Till you find your dream

"Climb ev'ry mountain, search high and low, follow every byway, ev'ry path you know, ford ev'ry stream, follow ev'ry rainbow, till you find your dream." These are admirable sentiments, I told Pak Arif after playing the song on my cassette recorder.

Pak Arif smiled and responded: "How many times have I failed to realize my dreams? After failing so many times, I found... he whispered; ...was just another girl of my dreams. Nonetheless I am the happiest man in the world, without having had to climb mountains, cross rivers, or search till the end of the world. What if your dream already has a husband or dies in an accident? Why should one pine, regret and harbor thoughts of suicide after failing just once? What a sad and somber world it would be if there were only one ideal woman or man in the whole world predetermined for each one of us."

"Ah, such a one, perhaps only lives in the imagination and heart of an artist. Only someone -- foolish, crazy or stupid, Si Upik interjected -- would be wasting his or her life searching incessantly till they find their dream, supposedly specially created for them."

"Who among us has not unearthed his or her dreams? Many students would be very proud to study at our state universities, but most fail the preliminary exams. Nonetheless it doesn't mean that the non-state universities are necessarily of poor quality. My friend tried to qualify for entry into medical school. He failed, but was accepted for agriculture studies, a field he subsequently enjoyed very much."

"Suppose I married the first girl of my dreams, I'd have another wife, other children; my life would be different and not necessarily happier. I wouldn't exchange my woman for the apparition of my former dreams, nor would I shun my present goals and desires for the former."

"Well, are you sorry with yours?" whispered Pak Arif playfully. I smiled. His is a fine speculation too. What would you say?

CHEW G.H.

Jakarta