Monday, May 09, 2011
The Other Side of The Broken Fence
“What are you thinking”, my friend asked.
“Nothing. Not a thing”, I said as I looked
around the room.
We were sitting in the Blue room. The room was small.At one
corner there was aqua and cross corner had a projector. The team just finished with a
presentation about the company. I looked around and made a quick count. There
where thirty five candidates, which means I still had time to
attend the interview.
“Let’s go and check out the campus”, I said as I pulled my friend out of the room.
“Let’s go and check out the campus”, I said as I pulled my friend out of the room.
“What?
Are you serious?”
“Yes
mom. It’s my dream”
“What
unrealistic dreams do kids have these days? The girl next door is so dumb and
she still managed to get into a MNC. Why can't you?”
“No
mom. I am not interested. I already told you I want to go into teaching
profession”
“You
don’t know what you need. You are just a kid!!”
”I am
not a kid”, I said.
“Of course you are not. That’s why I
ordered tea and not milk”, my friend teased.
“Hey look! This café is huge. All the food
here is free”, she sounded like a five year old .I looked at the menu. It had south Indian
food along with all the junk food one can
think about.
“You want to work here for free food?” I
asked.
“Oh yes. Food will make one's life better. What else do you need?” she asked raising her eyebrow.
“Job
satisfaction?”
“Yes
dad. I should love what I do”
“All
you like is to read fictions and play e-games.”
“But
how can I do something which I don’t love? Please try and understand.”
“You
will love it if you look into it. It might be more interesting than you
expect. Just give it a chance”
“You don’t have faith in me?” I asked.
“Ok fine. Let’s take the kulfi then” she
grabbed the drinks and two Kulfis as we left.
It took around twenty minutes to find the
Blue room. I noticed that the room had more empty chairs than before.We took our seats.
“Are you nervous?” I whispered.
“Why should I be nervous? If not this company then I will try for another.” She tried to play cool.
It was not our first
interview call. We were desperate to get jobs. If you do not manage to get a
job after graduation, and if you didn’t plan for higher studies, believe me, everyone
is cold towards you even in summer.
India is a free country, but some
Indians are not.
“Software
jobs are life sis”, my cousin one said. “If you make it into them, you will be
covered in gold.”
I
looked at his brand new car. He was a couple of years younger to me.”The work
is raw. But who cares? The pay is excellent!”
“All
you care about is money?”I asked.
“Oh
come on sis. This is reality”, he gestured his hands to signify his point,”
Besides I only do this job to save some bugs and then I will start my won
company. Teaching is boring”.
"When one loves ones Art,No service seems to hard" I saw the quote on the wall.
“Are you stupid? Save the spiritual
stuff for later. Hurry up. They called your name twice already!”She shooed
me into the HR room.
Fifteen days later I was at my friend’s
house watching tube .We were waiting for the offer letter from the company.
Life is not like an Ameer Khan’s movie where, after three hours you end up
saying your parents were wrong about you. Reality is much deep and even more cryptic.
Parents guide their children to achieve their dreams in an easy and better way.
“I am bored. Let’s go out and celebrate
your birthday again”, my friend said dully.
“What? Same place with same friend. That’s
boring”, I argued.
Everybody is born for a purpose. It’s only
you who can figure it out. You might be happy at one side of the field, but in
life you need to hop onto the other side of the broken fence. There might be a
whole new world waiting for you, which no one has seen yet. The road you choose
to travel might make all the difference in life.
“Okay Libra baby. Let’s celebrate for a
different reason” she asked rather in an I-am-bored tone.
“Yes. Today is International Teachers day.”
