Travesty of the childhood dreams!

You dream; dream big. Dream to be like 'X'; Dream to be like 'Y'. 

Didn't we all dream? As a starry-eyed eight-year-old, I dreamt of becoming the next Sachin Tendulkar. what were the geography classes for if not to dream him. Who of us here did not want to be the next Kiran Bedi? The strong police officer, who fined the prime minister's vehicle for a violation. Didn't any of you want to be like Chetan Bhagat? (of course, I was young then). 

Mohandas Pai? Remember the name? When engineering was the fad when everyone who did not get to become a doctor wanted to be the next big software engineer, the man was big. Rajnikanth? Ah, the quintessential hero of my generation. 

I adored every one of them. Wanted to be like one of them at various stages of life. Thought very highly of them. Had a heart full of respect. 

When E.Sreedharan, the metro man joined the BJP, I went back to the time when I adored the man. The Metro man. He built the Delhi Metro without corruption. As a student of politics, he was the stereotypical hero. My world then wanted a piece of him. He was always in the limelight. The Kerala Metro wanted him. I hoped and prayed he agreed to join the TN metro. The inner Tamilian in me! 

At various stages of life, all of them had disappointed me. I had kept them on the pedestal. And all of them fell off it. Every one of them. 

Where did it all go wrong? Is it wrong to put people up on the high throne in our minds? And then put them down every time you don't agree with them? Can I be philosophical and brush it off as differences of opinion? Is it just so simple to do away with the heroes you grew up worshipping? To take them off your head and make the heart understand that they are mortals, mere fallible humans? 

I wish Dhoni does not join twitter and abuse and hate like every other person. I don't want Rafa to one day come out in the open to be an extortionist. To hear about the 'X' and 'Y' come out as sexual predators as I heard about Ravi will be brain-numbing. If the brain could be numbed! 

Idealizing flawed and imperfect human beings was indeed my idiocy. Of course, there cannot be perfect homo sapiens on this side of the world. 

But is it all a travesty to just dream of being someone else?