No, Never, Not ever!!!” has become the new success mantra for the youth these days. We are hesitant to try something new, anything that is alien to us. Why??? ‘cos we are afraid of being embarrassed in front of our peers and strangers alike. Afraid of being found trying something that we obviously aren’t good at. This false sense of pride is the reason behind our narrow horizon, the reason why we can’t outgrow the imaginary shell cast upon us by the society. To surmise it up, we are now steadily advancing towards Neverland.
“Neverland”.. Where have you heard it before? Hmmmm… Try going back to your childhood.Rack up your memories. You must have certainly read or even heard the fairy tale “Peter-Pan“. In the story, Neverland is a paradise for the kids, where they don’t grow up. Where they have no need to study. But it’s real world counterpart is a lot more sinister. It is a hypothetical cage created by each individual where the thoughts of rebelling against the fixed norms, and making their own paths in the life are incarcerated. In this Neverland, you never get to know what you are capable of. What your true calling is. You just keep on walking on predetermined paths, ones from which even a single step astray won’t be tolerated. This is what we have chosen for ourselves, by not accepting what we could have, had we chosen to say “Yes” when the opportunity presented itself.
The movie freaks among you must have drawn a parallel among this writing and the flick “Yes Man”. The lead character is one who refuses to do anything out of the ordinary in his life, afraid that it would break the armor that protects his monotonous life, one that he is used to. But later, owing to a ‘sacred’ pact he made, he has to accept everything that comes his way. As the story progresses, he learns to enjoy life, to admire all that this world has in store for all, but few to realize them. The movie aptly portrays the grim face of the society. The society whose denizens have learnt to stagnate themselves. Giving in to societal conventions, learning to crush our hopes, and doing what we are expected to do, and not strive to achieve what we really want to.
The fairy tale might have portrayed a lively and fun-filled Neverland. But in this world, we are entrapped inside it’s grim and prison like cousin, which strips us off our ability to look beyond the horizon, to look straight at the sun burning bright, and smile, not ‘cos we truly achieved, rather than ‘cos we just reached…
Psyched... 