Build castles in the Air

By Murli Chari

It is an old aphorism that we should not build castles in the air. However, it is a necessary element to have marvelous and dangerous dreams. We are always exhorted that we should cut our coat according to the cloth. We are living in times of renaissance and a cornucopia of opportunities for all only if we are having the abundance mentality rather than the paradigm of scarcity mentality which makes scramble for things thinking that they are in short supply. There are legions of historical evidences to prove that those who had the courage to dream big and be a maverick in a society conditioned by conformist thinking. Millions upon millions of people take birth and live an ordinary life fully fettered by their pigmy thoughts. They get up in the morning, finish the morning chores and continue the same mundane routine day in and day out. Many people die with full gifts kept wrapped and never opened them. It is said that we need to build castles in the air and then put foundation of immense action. The amount of time and energy for dreaming is the same. Then why not think big and take on things nonchalantly. The world adores those who are crazy and committed to their dreams and swim against the flow and set the trail on blaze. Ray Kroc had just $ 20 in his pocket when he was sitting on a stone chair in a garden and dreamt of chain of hotels sprawling across the world and he did succeed. Dr. Helen Keller who had multiple afflictions did marvelous things putting to shame those who had everything and lived an ordinary life. Dheerubhai Ambani dreamt of owning petrol refineries when he was just a petrol attendant. There are many rags to riches instances. We need to be inspired by such outlandish people rather than settling for mediocre lives. It is said of Henry Ford who brought a revolution in cars that he dreamt of many things and achieved them. He told his engineers to create an engine having eight cylinders. His engineers expressed their inability based on their knowledge and experience. Still Henry Ford asked them to keep doing the R&D. Ultimately after a year of efforts and money they succeeded in building the engine Henry Ford visualized. Bill Gates dreamt of putting personal computers in every home and virtually succeeded and made him the richest person in the world some years back. Elon Musk is known for dreaming crazy things and succeeding. Dr. Nelson Mandela was dreaming of multi racial government in South Africa and succeeded despite his being incarcerated for 27 years in Robbin Island. He had shaken off his rancor and thought of retribution. Abraham Lincoln had dreamt of becoming president

of USA and besmirching slave trade and succeeded. Mikhail Gorbachev built the castles in the air by bringing democracy to USSR. He brought glasnost and perestroika. If we trace many inventions and discoveries, we will understand people who had the gumption to build castles in the air and assiduously persisting with relentless efforts to put foundation under them. We as a society ridicule those who have great reveries as lunatic. Dr George Bernard Shah was bang on when he said ordinary people conform to the diktats of the society and the unreasonable man brings positive change in the society. We rather than admonishing youngsters to be pragmatic and not build castles in the air we must encourage them to indulge in them. We need to understand that all creations take place twice. Once in our imagination and in actual execution. Once we build castles in the air our minds create a flurry of like thoughts and ideas to put foundation underneath. We should go for geometrical progression rather than arithmetical progression. We need to risk indulging in reveries as only then we would stretch our imagination and subsequently our limits. Limitations are there till they are challenged. Once we stretch our imaginations, we reach our true potential. Unless we test our limits, we will never know how far we can go. So, go ahead and stretch your dreams to the extreme and enjoy the roller coaster ride. As Dr Helen Keller aptly said “Life is adventure or nothing.”