What do you want to be when you grow up?

"So beta, What do you want to be when you grow up?". This was the question I was often tortured with when I was a kid.

This is what I used to think then:

What do I want to be when I grow up? Why do people keep asking me this question - my friends, my family, my teachers, my parents and any person whom I meet on the road. Everyone wants to know what will I become when I grow up. I think everyone is supposed to be someone when one grows up. I think this is the purpose of life. I should have a plan to be someone when I grow up.

So, what should I be when I grow up?

Maybe I should become a He-Man, the master of the Universe. He has such a good body with big muscles, he has a Tiger(a green one?) on which he rides, and he kills the bad Skeleton with his long sword. But, what is the point of being a He-Man with all the powers? Grandma, who knows about so many other things, doesn't even know who a He-Man is!

Maybe I should become an Engineer like my Aunt's brother, Yogesh mama. I have heard he could make a TV on his own. He also gets to travel to foreign countries like Hong Kong, which is so far away and full of alien people. My Aunt must be lying. Who can make a TV on his own? I have read in my G.K. book that only J.L.Baird knows how to make one. Maybe an Engineer could do it. I should become an Engineer then. But, what is the point of being an Engineer? People outside the family won't know a Engineer.

Maybe I should become a Doctor like our family doctor, Mr. Veeraraghavan. Grandma says that he has magic in his hands - he can cure people just by touching them. Also, people respect him. All his patients stand up in respect when he arrives at the clinic. But, I have seen in movies that even Doctors make mistakes - mistakes which cost other people's life. Also you have to cut Frogs to become a Doctor. No, I do not want to be a Doctor.

So, what else can I become? Whom does everyone in this world love? Who has the power to do what he wants to do? Who always gets the good name? Ya! Lord Ram in Ramayan and Lord Krishna in Mahabharat. They always do the good things. In any fight victory is always theirs. Even if it involves killing, they kill the bad people. No one in my family shouts at them for fighting. They have the power to control fire, water and air. They can fire magical arrows of different kinds. Mom always talks good things about them. Grandma, who is so old, fears of them. Nobody shouts at Lord Krishna for stealing the butter. People outside the family also respect them and fear them. They have built these buildings(temples) for them where people wash them with milk, decorate them with flowers, and give good fruits to eat. Even my mom does the same thing at home, everyday. Being God must be really great, otherwise who gets cared and respected for doing nothing? Yes, this is what I want to become when I grow up. I want to become a God!

From then on, whenever somebody visited our house, my family members will tell them "Ask this kid of what he wants to be in future".

They would ask me "Beta, what do you want to be when you grow up?".

I would reply simply "I want to be a God!".

They would laugh and laugh aloud. I would consider that as a compliment and tell myself "so wise of me to make a decision to become a God. I will achieve what you people could not".

Over the time, I realized that God is just an imaginary character and it is not possible to be one. These days, I ask the same question to myself and still can't find an answer. Forget God, it is even difficult to be a human.