A dream vs. a reality: images depict what adults are doing now versus what they wanted to be

What did you want to be growing up? That was the question a college student in India asked 12 people for a photography project, with each photo showing where each adult ended up career-wise years later.

Deeksha Rathore, a third-year college student in Mumbai, created a photography series called ‘Dreamcatcher‘ that explores what adults are doing with their lives today compared to what they wanted to be as a child growing up. Among the photos are a maid who wanted to be a dancer, a doctor who dreamed of being a cricket player.

“They’re all real people and their dreams are also very real,” Rathore told Global News. “It has such an Indian context to it but people abroad have related to it as well. At the end of the day it dreams – everyone has dreams.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "They're all real people and their dreams are also very real," Rathore told Global News. "It has such an Indian context to it but people abroad have related to it as well. At the end of the day it dreams - everyone has dreams."

Rathore said it was a conversation she had with her mother that inspired her idea for the class project.

“I was 19, 20 and going through a teenage crisis: ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do with my life. I don’t know where I’m going,’” said Rathore. “My mother said ‘that’s OK, I have friends who decided they wanted to do something and decided to do something completely different. And that’s OK, it’s not a big deal.’”

Courtesy: Instagram/deeksharathore_
Other photos in the series include a paan seller who wanted to be a security guard and an air hostess who always had dreams of being a DJ.

And even though each photo holds a special message and meaning behind it, it was one photo in particular that really struck a chord with Rathore: the juice wala who wanted to be an army officer.

“He said he wanted to be an army officer… the reaction I got when I came the next day with an army jacket for him to put on -he was so taken aback, he didn’t think I would go to that extent to get him a proper jacket,” said Rathore. “Just seeing the emotions on his face, it was probably one of the most surprising things. Knowing that I’m having that kind of impact for him to experience or live his dream for even a second – it really warmed my heart.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "He said he wanted to be an army officer… the reaction I got when I came the next day with an army jacket for him to put on -he was so taken aback, he didn't think I would go to that extent to get him a proper jacket," said Rathore. "Just seeing the emotions on his face, it was probably one of the most surprising things. Knowing that I'm having that kind of impact for him to experience or live his dream for even a second - it really warmed my heart."

Rathore said since she put her work online, she’s been getting a lot of messages from people who are telling her what they wanted to be when they grew up versus where they are now.

“You know your work means something when you’re having an impact on people and starting a conversation,” said Rathore.

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Rathore said the images aren’t meant to be heartbreaking or to discourage anyone, but she understands that different people will interpret her work in their own way.

“I have people who say they have a dream and hope they achieve it and will never give up. And I have some who say they’re happy doing what they’re doing even if it’s not what they wanted to be as a child.”

So, what did Rathore want to be when she was younger?

“Ten years ago, I wanted to be an artist but now I see myself in filmmaking. Ten years from now, who knows?”