I had a Dream

Sounds like the popular phrase: I have a dream by Martin Luther King, does it not? Or rather the past tense of it. But do not worry: it is not. This is about a dream I actually had.

When I was in pre-school, our school was situated in Kupondole, near Campion School. I wanted to see how the building looked after all these years. I wanted to see how my old school looked. And I found the building too; I found my old school building. I recognized it instantly amidst all the others. Older, the color faded, somewhat smaller than what I remembered: because let’s face it: to a 4 year old, that area seemed huge! Almost, as in a trance, memories began to flood back in, those days when we would play in the ground, our classes, my favorite teachers, the picture of the dog that I had worked so hard on, those games when we had to pick off the candy tied on the strings with only our teeth. Hey, don’t ask me how I remember all this even at 4-5 years old; I just happen to have a badass memory!

So, I was just thinking about how the place used to be, and how it is now, and just all of this. Someone happened to give me a picture then, I don’t remember who. They say that you forget 90% of your dream the moment you wake up, maybe that’s what happened. Anyway, back to the dream, the picture was taken many many years ago; way back before the school took over the building, way back before I was even born. The photo seemed like of another century, but it was still that building: I could tell. The building looked new, sitting cozily in a lap of green. There was so much greenery around; trees, farm lands, small hills farther in the distance, barely 2 or 3 houses. A little ahead of the house, I could see a small pond. There were actually 3 small ponds in that area.

It was so beautiful, I wanted to cry.

And then, I could visualize how the place used to be in my eyes, as I was looking at the current place. I could see how it used to be, the beauty, the greenery, and the serenity, how clean it was. And then, I saw how the place is now: full of buildings, the gallis, vehicles roaring by, and the filthiness. The small ponds were nowhere in sight; probably filled up and somewhere under all those buildings.

I could see before my very eyes, how the place used to be and how it is now.

There is this word in Newari: nughaa: sya, I’m not sure if the literal translation in English is heartbroken but that’s exactly how I felt in the dream seeing how the place used to be and what we have turned it into.

This dream struck me as real, or a reality of what is happening somewhat, fabricated, as it seem in the dream, or not the same even; but true nonetheless.

Perhaps, my dream did not show the exact transformation of the place, but would you ignore the fact that this is actually what is happening all around us? Pastures, lands; they’re being devoured upon by civilization. I agree, urbanization has brought great advancement here, so many job opportunities too, but does it not scare you? As to how far urbanization could strangle nature? Test the patience of nature?

I see there is a viral 10 year challenge being done these days, but if you ask me, this is the only 10 year challenge we need to be concerned about.