I travelled to Mumbai last night and instantly headed towards the Taj Mahal hotel. What grandeur. I recall seeing the structure on TV when Josh, an awesome Montreal-based Pakistani-Indian fusion band, came up with the video for their song, Mahi Ve. For some strange, odd reason, I decided it looked like a Belgian building. I had obviously seen the video in bits and pieces. Unfortunately, it took the massacre on November 26 for me to discover what it was and where it was. Quite naturally, on entering Mumbai then, I was, first and foremost, drawn towards it. There were so many locals sitting around the building, just watching it, as if in awe and in shock. I hesitated, went up to them, and introduced myself as a Pakistani, not knowing what to expect. To my pleasure, they smiled and offered to click me into a postcard for Mumbai. I then went inside the hotel, where I ran into four Indian movie stars on a single table: Salman Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Aamir Khan and Arjun Rampal. I had the necessary gadgets (digital camera and a volunteer photographer) to do the needful. My excitement knew no bounds. In another section of the hotel, I encountered whirling Turkish derveshis. Strange, I thought, but no complaints, for it was another lucky chance to snap away! More strange things followed. Outside a spacious room, people were switching off their mobile phones, lining up, observing pin drop silence, gradually walking into a room; a second door, leading them out. The preserved body of Mao Tse Tung lay inside. I recall casting a look at him and thinking to myself, I had visually embraced monumental history. Then, I woke up.
Dreams. What are they? I usually dream a strange cocktail of disconnected things, people and events. My sister too. She says she always walks into one house and out of another.
Signmund Freud's contribution to the area is perhaps the most significant. He introduced the world to psychoanalysis, focussing study on the subconscious human mind. His Interpretation of Dreams offers a method of free association to arrive at an interpretation of the symbolism of the images in our dreams: which wishes we want fulfilled and which inner conflicts we need resolved.
While I am obviously not urging my readers and fellow bloggers to interpret my dream for me, I think it'll be an interesting exercise if people could relate any incoherent narratives of their own. All the better if they've had any of their dreams successfully psychoanalysed the Freudian way.
Copyright (c) 2008 Saadia Malik
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15 comments:
i love dreams... i often write about mine (when i do get to sleep... lol)... and find them really fascinating...
i think your dream portrays your DENIAL but undying interest in the whole 'mumbai fiasco' !
That, I interpret to be your DENIAL of the Freudian way of interpreting dreams!
for a person who has actually 'tried to read freud'... i take that as an insult... lol
jus kiddin...
well... my interpretation of 'denial' came from teh single fact that you saw a state b4 the massacre... you were welcomed by the indians... you met the 3 khans and arjun... it was all good...
it was clearly a state b4 the massacre...
which means... you wish for a time b4 teh massacre...
which means... you are in denial of the massacre...
to put some softer light on the topic... you are totally shocked at what happened and deep down find it hard ot beleev and wish it had never happened... !!!
Haha, and to think that foolish man spent years giving birth to psychoanalysis.
Won't you probe into Mao? And the derveshis, doctor?
i will b in due time.. i hav jus begun extra reading into these things and as far as it goes i m still finding it interesting...
but wont claim any knowledge till i kno somin for sure !!!
hi, since i'm a dreamer myself and have seen many a vivid dream.. i'm going to try give this a shot, loosely though;
mumbai, a big, vibrant city and well-known building. this could actually mean a plethora of things, i wouldn't even know where to start. a 'known building', according to ibn seerin's dream 'encyclopaedia'... ermm.. i dont have it with me, i'll get back to you on that.
the bollywood actors, now that's a hint that this dream doesn't bear any significant message as it's propably something imprinted in your mind, but if it wasn't, according to ibn sireen, these 'known men' they have characteristics, or something in common with three other men (more likely they represent new people who will enter your life bearing these same characteristics).
whirling dervishes - now that is pretty obvious i'd say, something about the ruh. were they wearing pure, white clothes? were they stained? did they speak? etc...
i've know idea about this monument you saw, never heard of it, so can't delve into that.
again this is just me giving this a shot, i have a big fat book by ibn sireen at home (apparently it's according to principles of hadith/sunnah - so not mumbo-jumbo). i dream a lot, and this book's always helped answer my questions. i cant really tell what sort of dream you had, whether you were just thinking about the whole mumbai incident and the dream came into existence or whether it is a genuine dream and thus holds some sort of hidden messages about yourself?
LOL, I asked everybody to share their own crazy dreams, and everybody's busy interpreting mine! To be honest, I myself don't turn to dreams for direction in life or for important signs. They are better left unexplored. God only knows! But of course, one can make interesting observations to relate the content of dreams on what actually is on our minds.
lol.. well in that case you need to visit my blog for my dreams... lol
DOH!!
hahahaha..!
ok, so you didn't really need that essay then. i don't know, dreams affect people differently. i'm actually extremely weird when it comes to dreams, i hate this whole 'i'm so superior, i have 'premonitions' in my dreams' type of talk, so i hope i don't come across that way but i've had a lot of weird dreams in the past. one example is i used to see an old, frail bearded man in many of my dreams like a really nice old man, he'd like either bring me a herd of sheep as a gift or i'd see him in some wood sweeping leaves and not uttering a word etc, well.. two months ago i saw him, he was real, he was a sweeper/cleaner in medina.
another example is, days before one of my cousins got diagnosed with cancer i saw him (the cousin) in my dream, he was an active, normal kid, but in the dream i saw his father hiding in a corner and cooing gently at him as he cradled him in his arms like a small baby. gosh! loads of things like that.
some people dont dream, if they do, they don't really mean much or effect them, but for me it's always been a tad different. i really value them. :)
actually, i dont like talking about such dreams during the day, i feel nauseous and get this horrible sense of deja vu, so i'll stop now. that'll be enough for today, haha!
ps. you mentioned freud, all i know about this guy is i studied him in school and just one mention of 'penis' envy' really, really put me off. come to think of it, all these theorists were a bit loco!
that feelin of deja vu when u talk about dreams is called 'absence syndrome' ...
i get that a lot too... and somtimes i see things in life which i hav already seen in my dreams...
makes me highly nauseous!
Guys, please get your tummies washed! ;-)
Mao tse Tung's preserved body, now thats a WILD dream. You have enough imagination to last you a lifetime honey :)
I like to write my dreams down and sometimes I also bother to try and analyze them.
This morning I was dreaming that I was finding new rooms in my home and all rooms had desks in them no matter what kind of rooms they were. I decided to have my sons help me move the desks to the office where they belong and that when we realized that the ground underneath the clothesline was made of Lego. I tried to pick the Lego up and sort it but the clothespins got in the way all of the time. So I told my grandmother about it since I was sitting in her kitchen and she pointed to the summer curtains hanging on the clothesline and reminded me that I should take them down.
I know that the rooms symbolize aspects of my personality and new things that I find out about my self. That rings true to me since I've done a lot of reflecting over myself as a person lately. The rest and especially the Lego are things I need to look up. =)
My oldest son has to write down and analyze two of his dreams during the holidays as part of his home work. He's sighing thinking it's silly and I'm all enthusiastic about it. It's the first time in many years that I'll be able to help him with his homework since he's normally studying on a level that I never reached.
Kadri, what an innovative assignment! What is your son studying? About the Legos, I'm sure our friends - Abdul Sami and supersizeme - will have loads to offer!
Tazeen, that part I can explain. I was discussing Mao's leadership role in China with my father, a few days back. And of course, they do have his body preserved for people to pay their respects, so I am still short of wild imaginations - unfortunately!
Hey girl, you had me googled just to know what the heck is that Gulliver’s Travell is about, & realize how ignorant I am. Any ways, my Grand Ma used to tell me not to share my dreams to every one cuz its not meant for that and ill wishers can do harm just knowing your dreams. I am not sure if this is just a superstition or it carries any truth, but one thing I do know is, not all but few dreams are very personal and reveal such thoughts & obsessions of yourself that you don’t even realize. I don’t think sharing that deep feeling to everyone is a commendable idea.
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