The Winds of change ..!! The Shimmer of Realism..!!

I am apprehended whilst I write this note. A protagonist is screaming deep within. I don’t know whether it is the overwhelming effect of the article I read on “Quarter Life Crisis” or am I undergoing some radical punitive of nature’s embellishment. I don’t know.

Quite noticeably I get aware of the rising panic deep within. I lay down to sleep and I dream of a kite without a kite runner in a windmill of negative gravity. In strange non-directional ether, I see the path unwinding to nowhere. Like I read in the article, the symptoms that establish the relation to the so called “Quarter Life Crisis” are vividly etched out. Yes, the thoughts of uncertainty and insecurity. The worries of not being settled and the mammoth question of the time at which I will get settled. The predicament of unrest haunts every dream of mine. I have lived through the happy years all this time. Enjoying each day at my school and college thereafter. Like a colt galloping its way into the unseen horizons so far. Now I have grown to be a horse. Suddenly the sense of responsibility seeps in somewhere and I sense the lack of control on my own life.

At One point of time, I had dreams. Sometimes I dreamt myself of flying high in a MIG. At other times, I had the premonition of holding the brush in my hands or sculpting those curves just like da vinci did. Yet another time, it was of becoming a lecturer. Confining myself to one role was the most unstoppable thing. Now, things are a lot different. The whims of fancy have all ended. The realization is slowly taking shape. The realization of passing times and drooping energy. Where am I going after all ?? I do not blame the system because the level has come to sophistication where only fools will think of making any change. The whole warm thought of intellectual thinking and differing ideology is like trying to dissolve Iron in water. But still I wonder why I am not there, where, years before I fathomed I would be there one day. I sense the lack of motivation and a motivator in my life.

The nature and trend of our times is to make an engineer or doctor of every child born. Even if his or her family falls far short of the financial stability to send him or her for the “so called” professionalism, parents manage to sequestrate every penny they have got, be it in the forms of loan, mortgage or anything for that matter. It has almost become a silent prodigy that people coming out of their pre-university college has to choose between either a medical college or an engineering college. When you say you want to do fine arts, the jaundiced eyes of the society are set behind you to the verdict that this guy doesn’t have the brains or he is so naïve to face the toughness of the competition among the multitude. Our society considers anything less than engineering or medicine as too mundane and something which is above that as always elite. The equatorial is these two.

And Imagine, after the four year curriculum which by itself is a comic, where do you end up? Ninety nine percent of us are doing the wrong job at the wrong place. The rest 1 percent showed the courage to drop out and find their destiny in their own great way. The biggest irony of all is the fact that “drop-outs” and the “non-muggers” have found their way out and they are enjoying the work they do. And more of it, work is the motivation in their lives which emulates a compelling enthusiasm at work. The others have sneaked into places where they thought they would reclaim their lives as “greats” has ended up with a degrading brain and more so with regretting attitudes. Absolute Fool’s Gold.

Quite interestingly, we go numb before the question, “why talent gets diverted?” or “why it goes unearthed?”. A potential basket ball player ends up holding flags in aerodromes. A guy who can sing ends up with a white collar. A person with immaculate soft skills does the job where he needn’t open his mouth. Ultimately there are guys with a kind of talent mixture, something synonymous to a cocktail ends up writing a java code or fine tuning queries. And what is the result when a man does the wrong job? Lack of perfection and ultimately lack of enthusiasm. Isn’t it little disappointing? One answer that points to the unanswerable knot is the pedagogy we have. Here we have a system where kids are not allowed to think. They are forced to think in the way some others have thought. They are naïve and they cannot decide for themselves what they wish to become or what is that they have got in themselves.

Once they are about to meet the thresholds of taking charge of their own lives, they stand there blinking in the stampede. Here comes the importance of mentors and what we lack is also the same. When we say mentor, we don’t merely mean one who can impart certain amount of knowledge by theory or practice. Rather, it is someone who can judge the potential of his pupils. He should be able to figure out the talent they have got. When under his mentoring, people must feel the change. They must experience the transformation happening to themselves and they must eventually end up realizing what is best for them. Here we have a system where the best muggers get the best of chances. This must change. What is the whole point in by-hearting things from a textbook and reproducing it on a piece of paper ? A good teacher can measure the depth of talent in his student. He is who can channelize the potential into the righteous path. It is pointless to promote everyone to become an engineer or any profession for that matter. That insight must come from within. The finding of this insight is the best discovery anyone can make. Pretty much synonymous to timber, if we are not put into right use, it is natural that we will fail. Instead, when the right timber is well seasoned and put in the right place, it is bound to stay for ages.

Success is a highly relative affair. But In a given framework, when you look at the so called “successful people”, the one thing you find in common between them is the passion towards the job they are doing. Commitment and dedication are simple by products of the love you have for your job. Both these things are generated automatically once you start loving your job. Two things are in front of us. One, We can try changing the system of which you are just a link. Two, We can change yourself to adapt to the system. The choice is ours. A wise man once told , the world is not a good place but it isn’t too bad either. Change ,the only unchangeable and that is what all it takes.