FRACTURE

“What do you wanna be in the future?”—The most iconic question that every single person has been asked or thought of; especially as a kid. I’ve faced it too. At first, this question seemed to have an obvious answer—“I wanna be a doctor.” But now as I’ve grown up, everything about it feels entirely different.

They not only want you to name a high-paying job, but want you to choose the one that best suits their interests as well. Fortunately, that’s what most kids end up doing. Because they raise their kids in an environment where they can control everything—the kids’ own desires, opinions, interests… and whatnot! They somehow end up making their kids believe that whatever the parents say is right, and anything else is wrong.

My parents gave me only two choices in life—either I’ll study well, get astonishingly good grades, earn a scholarship to a renowned institution, and then become a doctor; or I’ll work in the backbreaking and devastatingly exposed fields as a farmer, earning so little that I could barely meet my own needs, let alone my family’s. Anything else was surely permissible, only by the cost of leaving the house. But now they don’t care that much, since they’ve realized that it’s not possible for them to control my future. Yet their mentalities are the same.

I still don’t understand how limited human life is to them, despite being the finest creation, with the most advanced brain and unsurpassed intelligence on the planet. Their imagination is too narrow to live a joyful life, taste the sweetness of freedom, and realize the bitterness of subordination. Beauty never reaches their eyes, love never touches their hearts, and arrogance always fills their souls.

I persistently worked hard to get good results in the exams, but never succeeded in making them happy. From 9th grade, the numbers on my exam papers started to decrease and they started to get even angrier. I also began to feel depressed about my life, lost faith in myself, and even decided to end it—but that never happened. Because I know that nothing stays the same.

I somehow felt the courage that motivated me to stay consistent, dedicate myself to hard work, and always have a positive vision of my future self. I think I’ve mastered the skill of staying cheerful in life, enjoying every single moment even if it strikes me down.