Sir, Firstly, I would like to complement you for the simple way you have put your thoughts. A realization has sunk in me that simple words can so well describe life experiences. Secondly, it is the word ‘courage to dream’ that has got my attention. You need courage to dream and also the courage to keep them alive as you rightly pointed out. As Late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam said, “You have to dream before your dreams can come true.” Looking forward to reading Part II soon. On a lighter note, would like to know whether you finally drove a Mercedes !!!

Sometimes the simplest things are the most powerful and the most powerful things are often ignored or dismissed. Dreams are one of the simplest but most complex human functions. Authors have made millions on pandering what they believe to be the power of dreams to the masses, read: The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. I personally do not find self help/motivational books interesting. So devoid are we of belief and confidence in ourselves that we find solace in the success of others. I could not agree with you more on the fact that it is so important to day-dream not just about our wants and desires but to just dream. Only through free unbridled thought will we truly be able to discover what is important to us on a personal level. Dreams will then manifest themselves in the shape of what inherently moves and drives us. There is no point pursuing an engineering degree when all you want to do is dance! Sigmund Freud dedicated his life attempting to unravel the mysteries of dreams and barely scratched the surface as it is not an exact science. He was often ridiculed by the scientific community for his area of study but true to what you so succinctly indicated it is when the world ridicules your dreams and aspirations is when we need to stand resolute.

Dreams are really powerful than aspirations. But one has to believe on the odds. If you recognize your dream and then taking concrete steps towards, you draw your own trail. This is perhaps the most powerful way of creating things in one’s life. Great leaders understand how their personal dreams can be aligned with their organization's goals. This is one more facet of a successful leader. Dream big, chase for it and align it with your professional goals.

As rightly indicated in the article dreams have a powerful & long lasting effect & enables us to thrive towards our goal. Dreams comes from the subconscious mind which is not blocked by our perception & experience & thoughts. Dreams are not blcoked by any presumption thoughts & have a long lasting effect. Although it is true most dreams wont come true but is is also true that dreams are so powerful that it motivates & creates a change in attitude of the person to strive towards it & achieve it. As I am working in a technical product marketing department there is always a need of creativity of thoughts to present before the customer. This does not come from any books or literature. It is the subconscious mind while dreaming those ideas strike & create a big impact in influencing customers.

I strongly agree with what Mr. Vaidya has said. In fact, I had a dream during my childhood wherein I wanted to open an orphanage for the underprivileged children and help them lead a decent life. For that, one needs to have a serving mindset, perceverance and money too. I though the last one, i.e. money is the most important & started thinking on the lines of earning maximum money. I became a Chartered Accountant in 1990 & started working at the age of 20 Today, at 50, when i look back and see my current life position - I am a full time trainer today into learning and development and CSR activities. I cam see that life has brought me a long way in realizing my childhood dream. Today, I may not be running my own orphanage. However, I am very happy that I am involved as a "Social Ambassador - learning and development" with a well known NGO in the country, actively helping them in their Student Leadership Program, a Program to inculcate life skills to underprivileged children of 8th standard to move them towards becoming good social leaders. And the pleasure I get seeing them develop as good communicators / good citizens gives me immense pleasure. Who knows - This may be another step in realizing my dream.

Dear Sir, Your article gives hope and urges others to dream and to believe in oneself. In today's time, everyone is exposed to more of criticism and negativity . Before one think's of doing something, he/she is told what he/she can not do.Hence, it becomes all the more important to dream and to have faith in dreams. I believe to dream is to aspire. Aspirations keep us going. Like you said if we have our dreams in the back of our mind always, we will definitely find the way, the path to pursue it. I remember when I had dreamt of pursuing MBA , I had put in all my efforts to make it happen. I did not land at the moon but definitely got the star. At times I wonder how dull life would have been without dreams- no ambitions, no plan to follow the ambition.I am glad I am a dreamer and everyday I am learning to dream big.

I want to thank the writer for sharing his personal memoir and putting across such a powerful message beneath his simple articulation. His story resonates with many of us, including me, who are not born with a silver spoon in their mouth but have the courage and determination to walk the extra mile with just, Dreams. Indeed, dreams are so powerful that sooner or later the dreams with get realized. What is important is the power to be vocal about them and articulating them. There is a famous saying from my all time favourite book Alchemist, that when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it. As the writer has mentioned, we should not let our dream get diluted. It must be kept alive and we must work hard, fighting against all odds to get those dreams fulfilled. For example, Shah Rukh Khan, one of the richest celebrities in the world today, 25 years back, came to Mumbai almost penniless. But he had a dream and the dream was to be the king of Bollywood and capture the hearts of all people in the world. And he made it big through his sheer perseverance, determination, fighting against all odds and above all, the conviction in his dreams. There are number of biographies written with the how people from humble beginnings have made it extremely big in their professional life through their dreams. One such living example is Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, whose story inspires me to the core and let me push my envelope. Thus, dreams, having conviction in the dreams and possessing the faith and belief in one’s abilities to capture the dreams no matter what are qualities that we see in a dreamer. So, start dreaming today! Tomorrow will be brighter. Period

I completely agree with you sir. Dreams are powerful. Many a times life puts us in situations where we have to make choices and the cost associated with each of them are high. Yet, we have to make decisions understanding the uncertainties. In such situations dreams give hope and aspirations. Therefore we need to have the courage to dream. People around you may or may not support your dreams but if you believe in yourself and work hard, your dreams would become realities. I have always felt that time has a wonderful relationship with dreams. At a point of time dreams look so unrealistic but with passage of time, the distance between you and your dreams may change. The influence of dreams on a person is prodigious as it changes the person’s attitude. Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam had beautifully put into words “Dream is not the thing you see in sleep but is that thing that doesn't let you sleep.” Hence consistent and significant efforts take you closer to your dreams. Perseverance will help us to conquer the dreams. Dreams inspire us to look beyond the boundaries that we set on ourselves.

First of all, I thank Dr. Vaidya to for writing such an inspiring blog. Each interaction with him has inspired me to think beyond. As he rightly points out, it is really though provoking that how he has persevered to pursue his dreams. Perseverance helps you to endure during hardships and ensures you to pursue your dreams while still having that reality check. But for that to succeed it really takes someone to dream big and not let it fade away through the years. It is very important that we dream and always try to keep it in mind and when we dream we should always think that we can make it happen. It is also important to note that it takes some time to make the dream possible, it doesn’t materialise quickly. The emotions of a person are really to look forward to when the person’s dreams come true, it is genuine happiness. While trying to achieve one’s dream is important, it is equally important that one does it fairly and not take undue advantage of situations and hamper others’ interests. One always needs to focus in the right way of thinking and doing. If one achieves the dream through negative means, then the genuineness in the happiness goes away. The key is to keep trying towards achieving one’s dream, and not give up. If achieving the dream is getting difficult to achieve then one has to put in extra efforts and overcome it rather than dismissing it. Pursuing dreams keeps us alive and keeps us trying and that is what makes us humans. As Malcolm Forbes puts it – “When we cease to dream, we cease to live.” The experience which we call life will be very colourless if we don’t pursue our dreams. I appeal to everyone to dream and make this life a better one for us.

Dear Sir, your article and thoughts beautifully capture both the essence and the power of dreams. As far as I understand, dreams are a result of ones underlying passions or desires which stay with a person until they are fulfilled. A dream can be as small as owning a dress or as big as owning multiple firms, but it should be strong enough to keep you working towards it’s fulfillment. Day dreaming surely works but it’s the realization of a dream that gives a sense of achievement, faith and courage to dream further and bigger. Aspirations or dreams keep a person enthusiastic and full of life as they have something challenging to look up each day and strive for it. I have my dreams and as and when, one dream is realized the other one comes up to keep me going. Hence, I believe that dreamers can never be stopped from either pursuing or achieving their dreams unless they themselves light off the fire in their belly.

Sir, thank you for sharing your thoughts about something that each one of us at SPJIMR can relate to and is here in this prestigious institution to realize it. Dreams are the crazy visuals one has in front of his eyes which bring a smile to the face and one sees himself or herself as the main protagonist playing it. During my formative years I used to draw a lot of insights from my immediate surrounding and would behave as if I am living it. As I grew my dreams developed wings. I wanted to fly, I wanted to run, I wanted to crawl and would anything to achieve whatever I dreamt of. Be it earning the best student award or playing a match wining knock in the school cricket team, I tried hard to see myself enjoy the happiness of what I had dreamt of and eventually could achieve it. As I grew so did my dreams. For me dreams are not defined in magnitude, they are just milestones that would like to reach, rest by them and then move on. After I joined Infosys as a software engineer, my dream was to learn the tricks and trade of the business and to capitalize on my technical knowledge. Every day after work I sat contemplating about what was I doing with my life. Is it this that I wanted or I needed more? Work had started becoming mundane and it was difficult to keep learning. But my subconscious kept hammering me saying you need more. I started researching on the possible avenues that I can explore to keep myself growing. That is when the idea of MBA seeped in. That day I decided no matter what happens I am going to earn this dream of mine. The situation was hard. The constant work pressure, the client issues as well as personal ones were a constant hurdle. Yet the thought of achieving it never let me sleep. I drew inspiration from the book by late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam where he quotes “Dreams are not those which comes while we are sleeping, but dreams are those when u don't sleep before fulfilling them.” I held on to my fort, practiced hard, work suffered but I knew my calling. Finally, the day arrived when the email from SPJIMR popped up on my mobile screen stating I was being offered an admission to the PGPM program. I was teary with happiness because I could realize my dream.

"I can sail all through the journey called life, if i have a dream in my eyes." This blog brings out the child in me, back to life again. In this society, which is on a rat race the biggest threat in the fact that the people have stopped dreaming. The essence of professionalism and competition has actually put the child we had in ourselves to deep slumber. When we loose the child withing us, we forget to dream and when we forget to dream, we actually loose the sight.Its amazing to find that the blog presents such an important viewpoint in so simple language. Life stories are the most inspiring write-ups and this belief of mine has been strengthened many fold while i went through the blog. Unless we have a dream, we loose the connect with the life and start living the life of a robot. I still remember the childhood days, when standing in the balcony i used to build a whole empire. That might have sounded crazy then, but today if i am in a position whereby am sitting in the hostel and reading this blog its all because someday i had a dream to be a part of an elite institution. I worked my way and thus i can easily connect to the essence, "How important it is to dream?"

Dear Sir, The simple yet effective title lured me into reading this blog. I must appreciate the candid style of your writing. Moreover, while reading the blog, I kept on relating to it and it did touch a chord in my heart. It was the time of October 2016, when I was searching for the best places around the globe to visit. The occasion was really special; I was getting married the next month. I shared a dream with my better half; a dream to travel around the globe and to experience the mesmerizing beauty of some of the most sought after places. However, I realized that aspirations like this one are always bounded by the real life challenges and constraints. The constraints faced were of time and money. The blended web learning module was in full swing at that time and I was supposed to pay the fee installments for the PGPM program. The beauty of India is that you get a lot of options to explore. Some of these options are true counterparts to global wonders and traveling to these places will not burn a hole in your pocket. So as a carefully selected alternative, we decided to visit Nainital – the city of lakes. Coming back to today’s reality, the life of PGPM candidates; I would like to share my views on the power of dreams. I firmly believe in the words of Dr. Abdul Kalam, “A dream is not that which you see while sleeping; it is something that does not let you sleep”. A dream is the ultimate motivator, a goal which you seek, an ambition which makes you work harder and a desire which would never subside. I had spent sleepless nights, not thinking about the actual dream, but thinking about the ways in which I can conquer over the constraints. For me, the key to live your dreams is to work hard and be focused. One can say that climbing that mountain was not difficult, but only after climbing to the top, one earns the right to say so.

Hi Sir, Your story very beautifully describes the essence of dreams and the importance of sticking to them. I believe dreams keep the fire inside you burning to achieve a goal which defines the inner you. In this fast paced life, we barely take a pause and give a thought to the direction where we are headed. We are more focused on surviving today and the next day and the next. In this madness of rush, dreams can wake us up to see a reality which we dreaded before stepping into our mundane jobs. Dreams can give us the required thrust to change our routine and take a closer look at the end of this long tunnel we entered post studies/graduation. The incident described by you gives an apt example for dreamers to develop the art of patience and to believe in themselves. Goals may seem far when they are seen from the lens of constraints around us rather than looking from the lens of opportunities around us. And your article captures that point and inspires one to take that extra mile as it shows that the destined opportunity is just around the next corner. Thank you for writing this beautiful blog, it helped me revisit the long dream I had for last few years & the journey associated with it of getting into an elite B-school.

‘Dreams’ are more like a wonderland where you can paint the objects and yourself as desired by you. It is the visualization of your desires. Truly said by sir – ‘Dreams are powerful and can be realized’. It is a beautiful illustration by sir which shows how dreams have pushed and contributed in his achievements and success story. It inspires us to dream big, in fact it is mentioned that day dreaming really works. We might have often heard from others to stop dreaming and come back to reality. Even the ones who are our well-wisher may discourage us from dreaming. So why is it so? The possible reason may be that they feel dreams do not help in achieving anything rather it is wastage of time. It is true when one ‘only’ dreams but does no action to achieve it. In the blog sir has displayed how he has put in enormous hard work and kept moving towards achieving his dream. The blog inspires us to dream big. If we put in hard work and start our journey towards our dream, the path to it will start building and it will eventually be opened to us. I would like to thank you sir for writing and sharing this blog. It gives an inspiration and motivation to dream big and achieve what we want in our life.

Reflecting on your story about your dream, it reminded me of a saying that I came across some time back. It said,” Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will”. From what I could gather from your preamble, I am sure that though you were apprehensive, you never doubted your dreams. That one dream of flying took you to places. That’s what I call an inspiring story. According to psychology, a dream is a succession of images, ideas, and emotions that usually occur involuntarily in the mind mostly during the REM sleep state. The brain activity is high in this state. Each and every thought you have on a particular vision, passion or a wish, the brain is actually calculating the possibility of that coming true. Majority of this computation, let’s call it quantum computing, is done by brain when we sleep. This is a reason why the most daunting wishes and passions come up regularly during our dream. The power of a dream is so immense that if we can hold on to that dream and start working towards it, success is not that far. Remember the speech “I have a dream” that the Rev Martin Luther King Jr delivered from the steps of the Lincoln memorial? This dream led to the civil rights movement in the US. His dream bought courage in many others. Dreams are that powerful. The reason I mentioned this is to assert that for all dreams, an action has to follow. Having dreams alone will not be of any good. It’s the thinking that will cause an action and the action will result in us going forward to fulfilling the dream. So, never fear to dream and I would like to quote one more saying by Dr A.P.J Abdul Kalam: “Dream is not what you see while sleeping, it is something that doesn’t let you sleep”.

Eyes quivering with excitement and starred with dreams too many, every child I’ve ever met has been excited about unravelling of life and being one step closer to achieving their dreams. Indeed, dreams are powerful. They are the manifestation of one’s desire that gives meaning to life. But then how and why do we wander hopeless in midst of our busy lives without a dream to push us above the impasse? From a nascent age, we build our dreams of being a certain someone, owning a certain car, living a certain life but most importantly we fail to recognize if these are our own desires or clouded by what others think our dreams should be. More often than never in our lives, we’re told what are dreams should be - To become a doctor because they save lives, to become richer so that you can enjoy a good life and help the poor. And somewhere down the line, when you start connecting the dots and you don’t feel the dream swelling from within, you’ve already missed the bus. Sometimes we end up dreaming too big and too many – to be an astronaut but also be like mother Teresa while having a settled family life. Dreams require sacrifices. They require showing strength amidst successive failures. They require a clear & passionate mind in challenging situations. To fall ten times and stand up again with the bruises, smiling and feeling better is what go getters are made of. In today’s world, we’re so engrossed in dreaming about living the dream that we usually don’t put in quite the effort required to achieve it and that’s where we fail as adults. Then how do we make our dreams a reality? Borrowing a quote from a wonderful book - Le petit prince - “Only children know what they are looking for”; So dream as a child would do, without any social prejudices and feel it from within, growing day by day. The only thing standing between your dream and it becoming a reality is the fear a failure so be ready to fall and get up as many times till you achieve what you dreamt of. I want to Congratulate Dr. Vaidya for capturing the essence of having a dream and living it in the most simplistic and graceful manner. Thank you for such a thought provoking read.

I found this article so simple yet powerful enough to convey the essence. The first thing that caught my attention is the realization of dreams. I have always thought of dreams as construed future reality. If we go back to history and hear the iconic “I have a dream today” speech by Dr. Martin Luther King we understand that how trenchantly he was devoted to his cause of fighting for equal rights of Black people and wanted a better future for them. Only because he was vocal about his dream and lived it all these years, he got what he wanted. From the point of view of my own life, I realize that the no dream is small and no dream is too big to come true. The only point is there should be some reasoning and rationale behind setting a dream. If we have a dream today which is not realistic or achievable, it may sometimes put our self under immense pressure. I remember when I was a child; how my father used to make me realize that every individual is different from the other in terms of capabilities and strengths. If you are able to effectively utilize your capabilities and develop strengths which will take you to your dreams, I think you have done a good job. Your dreams then become the part of daily life by entering into your subconscious mind which is the bigger part of the iceberg and hence more prominent. This is the when our each action starts symbolizing the effort that we put in making that dream come true. Now going back to the first point regarding vocalization of dreams without any distrust and fear, let me do that for me by saying that I want to write and publish my book someday in my life.

As a kid, my dreams used to change with every year. Someday, I wanted to be a doctor, the next a teacher and the next something else. But I am thankful to my parents for never telling me that I cant be what I want to be. My father is a single parent a very educated person, so I was always given a safe space to study and explore whatever option I want in life, and I have swayed with my options since my schooling. After class 12th, I thought I will be an investment banker, and my dream was to work at Wall Street and earn a lot of money. Thus, I opted for Finance and Investment as a specialization in my Bachelors. But in my 3rd year, I realised this is not what would make me happy. Thus, I dreamt of becoming a Travel Journalist to satiate my love for travelling and penning down my opinions, and thus I moved on to do my Radio and TV Journalism. Nearing the end of my PG, I was still restless as the dream of travelling wasn't the dream anymore. I wanted to become a Marketer, promoting world class brands, having a name in the corporate world, getting a recognition what my father had in his field. Thus, I joined Times of India and from there my journey of becoming a marketer started and now I am pursuing my MBA in Marketing. My whole life has been chasing one dream after the other, but they were always my own dreams, unadulterated by the opinions of others. My family stood by me through every decision of mine. And today I can say, wherever I am, I am happy. I see a lot of people who are unhappy with the job they are doing, maybe because they are living someone else's dream. Their job and education is an end product of what their parents aspired for them. But if they are not happy, then how is it a dream come true, aren't they living a nightmare? Everyone has a dream, and then the people around them have a dream for them. But the essence of true happiness is to follow the path to achieve your own dreams, not others. I would like to thank Dr. Vaidya for capturing the essence of one's dreams and pushing people to think of their own.

‘What do you want to do when you grow up’? I am sure everyone has faced this question during their schooldays. We were unaware of the limitations of this world and we let our imaginations run wild. Some of us wanted to be astronauts, F1 racers, cricketers and what not. As we grew up, the realities of life started dawning upon us and slowly we narrowed our choices to engineer, doctor, CA etc. What went wrong? Did we stop dreaming big? No, we became more concerned regarding others opinions. The constant fear of being ridiculed took over our psyche and we stopped believing in the power of dreaming big. Imagine had Thomas Edison stopped dreaming we all would be being sitting in our homes having candlelight dinner. India is free from British Raj because one man had the conviction that his dream of a free nation will turn into reality. In his blog, Vaidya Sir has beautifully explained not just the power of dreaming but he also guides us on how to turn them into reality. Since Vaidya sir has himself experienced this power, his appeal to the readers seems very honest. I would like to conclude with a beautiful quote “Yes: I am a dreamer. For a dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world?” ― Oscar Wilde

The concise presentation of the simple idea of importance of dreams to move forward in life is indeed beautiful. Professor Vaidya has picked instances from his own life to present a powerful case. According to him, dreaming is very important and keeping the fire burning over the years is essential. Famous Indian cricket Virat Kohli once said in an interview that before every innings, while sitting in dressing room, he imagines himself scoring a hundred. This happens to him in every single game while he is waiting for his turn to bat. This dreaming has been his preparation since his childhood days. It energies him and he remains confident while walking down to crease. In my opinion it helps him away from negative energies and stay in a solid frame of mind before he can take on the opposition. I agree that dreaming is very important but at the same time working hard for your dreams to be successful is equally important. In the example above Virat Kohli is able to deliver the best for the country because he has been the most hardworking batsmen over past few years. He is not the ‘Chosen one’. He has spent innumerable hours in practice session and gym perfecting each short and enduring each muscle to reach the epitome. Yes, dreams do inspire to work hard and achieve success. Thanks

Very well written Sir, your articulation about the importance of dreams and turning those dreams into a reality is clearly defined in your blog. Your points like: “All we need is the courage to dream and voice those dreams” are really inspirational. I am really looking forward to part 2 of you blog on the guidelines that you followed for producing the results of your dreams. I can say that Dreams is a necessity and without them we won’t have any desire to chase and no goals to reach. We all be nothing without dreams. Nothing in life can be achieved without goals, and for these goals, we need to dream. Everyone has dreams, some big small ones. Even the most successful people had dreams and that is what made them what they are today. Sachin Tendulkar after seeing Kapil Dev lift the World Cup in 1983 dreamt of playing for India and winning the World Cup again. This is what motivated him to represent the country for 24 years and eventually he held the World Cup in 2011. Dreams helps us to find a purpose in our life and helps us to start working towards them. It is essential to work hard for one’s dream, without this hard work dream will only remain a desire in the subconscious mind and will never be achieved. Dreams plays a very important role in making our life successful. It is the motivation and inspiration needed to achieve the goal that we want to achieve. Dream are an imperative part of our life and without them we will be nowhere. It’s never too late to start dreaming or to pursue a dream that you had for many years so my dream of learning and playing a piano still lives on…

Hello Sir, Thanks for the inspiring and thought provoking blog. It is sure to have a lasting impact on many students. I would take this opportunity to quote former President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, a dreamer himself, who rose from very humble beginnings to become one of the greatest scientist, to lead the nation as a President and to be honoured with Bharat Ratna. He emphasized “Dreams transform into thoughts and thoughts result in action”. Many a times people start chasing others dreams rather than thinking what do they really want to achieve in their lives. Some people invariably compare their progress in varies aspects with their peers without realizing that their passion is elsewhere. Everything starts with small steps, however small it maybe. Your passion and interest should motivate you to set goals. Dreams don’t come true just by wishing for it. It requires you to endure your dreams through the test of times. Persistence and dedication would drive you to act towards achieving the set goals. It is necessary to cultivate a positive attitude and remain optimistic irrespective of the outcomes in the short-term. One should be willing to accept negative outcomes and learn from the mistakes. One should not be bogged down by the discouraging signs of what others perceive, but should rather follow their dream relentlessly. The day your dreams come true, the taste of success would over shadow all the pain and effort that went into achieving your dream.

Why do we dream is perhaps one of the greatest unanswered questions in behavioural science. Technically speaking, dreams could be stories and images that our mind creates when we are sleeping. Many experts believe that dreams exist to help us solve problems in our lives, incorporate memories and process emotions. I would like to thank the author who has beautifully brought about the aspirational facet of dreams with simple stories from his life. His words in the last two paragraphs of the blog are immensely inspiring and motivates us to believe in the power of dreams. The blog majorily speaks about aspirations of people at individual level. The power of dream could also be utilised at the organisational level as elaborated interestingly in the article “Great leaders use the power of dreams” by Rob Ashkenas co-author of The GE Work out and The Boundaryless Organisation. Why do so many people buy lottery tickets even though they are fully aware that the chances of payoff are extremely low? This is so because it gives them the power to dream. Hence, people are willing to invest in dreams, even if odds are against them. This very fact could be utilised by organisations who could shape the employee’s dreams as explained by Rob. Rob also cites that when the dreams are exciting and the odds are believable, employees will dramatically increase their investments in making them come true. Some of the dreams of the employees may be financial such as bonuses, promotions etc. while others may be more personal aspirations. An example quoted is that of a pharmaceutical company which manufactured a drug reducing mortality rate of a specific disease. The company had been facing challenges due to some internal issues. When the manager addressed the gravity of the situation, every person attending the meeting put aside other priorities and worked to solve the problem. Here the manager had tapped into their dream to create a healthier world. Such is the power of dreams! Thus, we see that the power of dreams could be utilised not only at individual level but also at organisation level where great leaders help employees connect to the value so that the company’s mission becomes part of their own dream!

Dear Sir, Thank you for sharing your thoughts with all of us. I completely agree with you in saying that dreams are a powerful source to shape up your future, given one has the patience and persistence to follow it through. The way you have put a very important topic in a very simple way it makes an interesting read. Even the iconic speech of Martin Luther King Jr. that inspired many spoke about his dream and started a new chapter in the civil rights movement era and his dream did come true when the civil rights law was changed in USA. This blog defiantly boosts my morale to keep dreaming and to work towards my dreams. Thank you for sharing a part of your inspiring journey with aspiring students like us.

What is common between Mahatma Gandhi, N. R. Narayana Murthy and Sachin Tendulkar? They are all legends in their own rights, but when the odds were against them, they had their dream to drive them forward. Successful people dream big, even if the goal may seem extremely difficult to achieve. Dreams are what differentiate successful people from ordinary people. Les Brown, a well-renowned motivational speaker, once said, “Shoot for the moon. Even if a person misses, he will land among the stars”. Ordinary people only dream about what they can achieve. Hence, they can never carry out extraordinary tasks. Mahatma Gandhi dreamt about an independent India. No one believed in his dream at the time because it seemed unachievable. However, he was determined and never gave up and after years of struggles, his dream of free India was realized. The founder of Infosys, Narayana Murthy, had humble beginnings yet he dreamt big and became the CEO of India’s largest software company. Although he did not have funds to establish a business initially, he and his family worked hard to make his dream a reality. When Kapil Dev lifted the world cup at the Lord’s balcony, somewhere in Bandra a young boy dreamt of lifting the cup again for his country. 28 years later and after playing in 6 World Cups, Sachin Tendulkar finally held the cup of the champion. Dreams are visions of where a person finds themselves to be the happiest. If happiness is the key to success, then dreams are building blocks into a world that only you can create. Dreams are truly powerful and can make you achieve extraordinary things. As I read Prof. Vaidya’s blog and following comments from my friend, I recalled John Lennon’s famous lines,” you may say I'm a dreamer but I'm not the only one” and realized Im not the only one, in the SPJIMR family everyone is a dreamer and every day in SPJIMR gives you opportunities to take a step closer to achieving your dreams. Thanks to Prof. Vaidya for such an inspirational and powerful blog.

Dear Sir, Thanks for writing such a beautiful article and acquainting us with the ‘Power of Dreams’. I totally agree with your thoughts and have also experienced the same in my personal life. I believe ‘Dreams’ are the starting point of success. As rightly said, you first have to dream big before you can convert your dreams into reality. I feel the people who are unable to achieve success is not because they do not have the potential to do so but rather they trap themselves in reality and do not have the courage to see beyond what their eyes can see. They simply do not allow themselves to dream. This reminds me of an example which my science teacher once quoted in class, that unless right brothers had the dream to fly in the air, we could not hop across oceans in a matter of hours, when the whole mankind was stuck to ground. Thus dreams give us a vision of life and the power and energy to lift ourselves beyond our limits. Like you said, we have to keep our dreams alive in order to find a way to pursue them. But the truth is many of us just give up our dreams. What we forget is that each one of us has within us the strength, the patience and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world. At the same time chasing one’s dreams is not easy and not an overnight accomplishment. It requires consistent hard work, tremendous patience and thorough commitment to your unlimited potential. As someone rightly said that “Expecting a dream to come true without doing daily acts to make them happen is like hoping for a big harvest without planting any seeds”. I would like to conclude by saying the success in your life is only limited by the power of your imagination and the strength of your desires. So, keep dreaming!

“Dream is not the thing you see in sleep but is that thing that does not let you sleep” – Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. Thanks to Prof. Vaidya for sharing his inspiring story and for simple articulation of a powerful yet important message. For me, dreams are a form of passion and desire which give inspiration and motivation to a person to achieve his/her goals of life that makes him/her happy. It does not matter whether a dream is small or big; whether it is tough or easy to fulfill. All that matters, is the zeal one has about the dream thus getting a sense of achievement once the dream is fulfilled. There is no doubt that it requires lot of perseverance and right attitude to pursue a dream. Everyone has one or other dream in his life which he/she wants to achieve. Even-though I have lot of dreams which I want to make a reality but one dream, that I had since my college days, was doing an MBA from a premier Indian B-school. To achieve the same, I had tried once during college days but could make into the B-school of my choice. Once I landed into a corporate job, I got so busy with my professional commitments that my dream got into back burner but that dream was still alive at the back of my mind all the time. It was a causal discussion with my wife that ignited the desire of chasing my dream even after spending 13 years in corporate. That new sense of desire gave me a focus and landed me to India’s premier B-school to fulfill my dream of pursing MBA. The only point that I want to make is that it is never too late to purse a dream, only thing needed is self-persuasion. People say that do not dream as dreams never come true but I say that dream with eyes and mind open, as it will persuade you to go for the kill to have a sense of achievement.

Thanks Sir for such an inspiring article. MS Dhoni is one of the examples who chased his dreams, believed in them and achieved big for the country. MS Dhoni ‘s journey to the top was not an easy one. He had faced many obstacles, at one point of time he was feeling bad that his contemporaries already represented India and he hasn’t got a chance to perform. His hard work and dedication towards the game have allowed him to become one of the greats in the games. Another example from the world of sports is the great footballer pele, who wanted to play for his country. Pele grew up in poverty, he had to earn money by working in tea shops. Pele couldn’t afford a proper football shoes or football, but none of these stopped him from dreaming big. He followed his dream and he went on to represent brazil and played a crucial role in the world cup win for Brazil. First, two examples spoke about greats from their respective fields, now I want to speak of a person, who was my classmate and realised his dreamt to become a lead actor. During my plus 2 classes, I have met Adith Arun, who is passionate about being a lead actor. After our plus 2, he moved to Chennai and after four years I have learned that he has become a lead actor in Telugu and Tamil and he had made a name for himself. In retrospect, I was proud of him and said to myself Dreams do come true. Let's not stop dreaming, always dream big and for sure dreams will come true !!!!

Don’t stop chasing your dreams, because dreams do come true”, said an emotional Sachin Tendulkar on the eve of India winning the Cricket World Cup, 2011. There I was teary eyed, probably hanging from the ceiling in front of my college dormitory trying to peek into the small television kept right in the corner and reflecting on what the master just said. It felt as if I were Sachin Tendulkar, I won the World Cup and I were running around the ground with the trophy in my hand, such was my connect with the great man. I could see the ancient proverb coming true that all grandmas have told their kids, “There is no limit to what a human can achieve provided he has a dream and the will to achieve it”. I knew that night was different especially when my grandma from heaven bumped into me in my dream and said, “I told you so!!” (Sarcasm) and I replied probably for the first time ever “yeah, you were right!!’. That day onward to this day today, I have dreamt, worked hard and persisted to get to the point where I am today. I have a dream of buying a Mercedes AMG-GT on cash payment within the next 8 years. I have a wallpaper of the car on my laptop from the past 4 years and not a day goes by without me imaging myself going from 0 – 100 in 4 seconds on lucid race track. I firmly believe in what the blog says: I will voice my dreams and keep them alive. I will think about them and work hard for them hoping that the doors would open and the opportunities would come. Above all I have my grandma from heaven all the more eager to tell me, “I told you so!!”

The first thought that came into my mind while reading this blog was ‘You have to dream before your dreams come true’ by Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, the Former President of India and a world-renowned Space Scientist. Every person in this world wants to achieve greater height and success but the one who works diligently towards his dream gains the most. As a kid, I dreamt of owning a business of my own but in due course of time I was made to understand that since I do not have family business, no capital and do have certain responsibilities as being the only child, I cannot take that risk. This thought process took a toll and killed my desire. However, after achieving some success in life and providing a secure future for my family, I again started working on my dream of starting a venture of mine and fulfil my childhood desire. Doing an MBA from SPJIMR is the first step which help me understand the nuances of business towards the same. I am now following seven steps “Dream it, Believe it, See it, Tell it, Plan it, Work it, and Enjoy it” towards achieving my goal. I would like to remind my friends reading this about a thought by ‘Go after your dreams, no matter how unattainable others think it is’.

Sir, at the outset let me thank you for this simple yet powerful, straight from the heart blog post of yours. I completely agree with you that dreams are powerful. I believe that dreams are the fuel of our lives. They are the unfettered, uncluttered versions of our desires. People often believe that life is predestined and attribute their success, failures to fate or destiny. Such people are able to accomplish only little, because they never allow themselves to let go and just imagine the kind of life that is possible for them. In my opinion our destiny is an outcome of our dreams and goals. Our dreams have the power to shape our destiny. This reminds me of our late president Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam, who in a number of his writings has emphasized the power of dreams. Dr. Kamal in his quotes mentioned “Dream, Dream, Dream, Dreams transform into thoughts, and thoughts result in action.” And “Dream is not that which you see while sleeping, it is something that does not let you sleep.” Thus our dreams motivate our actions and turn them in to habits, our habits shape our attitudes and that way we make our own destiny. All said people do face challenges in identifying their dream. Also our desires keep changing from time to time and so do our goals and actions. In a world marred by competition we tend to follow the universe and lose track of our passions. But every time we come across such situations, we learn something new and this realization is more crucial than anything else. Changing dreams are not the end of the road. In fact, if everyone’s first wish came true there would be a lot prince charming and Cinderella’s running around in the world. For me, the journey is more important than the destination. Keep dreaming and keep rediscovering the hunger in you, the destiny will follow! On a jocular note, given your passion for the digital world, I wouldn’t be surprised if your dream of owning a Mercedes has now changed to a Tesla!

Sir, I completely agree with you, dreams are powerful. They often contain our deepest desires. They are also like short videos of the future that we wish to live someday. Dreaming of our future, dreaming of what we want to do with our life, dreaming about what is yet to come and what we need to do in order to make it come. At first, we just think about them, get excited about the possibility. However, as we try to make it a reality, we discover that we are driven and guided by some strong force. At the end, even if we are not able to achieve of what we have dreamt of, if we try, it leaves a strong trait in us which helps in developing a positive character towards life. Dreams can be very powerful, but whether or not we choose to follow them can show how powerful those dreams truly are.

Dear Sir, thank you for sharing with us this lovely article. The anecdotes mentioned here left me feeling extremely inspired and motivated. Dreams are a spark, a hope for me that goes beyond what is right now. It’s like a catalyst that keeps me going and looking forward to the future. As you have rightly mentioned, having the courage to dream and voicing our dreams without the fear of being ridiculed are very important for changing dreams into reality. Dreams are the drivers that take us to newer heights. One of my dreams came true when I got the admission offer letter for PGPM Programme in SPJIMR. It was one of the best days of my life, seeing that email in my inbox which read “It gives us immense pleasure in informing you that you have been selected for admission to SPJIMR’s Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGPM), Class of 2017”. Felt like a miracle, a blessing from a higher power who watched from above, all the effort that I had put into the preparation to get here. There were in numerous times when I had questioned my dream, faced struggles, failure, frustration and disappointments but then there was a fire that drove me to ‘keep at it’. I did not let my dream of studying from one of the best B-Schools of the country slip away. It took a lot of time to get here but the journey was extremely beautiful, more beautiful because I had the strong unconditional love and support of my family and friends who believed in me. I still have lots of dreams to fulfill; one of them is to take my parents on a trip around the world. I hope to work hard, stay motivated and make my parents proud.

Very compelling story, Dr Vaidya! In today's fast-paced world, we are surrounded by the negativity that pulls us down and refrains us from achieving what we aspire to accomplish. Dreams are an essential part of our sense of achievement. Only when we dream to achieve something, do we cherish its accomplishment. Dr Vaidya's formula for realising a dream is actually supported by substantial scientific backing. Joseph Murphy, in his book - The power of your subconscious mind, has written about a systematic approach that could turn a mere dream into reality. The probability of this conversion is directly proportional to the will of its aspiration and the imagery that we perceive in the future. Being an atheist, I do not believe in God, but energy. This energy is the invisible connection between people, things and events. As Sir rightly stated, there is no set course on how your dreams will be materialised but the energy in cosmos always finds its way around to make things happen. Such scientific theories backed by experiences such as those described by Dr Vaidya only firms my belief in dreaming to achieving.

Hello Sir, first of all I would like to thanks for the blog Dreams are Powerful, because the dreaming is the one where we imagine the thing which are very difficult to achieve in our life which provokes the human begin to work hard and try there level best to fulfil their desires. According to me dream is an aim. And we will keep on moving to fulfil our ambition in our life. Dreams are hope, inspiration, and meaning to life that to us is great contribution. Chasing our dreams will develop the courage in us. Dreams can distract you from the negative events of the life. Accomplishment of the dreams will give real meaning to life and failures will add experience, March towards the success because failure is the first step. As you rightly said if we have our dreams in the back of our mind always, we will definitely find the way, the path to pursue it. I remember when I had dreamt of having own flat in Pune and working with one of the leading industries. I belong to small city of Solapur where the life is very simple and no such competition to go ahead in our life. When I was working in a small scale industries, I use to visit customer plant to attend the quality or development related issues and I would always think of when I can get an opportunity to work with such big industries. I had put in all my efforts to make it happen and one day the doors of success opened for me and I was succeed in achieving my first dream better job with MNC company and within span of one year I was able to achieve my second dream of having my own flat in city like Pune. I fully agree with Late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam a great leader said “Dreams is not what you see in sleep, is the thing which doesn’t let you sleep”. Source Internet Quotes on dreams Life without dreams is nothing, because we don’t have any dreams than no plan to fulfil our ambitions and desires. Also at the same time we should not be the day dreamer who just waste their time in dreaming and does nothing to achieve them in their life. Such peoples become burden on themselves and on their family. One of the idea to improve the dreams power that we should the written methodology of our dreams. In this method we need write our dreams on daily basis with priority sequence or we can memories the dreams in relax time. This methodology will improve the power of achievement, finding the way to move towards the dreams. We will prepare the phase wise plan if memories or write on daily basis. Build the steps or ladder for our dreams. In one of the article written by Mary Morrissey that 42% more likely to achieve your goals and dreams, simply by writing them down on a regular basis. Writing goals will motivate ourselves, it also motivate our friends, beloved and they will also help us to move towards the dreams. Our Dreams have no borders, we are the generator, creator of our dreams. Dream is dream, it may be small or big. When we realize this then we were able to design a way to favor our plan and accomplish our dream. Finally I will Say that NEVER GIVE UP ON OUR DREAMS

I was running through different Blogs and this Title itself attracted me. I thought this to be very close to my heart. This was something which was I was practicing my Whole life and also realized that yes Dreams can be powerful and achievable. I Still remember When I you I use to dream riding cycle and dropping my father. I was very small about 7-8 Years and this was a big dream for me and one day it happened and then I dreamed of driving a Two Wheeler which was again a reality for me. Then I dreamed of driving a 4 Wheeler which I again became a truth for me. This was a motivation for me and thought came that yes you dream and it turns true. I dreamed of small things step by step and I could achieve the same. Then I tested this many time and could count its success several time. I shared this experience Some time becoming a teacher , Some time as a Mentor , Some times as a brother and a father. I use to also say that you dream and then you get a opportunity to make your dream true and you should have a sixth sense to grasp that opportunity. If you could grasp that opportunity then it is a like a dream come true for you. I am at my mid of the career and still dreaming . It is like a thought which seeds in your Sub Conscious mind and it remains there and keeps on reminding you in the form of dream. It keeps on motivating you to achieve the same and conditions your mind and body to take action so that it turns into reality. Many Renowned people have acknowledged the power of dream and Our Former President APJ Kalam is one of them. Professor Anil has quoted his many experiences and there will be several similar examples which will highlight the power of dream. From ancient times we have heard several stories on dream and people pursuing the dream and achieving it. Let this power of dream become a inspiration for all of us and pave a way for future . Dream and dream and make the dream true . Atlast I will pick a sentence of Roy T Bennett a famous Authur “Dreams don’t work unless you take actions . The Surest way to make your dreams come true is to live them”

Your article reminded me of how everything is imposed on us and we keep living under the burden of it, until one fine day we realize that something absolutely stupid is moving me in a certain way I never thought of. But how do we stop that cycle to control the bias. How to keep being sane, fighting everything but not giving up on it? Conviction, determination, I don't know many such fancy words can be used. But being able to move it everyday irrespective even when it makes you uncomfortable, your brain feels dead for space and air to breath. But HOW?

‘Aspiration’ and ‘inspiration’ according to me are two sides of the same coin. While one always wants to do something with their life, the need of an external stimulus is paramount to get one going on their feet. This stimulus which helps make or break one’s future is channelized by way of their dreams. While some may consider a dreamer to be an escapist, a person who doesn’t want to face reality and live in the mythical world of unicorns and centaurs, one cannot really deny or quantify the real worth of a dream. While Professor Vaidya has succinctly described the real worth of a dream, one needs to always know where to draw the line when it comes to dreaming as nothing can be worse than a dreamer who lacks the vision to convert his/her dream into reality. It is good to dream big as the bigger the dream, the better the chances of realizing it. The bigger the dream results in one taking a quantum leap towards achieving the same. A dream should not be devoid of doubts and apprehensions in the mind of the dreamer as while planning a trip the real fun lies in the journey rather than just reaching the destination. And which journey is fun if it does not have its share of trials and tribulations. Thus, on a parting note, I would like to quote the legendary Walt Disney who once said, ‘If you can dream it, you can do it”.

Sir, It’s a very beautiful article written in lay man’s term which is very easy to understand. I agree everyone should dream and work towards fulfilling their dream. I feel the entire transition demands patience more than anything else. One should not give up on dream easily even if they don’t succeed in the initial attempt as the saying goes “Try try till you succeed”. I also feel our near and dear ones play a very important role in our journey. Like in your case your wife was a great support, similarly my mother has always been my backbone in my journey. When I was in 12th I had dreamt of making a career in Media, my mother supported me however my relatives were against it as they thought being a girl I should complete my graduation, get a decent job in a Bank as bank job would not require me to work for extra hours and get married to a well settled guy. But my mother never gave up on my dream, she encouraged and motivated me when I told her that I want to quit my previous job and wait until I find a relevant job. It was not an easy decision as I was the sole earning member of my house after my dad passed away. However after waiting for almost 2 months, I got a job in a leading media company in digital marketing. Today I have also took up post graduation course in media marketing which would help me understand the functioning of media and perform better at work. With this I would like to conclude saying that with courage one needs full support and trust from their family and closed ones which would help them to keep moving towards their dream.

Dreams are one part of your subconscious mind which keeps you moving. According to me dreams get you positive energies, it is just you have to synchronize yourself to dream and then act, think about it, create a stimulus for yourself and then finally find a solution. Our faith in environment and belief in God can really help us connect to the path to our dreams. As rightly said by Mr Vaidya, day dreaming really works and you have to keep talking about it and believing that everything is for a reason and it is falling in place. When I was growing up I day dreamt a lot too and then steadily started believing in it. With time, I realized dreams coming true is lot do with luck and right deeds. These mixtures are strong blend in your life which makes it a beautiful cocktail. As we keep doing the right deeds and taking the right strides towards our goals, accomplishments are bound to happen, no matter what. And as we accomplish, it makes us believe more in the magical power of positive energies and building stronger faith. It is like how the law of attraction works. The universe is in abundance for everyone. What we ask for, we receive. It is just how strong is our conviction. So I will sum it up on a positive note with my personal achievements and accomplishments I am looking forward too.. Keep dreaming.. Keep believing… Keep achieving!

I completely agree with you sir It is great to daydream when you're looking to boost your ambitions. I've often let myself roam free inside my own mind, when faced with challenging projects that required a bit of out-of-the-box thinking. Daydreaming is ambition that has not been actualized. “My ambition far exceeds my talents,” said by Johnny Depp's character George Chung. Ambition is the most important tool to achieving success, overriding both talent and resources by far. An ambitious attitude can lead anyone to triumph and satisfaction, regardless of what is put in front of them. To have the will, the dream and the courage to be on top of the world will get you a lot farther in life than any skill you can possibly possess. Having talent means nothing if you have no ambition behind it to work at any given point of the day. Do you know how many people are out there and are wastes of ability and potential? A lot more than the ones that have talent and are actually successful. The majority of the people that have attained elite status and rewards were underdogs that had the ambition to prove the world wrong rather than prove it right. Those that are fueled by ambition to work hard and make the sacrifices necessary to have the lives they dreamed of will almost always come out on top. They love the determined, passionate person they are striving to become and the feeling their work gives them, so they find no reason to quit or not believe in themselves. Ambition separates the man on the subway from the man flying in a private jet. Humanity would not have thrived as a civilization had it not been for our natural ambition to survive in triumphant fashion. Ambition is what gives us a purpose in life and allows us to fight for what we believe in. Society looks at heavy ambition as a bad thing because most mistake this characteristic for greed or an addiction to power, but this is not the case at all. It is just the desire to escape mediocrity. The reason why people hate greed and power is because they are too afraid to see where their own ambition can take them. Ambitious people understand that there are no short cuts and it is only their persistence that will get them what they want. They put it all on the line, not letting any instance of drive go ignored because they know this is what they must use to make sure most of their time is dedicated to getting closer and closer to their dream.

I still remember the many dreams I have seen growing up. Some came true, some didn’t, but the happiness of the dreams that came through easily overpower the ones that didn’t. In the hindsight, the comparison is a futile effort because all that you dream does not necessarily manifest and only the things that manifests is what you truly wanted. To quote a line from the book ‘The Secret’- The only reason why people do not have what they dream of is because they are thinking more about those dreams and aspirations that didn’t materialize and fail to notice the beautiful play of destiny which is ensuring that the dreams that they are subconsciously working towards, it taking shape. For every dream you see, there has to be a course of action that needs to be taken to ensure that it manifests. Achieving your dreams is like the process of making a well-cooked dish; you need to slowly put together all the ingredients, balance out the taste, ensure enough texture and heat is given for the perfect taste. It is a process, not an overnight phenomenon. I don’t believe that dreams are one’s escape from reality..I don’t believe in the stories shown to us on celluloid... For me, dreams are actions. If I must lose weight and fit into a cocktail gown on my wedding day, I need to work out, it’s as action oriented as that! Would like to conclude by quoting the great Paulo Coelho, “And, when you really want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it..”

Sir, The article gives us the courage and inspiration to follow our dreams. The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams. Dreams are an inspiring image of the future that empower us to achieve our goal. Every single person will have a dream, but only a few will go after it. There are no boundaries or restrictions for dreaming. They are so powerful such that it can change our entire life as we desired. But we need to discover our dream in life and then plan and achieve it by energizing our thoughts and emotions. Also continuous hard work with full confidence and passion will take us to our dream. One thing to be taken take care always is to work to achieve our own dreams. Living according to others thoughts always make us uncomfortable and unhappy which may lead to many other problems and life will become full of adjustments or compromises. So to lead a happy life always consider your dream as your ultimate goal in life. “Dreams is not what you see in sleep, is the thing which doesn’t let you sleep” these are the words by Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam Sir who has always dreamed and worked to empower children with good thoughts and education, and through them our nation. My dream is to travel across the world. I love to mingle with people of different culture lifestyle languages etc. I strongly believe that it will help me to understand many aspects of life. In order to achieve my goal I need to get well settled in my life for which I am trying now. I have a dream which is my goal and I am ready to face all the hurdles to achieve it.

This article by Anil sir would be one of the few real-life examples that I can cite where simple language can lead to effective communication. In a span of just two columns, Anil sir has completed a full circle on how we dream to become someone and what needs to be done to achieve that dream. Having said that, I would like to point out that dreams are not the ones that are powerful. Although this might mean I am going against the tide, I actually feel dreaming to be someone or to achieve something is not very difficult. I have not seen many people in life who have said that they do not have a dream. If it is easy to dream, then it cannot be powerful, because if it was then most people should have become what they dreamt by now. According to me, dreams give you a taste of what it likes to be someone else and this taste is so addictive that you want to become that person. Dreams have the ability to convince you to become someone. But, between dreaming and making your dreams come to reality, there is a big barrier. Basis my experience, I feel this barrier is inertia. For your dreams to materialize, you have to first get out of your comfort zone and start working towards your dream. As mentioned in the article, Anil sir went on to do an MBA in the US of A even when situations were not conducive at home. This is what is lacking with most people nowadays; the reason why only a few people get to realize their dream is because most people don’t come out of their comfort zones and start working towards their dreams. This, according to me is the biggest stigma that needs to be answered. As rightly pointed out in the article, the courage to voice our dreams is something that should be brought out in each and everyone. The world according to me needs to talk more about inspiring people to work towards their dreams. A lot of words have been spoken on how dreams are powerful and how they can effect change. It’s high time someone spoke about how to come out of your laziness and inertia and face your fear. For example, earning 1400 per month at the age of 23 back in 1976 is nothing short of an achievement. Anil sir could have happily rested on his laurels. But he didn’t, and this is what is expected out of every man and woman. It is very convenient to say that you have a high paying job and a well settled life; it takes courage and guts to leave your comfort zone and chase your dreams. That courage needs to be instilled in people. Courage to pursue your dreams, according to me is what is powerful. Because once you have made that leap from your boat of comfort zone into a sea of insecurities, you have no choice but to learn to swim and reach the shore. This courage makes you powerful enough to realize your dreams. I request Anil sir or anyone from the teaching fraternity at SPJIMR to shed some light on how to be courageous enough to start working towards our dreams.

Out of the few blogs which I have read, Prof. Vaidya’s “Dreams are powerful” stands out as one of the most striking ones. I appreciate the simple yet influencing post that sir has penned down, inspiring us to live out our dreams. Just as armour and ammunition are weapons to fight a war and achieve victory, dreams I believe are our mental weapons- weapons to transform ‘fantasy’ into reality. People say some dreams are realisable while some might appear fictitious. My take on this is, dreams are always realisable depending on the timing and perception of your surroundings. Even James Cameron had painted Avatar long before it was actually made into a movie- maybe if he had directed it earlier, he would have been called a lunatic. Dreams are potential means to glory- to achieve what one has desired always. They maybe aspirations, fantasy, goals, wish etc.- but one must have the courage to achieve them. One may have the finest of weapons, but until he knows how to yield it well, one cannot win a war. In the same way as Colin Powell puts it “A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.” Even in the backdrop of uncomfortable, disheartening situations, one must have the courage to stand up for his own dream. As Prof. Vaidya puts it, “The dreams I had painted took a long time to take shape”, it may be long after the hard work that one actually realises the big picture. After all, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams” as Eleanor Roosevelt says. I have still not discovered fully what is it I want to do in life. One person might be clear about his dreams and other might not. It doesn’t mean that the latter’s dream is a hoax. It’s just that the latter’s dream is far too beautiful for the present mindset of the society. Since childhood I have always dreamt of doing ‘something-great’ regarding Art. Being an avid sketcher myself, I have always wanted to prove my passion. But see- I still do not have a proper word for that ‘something’. Maybe there’s time in figuring out what that ‘something’ is. In the process, I have had and will have the opportunity to live out small, successful dreams leading me to my Big dream. It takes time to shape your dream, to realise its outline, it’s potential. And once you’ve shaped it, give in every drop of sweat to make it happen. One may never realise what wonders may result from their dreams. More than that, the pleasure of achieving more than one actually imagines, on the way to realising his dream, is incredible. One must perspire, persevere and perform to live out that one goal. After all you get just one life- dream it- live it. One must also enjoy the journey to realisation of the dream and he small joys it offers. After all as Walt Disney says- “If you can dream it, you can do it”.

Sir, I would like to thank you for spreading such a powerful message across students which inspires us to dream a new dream today. There are numerous write-ups which justify the importance of dreams but it was the title of this article which attracted me and made me rethink about the idea and theory behind dreams. Are dreams really powerful? Do they have the power to transform our lives? What if dreams are just an illusion? Such questions frequently arise in the minds of people who are still unaware about the impact dreams can have on one’s life. After reading this article, I have realized that dreams have always been a part of our life. We remember some of them, others we don’t. Some of them were highly meaningful while others were just a random collection of thoughts or desires filling our brain. But as we progress in life and become more conscious, the mere thought of thinking about a dream gets buried under human notions like luck and fate. Conditions like financial constraints, family responsibilities or constant failures become an excuse not to dream further. This article reminded me of the book “The Alchemist” in which Coelho quotes that it is the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting. Thus, dreams are powerful as they not only give us a direction but also remind us of the futuristic goal we aim to achieve in life. On a personal note, it was my dream to join a top 10 B-school of India which gave me the courage to leave a well-settled job and inspired me to work towards it. While dreaming is important, it is equally necessary to keep dreams alive and have faith in your beliefs. As mentioned by Anil Sir, it is quite easy to dream but it takes lot of determination to pursue them. Only sheer hard work and patience to realize those dreams can turn great dreamers to achievers in life. Recently, I came across Dr. Kalam’s statement that it is a crime to dream small in life. This made me question whether it is always important to “dream big” or think something extraordinary. Instead of chasing the ‘big dream’ race, I believe one should dream deeper and try achieving it to the fullest potential even if it means to have a smaller dream in life. Martin Luther King’s famous speech ‘I have a dream’ ignited a movement and reminded the citizens of their basic rights that they had been deprived of since years. This aim of achieving small basic rights turned every ordinary citizen in the audience extraordinary by eventually making them dreamers. The only thing which holds us back from achieving such dreams is the fear of failing in life. Therefore, in the course of achieving a dream, one must also develop the potential to handle all the difficulties and keep moving towards the greater goal in life. While I am eagerly waiting for the next part of this article stating the possible guidelines for achieving dreams, I wish to start experiencing the power of dreams from today for a brighter tomorrow.

I am a strong believer in the ‘Stop thinking, start doing’ philosophy. I could not resist myself from expressing my thoughts on this piece by Dr. Vaidya. I recently read a blog with a view contrary to Dr. Vaidya’s, titled “Don’t dare to dream, dare to do”. The author, Jason Flamm, sets the context on the backdrop of the ups and downs of writing his book, “Keep Creating”. He urges people to start doing instead of just dreaming. On the other hand, Dr. Vaidya’s blog tickles the reader’s minds and inspires them to persist with their dreams. It made me think if there is a middle ground between the two school of thoughts. Dr. Vaidya connects well with the readers by bringing in elements of his personal life. Often, as we grow older, our dreams become smaller. We attribute this change to ‘being-practical’. We begin to believe less in our abilities and more on what others think. ‘Voicing out the dreams’ has personally worked for me. In fact, I believe that one must write down their dreams. It reinforces the belief in their goals. A written piece lives through ages. Dr. Vaidya, in the penultimate paragraph describes how dreams are the path to do the right things. I like the way he leaves the readers anticipating for more. Like many others have mentioned, the line of thought Dr. Vaidya has is similar to what India’s former president Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam had: “Dreams are those that do not let you sleep”. I am looking forward to the second part with the guidelines that he followed to conquer his dreams. To sum it all up, I was probably wrong while comparing the two blogs and labelling them contradictory. The reality is that the two ideas are complementary. Dreams are like the far-away peak for a mountaineer, every one of his little step is directed towards conquering that one peak. I believe that this beautifully written blog underlines what American filmmaker and entrepreneur, George Lucas said, “Dreams are extremely important, you can’t do it unless you imagine it”. I too, have a dream. A dream to positively change people’s lives. Hopefully, many years from now, I will be able to look back at this blog, share my story and say, “Yes, Dreams are truly powerful”.

Dear Sir, Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us through this wonderful article. Your take on dreams and their power resonates with me for a lot of reasons. I would like to share an incident that is very close to my heart. I had started attending Karate classes from the age of 7. As years passed by, I progressed with belt promotions. After the Purple belt promotion, the practice sessions started getting extremely rigourous since extremely high grades were needed for promotion to Brown belt. I used to come home with cuts, bruises, swellings almost every single day. Body pain had become a constant companion. To top it, I had to attend my music classes and school (obviously!). The gruelling routine lasted for around 6 years as I progressed through belts. Nothing compares to the experience of getting up at 5:00 a.m. in the morning almost every day, practicing for 2 hours, then attending school and the music classes. Further practice and combat sessions used to follow from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., 6 days a week. There were both good and bad days. The bad ones mostly were followed by crying, tired of trying and failing. At such times, my father used a tactic of asking me to give up the classes if I couldn’t bear the pressure. Somehow, that scared me. I could never bear the thought of giving up on my dream; the dream of holding a black belt one day. Somewhere during those years, that dream became a constant companion and I kept pushing my limits, day after day. I always had a vision of my peers clapping for me and my Master beaming proudly at me as I received my Black belt. Family support, constant motivation from friends and my Master’s dedication towards teaching worked to keep demoralizing thoughts at bay. Those years were a mix of blood, sweat and tears. Eventually, the D-day arrived. My test was scheduled to start at 3:00 p.m. in the scorching summer heat of Delhi. More than anything else, that day was more about keeping faith in myself for those 4 hours. At the end of it all, when the examiner left, my Master walked up to me and said he was proud of me, irrespective of the result. He had never uttered a word of praise all those years and hearing him say those words was overwhelming. It instilled a sense of achievement that is yet to be matched. The results came out a week after and I had made it! I was a Senpai, a proud black belt holder. The dream was realized, that vision became a reality. I saw everything I dreamt about. It has been almost 7 years since that day. And the impact still remains. That feeling of accomplishing a dream remains unmatched. I believe one should always have a dream; let that dream fill you up, work towards it and somewhere you will realize the impact it has had on your life. Somebody rightly said, “The future belongs to those who believe in the power of their dreams.”

Beautiful thoughts Sir! Thank You for these thoughts, for I too believe in shaping your dreams by dreaming. The first seed of this very thought was sown in my mind when I first read the book “The Secret”. The very essence of the book is same, i.e. we need to dream and believe in our dreams, and those dreams sooner or later would definitely come true. The second seed of the same idea/thought was sown when I read the book “The Power of your Subconscious Mind” by Joseph Murphy. This book also conveys the same idea but by using the imprinting of dreams on our subconscious mind and then they becoming a reality. When we firmly believe in our dreams and again & again keep on visualizing and verbalising them, we develop a mental image of them at the back of our minds. I believe every thought is a frequency that we emanate. And once our thoughts are in sync with our dreams we automatically emanate those frequencies and the universe is there responding to our frequencies. Naturally and subconsciously we align ourselves towards making those dreams come true. But we have to consciously make sure that our thoughts and thus the frequencies that we emit are always in sync, for Universe is always responding to them. Once we are on this track we do not even realise and our dreams become reality. I think the only reason why people do not get what they dream is because they are thinking more about what they do not want rather than what they do want. So, we need to listen to our thoughts, and the words we speak, since Universe is always listening with no exceptions. In this context I would like to quote a beautiful saying by Buddha that, “All that we are is a result of what we have thought”. Or in other words we can say that our current reality or current life is a result of the thoughts we have been thinking. All of that will totally change as we begin to change our thoughts and our feelings. And one fine a day, a door will eventually open and our dreams would turn into reality. Also, we are able to connect the dots of the happenings/events in our lives only by looking backwards, and so that fine day we’ll be able connect everything and make sense of all the happenings in our lives. So, the larger picture is that we need to dream first, be absolutely clear in our mind what we want. Then make that dream stick to our minds so that we automatically start working towards achieving them and eventually let them turn into reality. So lastly I would like to sum up all these into 3 simple words. Ask, Believe, Receive.