Conversation of a Potential IITian and his Heart at Last Breath! #MustRead

Sanjeev, 64, is at his death bed. He worked as a mechanic all his life – with meager income and a number of frustrations and disappointments. He is disillusioned of life by now. Now, as he is taking his last breath, his ‘heart’ chooses to tell him what all opportunities he missed:

Heart: Sanjeev, I am going to beat 84 times more now and then, we are going to die.
(Sanjeev is in tears but is resigned to fate!)
I am speaking to you now because you have done me a great injustice.

(Sanjeev’s ears perk up!)
You always were at the top in class in Maths & Physics. Your friends came to you to help them solve Physical Chemistry questions too. You had a knack for machines. You knew it. Umpteen times, I told you that you are fit to be an engineer. You deserved to be an IITian. But you chose to squander the opportunity for a few tenners so that you could watch movies. You kept doubting yourself…

Sanjeev: Don’t be too harsh, Heart! No one in our village had ever been to any engineering college – let alone the IIT – the best of the best institutes in India. How could you expect me to make it to an IIT? You know I talked to Appa…and he snubbed me for aiming too high.

Heart (angry now): You stupid! Can you see your Appa around you now? Do you see anyone else who stopped you from trying for an IIT when I was urging you on to at least make an honest attempt? Did they every help you when you needed them? It was I who kept beating and pumping blood to keep you alive…but you chose to ignore me – always! Your Appa did not have the ability to comprehend your dream goals…and you knew that. I told you so! But you chose not to listen to me. If only you would try…

Sanjeev: You are right. I should have trusted you. I spent all my life regretting the decisions I made then.

Heart: If you had listened to me, you would have turned out to be a fine engineer. You would have got a good job. You would have had the platform to start your own venture. Your life would have been much-much different. But now, I am too tired. I can’t keep on beating for you anymore and I don’t want to. You were a potential IITian with a success story…but all you turned out to be is a miserable failure.

Sanjeev: I am sorry, Heart! I really am. If I had the courage and the determination at the right time, I could have changed my life…I could have give a better life to my family…and I could have done so much.

Heart: I was always with you. From the mother’s womb till now, I never left you alone even for a second. I know you. I wish I could call out to everybody and tell them to listen to their hearts. Don’t give in to parental pressure, social pressure, peer pressure…do what is right for you. Study if I tell you to. Don’t let the opportunities pass by just because you want to be good to everyone. Focus on yourself and your time. Sanjeev…let me say no more. Come now, let’s move on!

(Sanjeev passes away with regrets that he has no time to allay now!)