No, this isn’t about his poem but ever since I read these lines I haven’t been able to get them out of my head:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.
It’s easier and far more predictable to keep it safe, to cast your dreams on the sideline and live your life based on the expectations of others. To work a nine to five job, because it’s the normal thing to do, your parents have expectations and it’s a steady paycheck. Who knows? You might even start enjoying what you do and that’s no crime; it’s inevitable. Do something long enough and you’ll live to both love it and hate it; it may not make your spirits soar every time, but it’s sure to do something for you: give you a sense of entitled accomplishment.
Being on your own, following through with the grand dreams you have in your mind isn’t easy. And there are times when, just to make ends meet, you’ll pick up the odd job or two in order to get where you need to be. There are no maps that can help guide you, no tour guide to tell you when you’re doing something wrong, because this is your journey and it’s a new path, one that few ever tread. Why? Because it’s hard and unless you don’t have something to deeply believe in, there is no guarantee that you will ever accomplish everything you need to, in order to look back and say I did that. I did that.
There are things in my future and my future is very visibly tied into the future of the Desi Writers Lounge. Getting it out there is more than just getting myself out there, it’s putting into print the work of all of us and thereby making the “dream” of a collective group of people, a reality. You see, doing the things we do isn’t just about us it’s about giving voice to others like us, who don’t know that there exists a place that not only allows, but encourages freedom of creative thought and expression. We are at the point now, that our work must mean something. It must say something, because we are the generation that will carry the words of our country, our beliefs, our ideals forward. We are the future whether we care to usurp that burden or not.
I would like to believe that spreading literary awareness is not a lone voice in the darkness; that our audience is capable for more than just idle laughter; that our talented writers out there can paint a better picture than the generations that have gone before; that our work defies the established rule that only if you know someone, can you get somewhere; that true theater isn’t dead because the directors and writers are too petrified to pick up bolder, less light material; that our theater industry is a Broadway waiting to take flight; that there are others like us out there waiting to have their words heard. We are a group focused on writing, that has always been our raison d'ĂȘtre and will continue being so.
We hope to launch a literary journal, the first of its kind in Pakistan and as God as my witness, it will happen. So will the creative writing workshops and the playwriting competition and an anthology of the best material we have ever published. This will all come to pass. Why? Because I believe and I will do everything in my power and beyond, to get there.
Yes, I’m going to take the road less traveled.
Yes, it will make all the difference.
