Road Map to life?

-
This is not one of those sappy articles where I will tell you how to live your life or what are the rules that you should live by. But just something different. As kids we have very few decisions to make in life. The moment we are born the next 20 years of our lives are already planned for us. There are clear cut instructions, a Road map if you may to follow, which you have to follow precisely. The journey starts when you are maybe 3 and start muttering random syllables and your parents are overwhelmed with joy.


One fine day, you are dressed in some sort of a uniform and left at this unknown place with kids your age dressed similarly. Pre-school. Here begins your decade long journey of white shirts and grey pants/skirts. If you were a 90s kid from a middle class family, then you would have been familiar with the phrase "Humara beta toh engineer banega!"
You go through school trying to get a single digit rank because you happen to be an above average kid and "Sharma ji ka beta toh kitna padhta hai". This perpetual competition between you and Sharma ji's kid becomes a part of your school life. All tests becomes goals for you. Want a new cycle, get an A on the next test and you also learn to live that way.
Among-st all this, you have just started to have fun with friends and be a little independent or rebellious when the dreaded three year phase hits you in the face. Your parents start you off by saying "Work hard these three months then have fun the rest of your life". Lie. Blatant lies. In your face lies. College is no peace of cake, you have to work damn hard because everyone around is of the same level. And after college there might be a little relief, but I guess that doesn't stay. Well, this is as far as I have come so I can't comment on what is yet to come.
Yeah so getting back to engineering preparation and IIT. You get enrolled in coaching for IIT-JEE. Studying becomes your life and books become your companions. You sleep, eat, talk of Schodinger and Albert Einsten and how every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Yeah I know sort of nerdy.
You somehow manage to get into a decent college and finally get all the independence you have been craving since your early teens. These four years are truly the best and the most important years in your life. They not only give you a career but also make you the person you are going to be for the rest of your life. And these 4 years also seem too short, never enough time. Just as you become a little mature, you see yourself standing on the outside of those iron gates facing life.

Now, what?
What is the next task?Next Challenge?New Conquest?Where to go from here?

The roadmap that you started on when you were 3 ends here, does not give you further directions.
The paper clutched in your hands is useless now, you have to figure out everything on your own. Make your own decisions and your own mistakes. There is no rule book anymore.The roadmap to life only takes you so far, the rest is up to you. Are you game?

Comments

Post a Comment

All time highs

Where are the "Friends" now?

-
Image
It's been 11 years since Monica and Chandler moved out of the apartment. That was one big moment for the group, after which they all really did grow up. Their lives went into six different directions, but they still try to keep in touch. The keeping in touch does not go very well with their busy lives. But they try to meet at least once a month at the coffee house, and swap stories like old times. This has now become a tradition. Also they always always go to Monica's place for thanksgiving where she cooks them a delicious meal and the kids run around and have fun! Monica and Chandler moved to the suburbs with the twins, who are now 11 years old. Monica is not only a chef at one of the best restaurants in NY but has published two cookbooks as well. Chandler who started on a new career path is now booming in that field, He is working at a great advertising firm, but he prefers to work from home (at least half the time) and stay with the kids. They have a perfect littl
Read more

The Blockchain of Trust

-
Image
I have been working in the technology space for over a year now. And it has significantly shaped my thought process and decision-making. I find myself seeking logic in every aspect of my life, to the point that I have started annoying people around me! One fine day when I was driving back home, it hit me. Trust is the foundation of how we operate. Certain people are closer to us than others because we trust them more. We believe in them. This trust is an underlying component of every friendship and relationship. Actually, let me rephrase that, it is a quintessential ingredient, without which your recipe is going to be incomplete and your friendship bland.  We all have our network of trusted friends, the individuals closest to us in this world. We would want these relationships to continue for as long as possible, and if something happens to even one of them it would be devastating. So there I am in my car, listening to Coldplay, pondering if there was a foolproof way to optimize this
Read more

Old Manali - Alternate realities

-
Image
As I sit down to write this, I have too many things going on in my head. Too many Manali stories, too many ideas, a lot of great places to visit if you ever happen to go down there and maybe somethings that made me think. Let me start by saying, that this short vacation to Old Manali, was by far the most chill 4 odd days I have had in I don't even know how long! It was a lot of French fries, every board game ever, sitting by the river and listening to the gushing sound of the water, smoking up to the point of indescribable chill, talking endlessly and enjoying silences, walking along the street with no purpose and trying to take one decent picture on the bridge. This was my trip. Though the best part was trekking to the waterfalls, sitting down along the water with Magoo (the doggo who led us there), eating Maggi, listening to soft music, glancing at my Malcolm Gladwell, laughing at strangers as they were attempting to get a candid profile picture just right with the girl wh
Read more

Is ignorance really bliss?

-
Image
So there is something that I have been thinking for a while now. Our lifestyles today, the independence, the freedom, the lack of any restrictions etc are all very good and is the kind of life we all have aspired to have since we were kids. Since we were able to play house, we have been dreaming of actually living that life for real. But now that I am here, I don't really see what the fuss was all about. Yeah I mean total financial independence is sort of a plus point. But then it comes with its own set of asterisks. Young adults today have far more liberty than our previous generations at that age. With lesser responsibility and more freedom, our lifestyles have somewhat gone haywire. Maybe we aren't ready for the independence that has been given at such an early stage in our lives. A person in his 20s, is already burdened with a massive change in his lifestyle, i.e. the transition from the carefree college life to that of a responsible full time employee. This in itself is
Read more

Discovering Serenity: A Digital Detox in the Tranquil Embrace of Shimla

-
I have been in Shimla for almost a full week now. Despite my phone usually having full bars, here it struggles to catch even one or two. The internet on my phone is practically non-existent, and the wifi makes me feel like I'm 10 years old again. Life here is a stark contrast to Bangalore, where I have been residing for about two years. Bangalore is the epicenter of start-ups and technology, and my daily life is intricately intertwined with various tech applications. From the moment I wake up until I try to fall asleep using my white noise app, there is always some app assisting me. If I were to count, there would be easily over 100 apps on my phone. These aren't dormant apps that I use occasionally; these are tools I rely on regularly. Despite numerous attempts to declutter and eliminate unnecessary apps, I always seem to hover around the 100-mark. In Bangalore, my phone dictates my daily routine – from office tasks to meals, ordering groceries, managing expenses, staying
Read more

An amazing course!

-
This semester I took a course called "Introduction to western music" with two of my friends and today was our last class. I wasn't required to but it seemed interesting and easy, plus I had already done music earlier so I assumed I would pretty much know most of the things and would get a head start. Within the first few classes only I realized, that I did not have much of an advantage because western and hindustani are completely different. The first few weeks were fun, we sang and danced in the class and I really had a good time. That was one class I would always look forward to and I tried never to miss. Things were all fine and then we were given the assignment to perform a musical in a group of 23 or so people. This was a huge turning point in the course. We performed the musical called "Mamma Mia" and somehow I ended up with the role of the main character.  While preparing for the musical me and friends had some disagreements which turned into a
Read more

Exam times!

-
Image
Normally, we find ourselves constantly postponing tasks, whether they be our daily chores or other planned activities. After all, procrastination tends to be ingrained in our nature. However, there comes a specific period, usually lasting 15-20 days, in every student's life when suddenly nothing can be delayed any longer. Everything must be accomplished immediately and with perfection. I believe you all can relate to what I'm referring to—the exam period! During this time, students will go to great lengths to avoid studying. Even those of us who typically neglect cleanliness may suddenly feel an irresistible urge to tidy up our rooms and make them spotless. The rest of the year, it might look as if a hurricane just passed through, but during these crucial 15 days, everything needs to be in perfect order. People suddenly realize they need to lose weight, buy groceries, or reach out to that aunt who called two months ago! For some of us, we attempt to broaden our creative hor
Read more

30 days of my Notice Period

-
Image
I know a lot my posts have been a bit morbid to say in the slightest.  Apologies for all the ranting, preaching and the poems! (I might not be done yet) But somehow the sun has managed to finally wake himself up from his cozy slumber and managed to throw some light my way, putting a crack in the dense clouds hovering over. Too much imagery eh? As I am writing this, I am imagining a dark mark hovering in the sky. But yeah, getting back to the tiny bit of light I have in my life. I have been giving interview after interview for this firm for about 1.5 months now, and finally, they have decided to stop throwing case studies and guesstimates my way and graciously extend me an offer! Yay! I put in my resignation yesterday and I already feel extremely free. I have to serve one month of notice period here, where I will be extremely free, hopefully. It's barely been one day and I am already bored. So I have decided to take up one of those 30-day challenges. I have picked the one below
Read more

India is Akbar Birbal and Tenali Rama: हमने कभी फर्क नहीं किया

-
Image
A lot has been happening in our country over the last few weeks. There has been a lot of talk about it in every form of media available. I myself have been giving a lot of thought to the processions happening all over the country. It is a very complex and complicated issue. On the one hand, I cannot even begin to understand and comprehend the emotions of hundreds of millions of people across the world, who have their emotions invested in this and their joy on the 22nd of January and Ram Mandir. And my love to all of them. It has been a long battle, and they finally got what they had always wanted.  In a serendipitous moment last night, while engrossed in reading Walter Isaacson's "Elon Musk," I came across a chapter about Twitter, talking about Elon Musk and Parag Agarwal. This prompted a train of thought in my mind about the millions of Indians relocating to the USA annually. I imagined a future where, perhaps, a century or two from now, people of Indian origin would con
Read more

#10 Something you always think "What if" about

-
 Hmm, interesting topic. There are a lot of choices we make on a regular basis that define everything in our lives. When I think about one of my "What if" moments, I can remember one decision I made back in 2013, that I felt myself going back to once in a while for a long time. I used to think about that decision with decreasing frequency over time. I don't do that anymore. Maybe because it has been a long time. The statute of limitations has run out.  Apart from that one thing seven years ago, I can't remember myself going back to any other crossroad I have been in my life, questioning my judgment or wondering what would have happened, let alone daydreaming about it. I mean I have made some very tough choices. Life-changing decisions so to speak, but somehow, I think that was the best thing for me to have done at that point in time. In fact, I will not say it best, but the only thing I could have lived with. I know it sounds too serious, but I am someone who needs to
Read more