Taking the Road Less Travelled…

  It would be apt if I say my life was so smooth until I made, rather not made that big decision in my life! For those who think that decision was falling in love –Please give it a break  :p . That big decision I mentioned was the answer to the question What’s next after 12^th? Passing my board exams with flying colors I voted for society’s opinion. And yeah society did win and I ended up opting for engineering in Electronics and Communication – the one which is said to be the course for the creamy layers (as told by my H.O.D :p)! Still Lady Luck gave me another opportunity and I nailed it with a University rank. I was offered with a job (yes, you are guessing it right- the I.T based job it is) even before I could sail through my final exams. I’m still clinging on to the same job.  I would not say I have been through all this without my hard work, but what I realise now is I have failed to work hard enough to get what I really needed. Slowly I am starting to question myself if this is want I really want in life?! I spent four years banging CROs and digital circuits in electronics laboratory, manipulating the sine and cosine waveforms while all I do post my graduation is to bang my head to decode the software codes which god knows who created! And it seems like I am doing justice to neither.

   This remains the situation for majority of the present generation, who ended up being lucky enough to get placed through campus recruitment. Being blind folded by society one worries about how and where one must be rather than how and where one want oneself to be. Going forward I am afraid  people will no longer have the need for asking what one do for their living for the only profession will be I.T based . Now don’t take me all wrong. For those who are in love with this job – good for you but I’m worried about the other half because that’s where I exactly belong. I understand computers have been a great boon and definitely made life an easy win for especially the ones who pass out of college. But what one must not forget is that how it silently kills your quest of discovering what you truly are. From experience I could say every software professional wears a different hat during their post office hours – there are teachers, writers, creators and lots more who are longing to permanently tear off the software mask and make a difference in their life.

There is popular Facebook post “In India people first become engineers and then wonder what to do in life!” and I am afraid as this is absolutely true!  Kind advice to the parents, please start trusting your child’s capability. In today’s generation parents are more afraid to face their children failure than the children themselves. It is good that they don’t want their children to struggle like the way they did, but this attitude must not be a hindrance for their child’s development.

To all the parents who think, their child getting placed during final year of college is the biggest achievement on earth, trust me that might end up as the only achievement you child would ever taste. There is that other category which feels proud for sending their children abroad for that kid’s education!  The kid will be all happy at first excited about the next phase of their life. It might be good at the beginning, great to feel that with their first salary they could purchase a costly android that is recently out in the market, but remember sooner or later this enthusiasm will be drained out and so will the kids!

Prepare your kids to work towards figuring out solution to the enigma of life by themselves and five or ten years from now you can find them satisfied and pleased to settle for what they like even if it is going to be the same that they currently do for it will be their life decision and not something that is thrust upon them. So, friends those who are not interested in what you do, gear up and gather the strength to do what you like to do. Let us take that one step forward and be the change we want the society to be!

Let us pen down our own history! Take a tour around the roads less travelled- Bon Voyage! Who knows we may even meet :)