla I crave freedom. 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