A dam waiting to burst..
Life is a rat race, you have to run fast and ahead of the rest, or you will be beaten.
This world belongs to those who put studies first.
Happiness and love is secondary, all you need is a job which gives fat checks, never mind that you will have to be behind a desk throughout your life.
These are things people tell us, and which most of us follow blindly.. and some, not so blindly. At a point in life where I felt like I was on a leaking boat, holding on to its side for dear life, I watched the movie 3 idiots.
Dear fellow human beings, there should be a statutory warning which comes with such movies made to inspire people to follow their hearts. "Do not watch. Producers cannot be held accountable for the consequent thought-storms that may strike those already in a conflicted position" or something like that.
I mean, here I was, settling back all content with my life, a slightly sketchy map in hand, with the big red cross marked, as in a treasure map, and then comes along this one movie which makes me replace this cross with a question mark. All over again.
Forgive me, dear lord, but the very fact that I am questioning myself so much about my future plans has got to mean something. When I ask that age old now much a cliche question- Where do I want to see myself 10 years from now?, much to my disappointment, I do not see sitting in a rectangle office with a hoard of files in front of me, I want to see so much more. I want to believe I am made for so much more.
My mind flashes back to this one day when someone very close to me, was telling me why I should stop questioning myself so much and be set to just concentrate on the civil services examinations. And I was, in my usual confused state, trying to reason out why I should. And I said,' But, what if I am meant to do something else? What if I was meant to do something more' and till date, I cannot forget the tinge of sarcasm with which the person said, 'What makes you think you are made for something more?'. It was one of those moments in life when you feel so let down, when the person you were holding to with dear life for some sort of support and encouragement lets go. I replied with a defensive, 'Why shouldn't I believe I am?' answer but deep inside, I felt something crash in me. Now that I look back, it was that quest, the quest to find what I truly wanted in life.
I believe strongly that if you have to take over someone's life, or some city, or even some country, do not make the mistake, of showing some sort of kindness by letting them look outside the window.. To reveal to them how free and confident others in the world are. It will only make them feel even more imprisoned, even more tormented.
Funny how such a cheerful happy ending movie can make a person so conflicted, so confused. Then again, maybe there was a dam waiting to burst open and flood the world and all that movie was, was one of the latches on the gates of the dam.
This world belongs to those who put studies first.
Happiness and love is secondary, all you need is a job which gives fat checks, never mind that you will have to be behind a desk throughout your life.
These are things people tell us, and which most of us follow blindly.. and some, not so blindly. At a point in life where I felt like I was on a leaking boat, holding on to its side for dear life, I watched the movie 3 idiots.
Dear fellow human beings, there should be a statutory warning which comes with such movies made to inspire people to follow their hearts. "Do not watch. Producers cannot be held accountable for the consequent thought-storms that may strike those already in a conflicted position" or something like that.
I mean, here I was, settling back all content with my life, a slightly sketchy map in hand, with the big red cross marked, as in a treasure map, and then comes along this one movie which makes me replace this cross with a question mark. All over again.
Forgive me, dear lord, but the very fact that I am questioning myself so much about my future plans has got to mean something. When I ask that age old now much a cliche question- Where do I want to see myself 10 years from now?, much to my disappointment, I do not see sitting in a rectangle office with a hoard of files in front of me, I want to see so much more. I want to believe I am made for so much more.
My mind flashes back to this one day when someone very close to me, was telling me why I should stop questioning myself so much and be set to just concentrate on the civil services examinations. And I was, in my usual confused state, trying to reason out why I should. And I said,' But, what if I am meant to do something else? What if I was meant to do something more' and till date, I cannot forget the tinge of sarcasm with which the person said, 'What makes you think you are made for something more?'. It was one of those moments in life when you feel so let down, when the person you were holding to with dear life for some sort of support and encouragement lets go. I replied with a defensive, 'Why shouldn't I believe I am?' answer but deep inside, I felt something crash in me. Now that I look back, it was that quest, the quest to find what I truly wanted in life.
I believe strongly that if you have to take over someone's life, or some city, or even some country, do not make the mistake, of showing some sort of kindness by letting them look outside the window.. To reveal to them how free and confident others in the world are. It will only make them feel even more imprisoned, even more tormented.
Funny how such a cheerful happy ending movie can make a person so conflicted, so confused. Then again, maybe there was a dam waiting to burst open and flood the world and all that movie was, was one of the latches on the gates of the dam.
Dear friend,
ReplyDeleteYes, the movie tells as to follow our own interest which is deeply enshrined in mind. So for example, the guy with glasses chose to work as a photographer instead of engineering. However, it is just a movie, and it does not necessarily mean that we (students) have to question our profession, but instead find something interesting within your study subject area. I am sure there is one element which is of interest. Then build up your idea on that specific element, and it will eventually deepen your interest. When you have an interest, everything will be easy and enjoyable.
Good luck
I am not questioning my 'profession', I don't have any yet. I am questioning the profession people close to me think I should do and its implications and trying to balance it with questioning myself as to what I want to do. This movie really echoed what I felt, and this is what I wrote about here.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your advice though.. :)
Yes 3 Idiots has had that kind of effect on a lot of people. And if you are at that age where you are still a student, I would say the impact is more positive than negative.
ReplyDeleteTo put it crudely, imagine you are 50 and then you suddenly realize you don’t like your career any more, and want to do something more passionate about? It may not be easy to turn around at that stage.
The best way to interpret the movie for anyone who is still young is to ask yourself what you love doing and what skills you have. It’s not so straightforward for everybody, but for some yes. And if you cant out your finger down to one or two things that matter the world to you, and you are good at, use the power of your youth to study & learn (acads and otherwise), travel, meet people and learn from them, work if possible and learn from that, till such day that you discover your calling in life.
Developing your skills in a variety of things as you go along, never hurts, so please don’t ditch studies :)
And if one fine day you realize that you would love to be a tennis player, or a wild life photographer, or a singer, or whatever it is that you want, you should have the confidence in your ability to just go for it, no matter what people say!
Cheers!
Vasu
http://vasusworld.wordpress.com/