The Brahmin’s Dream (A short story)

 

Brahmin Dream (Pic from internet)

Once upon a time, there lived a poor Brahmin in a village. He begged for a living. One day he got a barley meal. He ate a bit and put the rest in a pot that he hung by his cot. As he gawked at the pot, he began to daydream.

He dreamt that if a famine came to the land, then he could trade it for a hundred coins. With these silver coins, he would buy a set of goats. They would have fledglings every six months and promptly he would cultivate a herd of goats.

Then he would sell the goats for cows and then buffaloes and then mares. The mares would have horses and he would sell them for gold. With this earned gold, he would buy a large house. Soon, a prosperous man would come by and offer his daughter in marriage, along with a dowry. They would marry and soon the wife would have a son. When the son was old enough to ride on his knee, he would take a book, sit on the stable roof, and think. Then the son would see him, jump from his mother’s lap in his eagerness to ride on his knee, and would go too near the horses. Then he would get angry and tell his wife to take the boy. But she would be busy with her chores and would not pay attention to what he said. Then he would get up and kick her.

Buried in his dream, the Brahmin kicked out with his foot and smashed the jar. The barley meal flew everywhere and he was left with nothing.

This simple story is best concluded with a quote from Henry David Thoreau Walden - “If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” Dreams are must but equally important is plan of action and way to achieve them.