ONCE UPON A TIME...

Once upon a time, there was a little girl. A girl with pig-tails and a big teddy bear. Her mother bought her chocolates and dolls every time she went to town. Her dad bought her fairytale books every time he went out of town. She read stories till late night. Every time before going to bed she would look out of the window, count the stars and muse over the moon.
While sleeping in her cozy little bed, she would dream of delicate fairies, exotic lands and beautiful princesses. She would see knights in shining armor fighting the dragons and evil sorcerers. She would dream of dashing princes going down on their knees and claiming the hands of the lovely maidens.
The little girl lived in a world she could call her own.
As she grew up, she gradually came out of her childish dreams She began to attend school, deal with the daily routine of studying, mingling with her peers. She started to have new feelings, newer aspirations and ambitions. But a part of her still remained in the world of the fairytales.
After that, her bubble burst. Faced with situations she had never expected and circumstances that she had never encountered before, she withdrew into her shell. It never occurred to her that this was all a part of growing up, learning.
Time passed. Now she was a young maiden. She was forced to come out of her shell. She went out into the world. She met people- some seemingly nice, some seemingly bad. She got into situations that demanded careful decisions and called for sensible judgment.
She saw, she experienced, she fought, she accepted. She grew up.
But now she is at a cross-roads. There are two paths before her.
One path offers instant gratification. It seems so right to follow this path, so perfect….at the moment. The way is easy to tread. You could blindfold yourself and tread this path….you would not see the final implications but you would find it just so easy.
Blind to everything, you would not care about your own principles, the feelings of other innocent people whom you may hurt in the process, just because you want to be happy. But, it would take a lion’s share of willpower NOT to take this way.
On the other hand, there is this path….filled with thorns and brambles…there are pot-holes, lots of them. The thought of walking this way is fearsome…Every time she thinks of what she has to forego in order to walk this way, she trembles. But she knows that an untroubled conscience is one of the greatest gifts in life.
She wants to exercise her maturity and sensibility here but the confusion is so overpowering….it is deadening her senses…..
I saw her one night. She was sitting on the steps leading to her house…..looking at the stars and the moon like she used to when she was a child …searching for an answer to her predicament.
Do you have an answer for her???