The Road I Travel....

Nothing lasts forever, so life it up, drink it down, laugh it off, avoid the bullshit, take chances, and NEVER have regrets, because at one point, what you did was exactly what you wanted.  - Anonymous

Life is all about the choices we make, this is a cliched opening line for my blog, but its true. We become what we choose to become, be it in your personal life or in your professional life. We all would have encountered a crossroad at some point of time in our life, we stand on the edge and ponder over which road to choose, we weigh the pros and cons, consult with our friends and family and try to make a decision thats best. Growing up as an adolescent is a time where you are burdened by the expectations of your family, songs like "papa kehte hain bada naam karega..." best suit our situation. They all want us to become big in life, they dream of us becoming doctors and engineers, just because our neighbour's child is one or maybe because they think that it is the only two "respectable" professions in our community. And fresh out of school, how many of us are really sure of what we want? How many of us can truly define what a "Dream Job" is at that point of time?

I had the same experience, and I said "yes" to enrolling in an engineering college thinking that becoming an engineer is the end all and be all of everything. Clearly, I was not thinking, I was walking down the road laid down by my family. By the end of 1st semester I realized that its not as easy as it sounds, a washout in all my subjects made me realize that. One of the toughest things I've done in my life is telling my folks that "I cant do it anymore". I may sound like I had taken the easy way out, but spending another 3yrs in that dump studying calculus, thermo-fuckin-dynamics, fluid mechanics and other subjects whose name makes no sense to me, all the while feeling alienated was clearly a waste of my youth. But it is painful to see your folks' dreams come crashing down. Had I told em in the first place that Iam not interested in Engineering, atleast I would not have given them a hope of them seeing me as an Engineer. It may have been a selfish decision that I took, but its one I don't regret. I was at an all- time low in the initial few months. Getting adjusted to the fact that I wasted a year and had broken my parents' dream took some time, but as they say "Time is a great healer".

It was that one decision that had changed the course of my direction. I met new people, made some really great friends, fell in love with my high school crush, wooed her and had my heart broken, learned to let go and move on, did an MBA, met even better people there, had a lot of breath taking moments, inspired a few, was inspired by a few. The path I took taught me a lot about what I was, something which any reputed college or any glossy degree would never teach you. Now I have started my career, and I will have to make decisions which may not be of the same magnitude, but are vital decisions nonetheless for they will shape up my future. I may make bad decisions owing to rashness, inexperience, and greed.I will experiment with my job, my lifestyle, the people around me, for Iam young !! If it works out, good for me, if it doesn't atleast I wouldn't die wondering. 

"In youth we learn; in age we understand" goes a saying, it is now that I realize what it really means.