“I have a dream” – Martin Luther King Jr.

For as long there is a dream there is a hope
and as long as there is a hope there is a joy in living.

Most of my friends know that I am quite passionate about football . If given a chance I can literally Eat , Sleep , Dream football and that is the chance I want for myself .  I am ready to work my ass for it , I am ready to sacrifice for it  .

So what do I want to do?
I want to open a football academy and try to build a social community  around it based on the principles of fairness and fun. Normally people see football as just a game , but I see it as more than that . It has the power to unite people , it has the power to give joy …. to bring hope .
Just take the project Football for Peace in Lebanon for instance , Christians and Muslims can play football together, despite the fact they have fought a bloody civil war against each other.
Here I have a paragraph from the site http://www.rockwoolfonden.dk/programme+areas/international+peace+building/football+for+peace+in+lebanon which really says it all as to why I am so motivated to do this thing .

Football involves feelings, and team sports can function as a catalyst in bringing people together. Football is about fun, fellowship and team spirit. It brings instant happiness to the lives of children. It also brings parents, siblings and football trainers together in an effort to create a framework for the children to enjoy themselves. All this goes on across ethnic, religious and political divides. The adults meet and communicate in a neutral environment where the focus is on the games and the opportunities for the children. Even though meaningful dialogue may have broken down in everyday society, the warring parties can find common ground in the context of sport. A sense of fellowship created around the game of football, and within the framework it establishes, helps to build a platform for the meeting of many different interests. The potential for building bridges is clear when we see children transform a road or a backyard into a lively football pitch with a wealth of activities on offer.  Participants in a seminar are often amazed to discover just how much they are in agreement with people “on the other side”. A Christian local councillor, Melanie Chahine of Araya, said that she had not even sat close to a Muslim since the first civil war began in 1975 – not to speak of working closely with one on values and dreams!

It has always been my dream to become a professional footballer , but since i have most certainly passed my age ( I just play to have fun these days ) I have this dream of helping other kids to have a chance of going professional  . The football scene in India is improving day by day  ,  trying to catch up with cricket “the undisputed leader “. Using Sports as a medium to earn their daily bread has been looked down by the society at large . I want to change all that .
I want to use football as a vehicle to bring about a change ( even if it is a miniscule one ) to give hope to the next generation’s dreams .
One of my friends at Fiitjee told me that in Sikkim ” the guys have so much talent that they can make it big if given the opportunity but because of the harsh reality when they pass out of school they have to do menial jobs to have a reasonable source of income .”Only the lucky few are able to get educated and get a good job but they too are not very happy with their life as was the case with Ashwin .

I am one of the lucky people who is going to be work in a sector in which he/she has some interest .  The path is not clear right now but I am sure my interest in programming will help me to rise as quickly as possible . When the time is opportune , I plan to focus most of my time on this venture of mine .  I am just going to use my job as a stepping stone to greater things , as I have a debt to clear because of the astronomical amount of money it took to get a engineering degree . Back to reality I guess ….. but I need to be pragmatic too or else the seed of my dream will not even be able to germinate . This journey of life will be enjoyed only if I am honest with what I want and then I focus on  it.

Why I am writing down this in public ?
After reading this  I am sure few years down the line , there will be people asking me “Hey Abhishek , what happened to your dream project ” . I want to have the pressure upon myself to give my 100 % so that I know I can stand up with pride and conjure up a reply to the above question . So many times we have seen that we have a dream but because only we know of it , it is just so easy to slack off and let it die in the realms of bewilderness.
And if anybody reading this becomes a millionaire please help by contributing something to support this project.

I would like if you could care to put your two cents in …. regarding the dreams you have.