Into the wild

This road, I do not know where it ends, 

But, it's long and winding and is lined with beautiful oak trees.

Maybe, at its end, I will have a story to tell;

And, so I will walk and wander.

- Anonymous

I hope you would have seen "Into the wild" and would know of Alexander the Supertramp. Not that it makes a difference. I won't ask anybody to pack their bags and go in search of nature. But, there's that one enduring aspect I like about that film. Taking the road not usually taken.

One more year in college and that's when you realise that you have to do something after college.  And, that's for people who would have cleared all the subjects. There would be a million more wondering whether they would pass college at all.

 People would eventually get a degree, of course. But, before that, we would all have moments when we are alone and brooding in front of our laptops or lying on our beds casually swatting mosquitoes and then our thoughts would go to what we actually want to do with our life. And it's not certain, whether society programmed us this way but most of us would think along the same lines. Our mind would draw a huge blank. " Aah IT job" (bangalore..pubs..disco)  "Allel Em-Bee-Yay..mwane" (coat and suit, hot chic PA, bundles of cash) " wattabt IAS?" ( Shaking the back of your hair like Mammootty does in 'The King'). "GATE thanne"( I Engineer, no. If core no, then waat?) "Atho gelf??"(Sheikh and oil).

And after a bit of hectic thought process, we would just smack our head onto the pillow or the table and exclaim."Feck." I have not seen many people go beyond that around here. Very honestly, I myself am a victim to this phenomenon. So, I have no right to go yabba-yabba . But, going yabba-yabba makes me feel much better. And so, here goes.

What causes such an insane rush into the above mentioned career paths, right when college is about to get over?Interestingly, I believe that most students in our college and other colleges would have experienced something called the continuity factor. What is the continuity factor? The belief that we should immediately know what to do, right after our undergraduate study ends. What contributes to the continuity factor? Those pricks called relatives, those annoying neighbours, the nosey parkers in our society and our own insecurities.

Relative : degree kittiya?
The dude : Yes
Relative : Joli kittiya?
The dude: No
Relative: Oh higher studies aa?
The dude: Er yeah...deciding on that.
Relative : Don't worry, you'll get something soon.
Relative's thought process : *Useless muffan * *Useless muffan * *Useless muffan*

And to add to this, we have our own insecurities to deal with. The sight of all those people who were our kith and kin for four years getting well-paid, decent jobs and settling in is not a pretty sight to see, especially if you don't have something in your own kitty.

But, let's take this from a different perspective(put in a bit of idealism, yeah.). We do have one life to live.(Since none of us are sure about 'after death scenarios') No. This is not a declaration that you should hence party for the rest of your life. None of us have rich relatives with cardiac problems. But, seeing that we do have only one life, we could take a break when we feel that things are moving too fast and we are getting swept off in the general uproar surrounding placements and higher education. Say, like a time-out in a basketball game, usually taken when the players are at an emotional and mental low.

And, then what? Plug your ears to the society and your own bloodline, of course. That did be highly necessary. Tell them that you are preparing for those three-letter-four-letter entrance examinations or make up some other excuse. It would give you some reprieve. And, then try out new things.(Of course, you need to convince everybody that these would ultimately count to those examinations).

We have examples of seniors in our college going for 'Teach for India'. I do not recommend it to everybody, of course. I don't think its as fun as those photos suggest. Rather it requires a certain kind of passion and the patience to work everyday  without getting too much wage. (But, I guess you do get a certain kind of happiness and pride doing something like that.)

Perhaps you can start an entrepreneurial venture with those close pals of yours and do something that you would like to continue with, for the rest of your life. What about those little hobbies of yours? Photography, writing, sketching and those gazillion other stuffs out there. Do you have it in you to take it all the way?You might as well give it a try. You wouldn't want to regret not trying it out afterwards. Do you like travelling? Okay. Get a random job, save some money and then do it. You could even write a travelogue. Remember that bearded guy aka 'Sanchari'.

"And, then what?" Yeap. I knew you did ask that. You always do have to rupture my dreamy thoughts. That aside, I know why are you asking that. Well, if your venture ended up in a failure, you can still opt for those conventional paths. It's my belief that most universities outside of our country and indeed the top management institutes as well as a lot of other institutes here offering post graduation, wouldn't perceive you  negatively for wasting a year or two as long as you can explain to them what you did, give them specific reasons and tell them what you learned out of it. That's considered as initiative.

A secure and stable life?  Isn't it a tad bit over-rated? It's my belief that at the end of your life, it's not exactly the amount of money you made that counts(as in you don't need to make a lump of it) but it's those memories  that count. And memories mean that you did shitty things which had hilarious consequences and yet you stuck to your guns and beliefs. If so, wasting a year or two, to actually search for something you would like to do eventually or doing some crazy stuff which makes a certain kind of logical sense, isn't a waste at all.

The right path for you probably is not the one which everybody takes. That's the secure path. At the end of this article, if you are indeed a cynic like most of us, you would smile and close this blog. But, I hope you have a bit of that X-factor in you and I hope this thought that I have raised would churn and boil inside your head when you go for your next placement or your next three-letter-four-letter entrance examination.