When you were five, what did you want to be when you grew up?
When I was five,
I didn’t want to be something…
I wanted to be everything
(with zero effort, obviously).
.
Doctor
because I owned a plastic stethoscope
and confidence levels higher than actual doctors.
.
Teacher
just to say,
“Silence!”
to people who weren’t even talking.
.
Pilot
because I thought waving hands
could control air traffic.
(Still think that sometimes in traffic jams.)
.
And sometimes…
I just wanted to be my mother.
.
Wearing her saree,
standing in front of the mirror,
fixing pleats that never stayed,
pretending I had somewhere important to go.
.
No job title.
No big dream.
.
Just… her.
.
Then came the real ambition
to be “older.”
Not successful.
Not happy.
Just… older.
.
Because older people
had no homework,
no bedtime,
and unlimited authority
to say “because I said so.”
.
Scam of the century, honestly.
.
I also wanted to be rich
so I could buy
all the chocolates in the world…
and still cry over the wrong toy.
.
Priorities were clear.
Logic was not required.
.
Funny thing is
nobody asked,
“What will you actually become?”
.
Because at five,
dreams didn’t need backup plans,
or Excel sheets,
or self-doubt.
.
They just needed
a random Tuesday afternoon
and a little imagination.
.
Now people ask me that question
with deadlines in their eyes.
.
“What do you want to be?”
.
And I almost say
five again.
.
Because back then,
I wasn’t confused…
.
I was just
limitless without pressure.
.
Now I’m focused…
.
…on pretending I know
what I’m doing.
.
—Rajeshwari 🧿💕
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