“I have a dream” are the words immortalized by Martin Luther King Jr in his famous address at the Lincoln Memorial in 1968. As I had the luxury of time and did not know how to spend it, I was thinking about my options. It is very important to know that you always have options (one of the keys to learning from my Finance course), in this case, I had two options, either I go home and dream (which is the best option) or stay at the school at the middle of the night and scribble something about dreams. If I had a little bit of common sense, I would have chosen the practical approach and dreamed but as an MBA student, I picked the theoretical approach and hence decided to write about my dreams.
Before I get into details about my dreams, I need to define what I mean by a dream. The dreams that I talk about here are not a laundry list of lofty goals and aspirations on what I want to achieve in my professional career (in MBA parlance it is called elevator pitch there is another name for it in laymen’s terms it is called boasting about oneself). This dream I wanted to write about is motivated by the thought that as a society if we are interconnected then what should one dream for? So having established the context these are my dreams.
I have a dream that one day, the lady (or should I say a skeleton wrapped with some flesh) I saw begging for food at the corner of my primary school will not be there anymore, because she could make her own living and be not dependent on anyone.
I have a dream that one day, the taxi driver (with a Master’s Degree in History), who dropped me at my workplace, could go to a University and pursue his research interest, without worrying about his next meal and where it would come from.
I have a dream that one day, the migrant workers from my country (treated like slaves with no dignity), I saw in Qatar Airport, will not have to leave their homeland to seek opportunities in other countries, to provide a better life for their families.
I have a dream that one day, the women who sell their bodies to make a living can find alternate means to live a life of dignity and respect
I have a dream that one day my kids and grandkids will follow their passion and live their life without worrying about getting rich or powerful.
My dreams are not lofty enough to change society in a radical way so that I can label it as entering the Promised Land. However, these are dreams that are simple yet powerful and could charter the course towards the Promised Land, even though it might take years to enter. As an MBA student, I am taught to ask questions than write answers so if these are the dreams that could chart the course towards the Promised Land, what should I do? As I said before, as an MBA you ask questions not answer them. Having said that I found someone who answered it better than I ever could his name was Henry David Thoreau and he stated: “If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”
JBF
