Was it just a dream ?

“So long ago

Was it in a dream, was it just a dream?

I know, yes I know

Seemed so very real, it seemed so real to me

Took a walk down the street

Thru the heat whispered trees

I thought I could hear (hear, hear, hear)

Somebody call out my name as it started to rain”

- John Lennon (Dream)

Have you ever wondered about the dreams? Stories that our mind weaves when we are asleep. And also the visions for future which keep us awake for nights – rushing adrenaline in our veins. Dreams are also the hopes that keep us alive when the real world disappoints us. If you ask me, dreams are magnificent journeys that never cost us anything, but are invaluable in the way they make us thrive, inspire us and push us to seek more. In our dreams (especially the ones we see with open eyes) we are strong, we are powerful, we are beautiful, creative and we are forever young. In short, we are everything we aspire to be – at times to the tiniest detail. Our dreams have the power to make us feel like superheroes, an alluring vamp or just a love struck teenager with an incongruous crush. They also have the power to make us feel scared like a five year old, haunted like a ruin and diseased like a leper. It is so sad that day-dreaming is at times ridiculed. To me it sounds like a very important and creative phase for any important achievement in life

I am an addicted, incorrigible dreamer. I dream with my eyes open and closed. I dream about so many things and people – and so often that at times I find it difficult to believe that they don’t exist. I mean, I get such vivid memories of these dreams that I wonder if in my old age I would actually start considering them real.

I dream myself alive. I dream of fascinating places ...or experiences I would never have. I dream myself as an eagle sitting on a branch of tree overlooking a valley. I dream myself falling from the peaks enjoying the fall. I also sometimes dream weird. I see deaths and destructions. I see myself trapped in a place. These moments are so real for my mind that I am sure the real experience would not be much different from that. Once or twice I thought of keeping a record of my dreams but being always bad with words, the dreams sounded so lacklustre once they were put on paper. I could never describe them with the verve with which they come to me.

 

Dreams fascinate me. Although I am never sure what might actually trigger me to tumble into a dream, I am capable of closing my eyes and stringing together stories and tales, sometimes of such precise details, I can almost feel, smell and taste them. Some of these dreams, when they turn up before me in reality, they leave me stunned. I almost feel that I have created them.

I am sure there have always been people like me who believe so seriously in dreaming. There are mornings when I wake up giggling with the memory of some weird dream and there are those sudden frightful moments when I force myself to open my eyes to escape some scary dream. There is a good reason why in all ancient cultures and civilisations we have sayings about dreams. We even had people who could interpret dreams. There is a significance attached to the dreams one sees on special occasions. Like the vision of Mahamaya before the birth of Siddhartha or Lincoln dreaming about his assassination.

Many celebrated poets and writers, mathematicians and scientists claim to find their inspirations and discoveries in their dreams. I read about mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujam, who claimed that goddess Namakkal, would appear and present mathematical formulae in his dreams which he would verify after waking. The tune for "Yesterday" came to Paul McCartney in a dream... and so did the idea of Frankenstein to Mary Shelly. Many others kings, statesmen and writers found their dreams guiding them in real life. I totally buy these stories as I have firsthand experience of such guiding dreams. Many of our myths and legends talk about famous dreams and their interpretations. We have popular literature, songs and movies inspired by dreams.

It is generally believed that the mind plays tricks with our dominant thoughts and concerns to put across a blend of scenes, sounds and emotions as the dreams. But then how does one explain the totally unrelated dreams about things you do not know exist and places you have never been to. I guess, it is this dilemma that led to the explanation that dreams are when angels try to converse with humans.