Disha is an Indian American woman trying to take her mind back to a time that she loved so much. When she was a little girl and her mother made her believe in all things possible. Sitting her on her lap showing her that up in the darkness of the sky, there are things to learn about and believe in beyond the blinking stars. Her mother then followed it up with a spaceship toy and Disha was forever a true dreamer. She wanted to be an astronaut like Sunita Williams, the first Indian American to pave the way. Disha was an only child, but she was very aware. She noticed how hard her father worked and how passionate her mom was about keeping her safe and soaring. She also noticed when her dad, who was always working started slowing down, moving differently, the Cancer was forcing him to not be the machine he had always been. This was the moment when Disha misdirected her life. She obsessed about college, the applications and all the things she has to do to get into her dream college so she could achieve her goals and make her parents proud and take the stress off of them. Unfortunately, she took on too much, too fast and tried to do everything all alone. Her mental health suffered, her physical health followed and eventually her body forced her to take an extended break. This is the story of a true dreamer that learned a very difficult lesson about life’s ability to give us lemons and expect us to recognize that the lemons aren’t quite ready so we have wait a little longer… eventually it will be all of our times to win just the way we dreamed of.
Forever the Dreamer
(Scene opens with Disha, an Indian American, eighteen-year-old young woman who stands in front of a paper shredder. She gathers loads of paper and begins to shred. There is a moment of apprehension and she gathers another handful and shreds as she speaks)
There once was a girl named Disha (to audience with a smile) that’s me. She was a lovely girl, nice, respectful of her elders and beautiful in every way. (winks then smiles) Yep, that’s all me too. (laughs) What made her special was (beat) Disha wasn’t like the other girls. She didn’t look like them, didn’t dress like them. But she was still one of the most beautiful girls in all the land. (Beat, transitions to the audience) That is how most of my mother's stories started. She made sure the beautiful girl, wonderful Princess, whimsical maiden had my name. Disha. She also made sure to tell me this particular beautiful girl didn't look like all of the other girls. It was her way of telling me even though none of my dolls, and none of my toys when I was growing up looked like me, I was still just as beautiful as they were. All of my dolls were white. They were white dolls with blonde or brown hair with brown or blue eyes and I, I am not. I often wondered if the stories my mother was telling me were in fact her own creations. Stories she wished someone had told to her the way she tells them to me. Whimsical experiences that happened in a far far land that doesn't exist for me. Places and people and things that would never reflect the life I was living which is kind of why they're fantasies right? It was nearly one year ago today that the beautiful maiden that is Disha is whisked off to a new land and a new place that had never been discovered before.
