Final Destination.

I share the opinion of many of my peers that 2 years in a "rigorous" b-school hasn't made me any better professionally. But what it has given me - and I thank my stars for that - is a wonderful set of people whom I have come in contact with and hope to remain in touch with forever - my colleagues, my friends. These are individuals who were total strangers when I moved to Pune for two eventful, action-packed years on June 1st, 2008. These are people whom I would from then on for two years live with , study with, eat with, make merry with, but most importantly, have some very fruitful and eye-opening discussions with in a wide variety of settings right from the road-side tapri serving substandard tea and even worse vada-pav (It really is a pain for someone coming from Mumbai) to a bar-lit hostel room over bottles of booze when our eyelids are begging us idiots to hit the bed instead of having philosophical discussions on how binge drinking is eventually a brain-killing habit and should not be indulged in.

One of these days, I was in my room utterly bored to death with the "liberating" routine that we are observing of late. Right next to me, on his bed lay Farook - my roomie, in a similarly lazy pose wondering why the cracks in the ceiling are making it look like the map of Uganda. Our brains have been leading a vegetative life ever since the three of us got placed. That really was the final straw. Out of the blue, I asked him, "Farook, yaar is this what we really want to do? Do you really think the jobs that we have been offered will entertain us for a long time to come?" Farook pondered. Finally he said, "No. This is something that will get me a cushion. Something that would get me a regular pay-cheque thats so much needed in the initial years. Nothing else. It cant keep me piqued for a long time." Then I let the hammer fall. "Yaar, what is that one thing that you would give anything for? That one thing that you would do with all your heart, and then some more? Something that you wouldn't want to earn a single paisa out of, but you will nevertheless do tirelessly?" And so started a conversation that lasted almost 2 hours. And what came out of it was immensely satisfying. What we were talking about is that one vocation that we feel comes naturally to us. Something that we feel we were ordained to do by divine decree. A job that wouldn't for us be "a job". And that's where the concept of being equipped naturally comes to the fore. This is where you feel that you wouldn't really have to "think". It flows, effortlessly. You are a natural at it, if not a prodigy. We talked at length of entertainers and sportsmen being some of the luckiest people around, the simple reason being they earn by the truckloads doing what they love. We were not only talking about the Bachchans, the Akrams, the Schumachers and the Beethovens (the prodigies) but also the Kapoors, the Flintoffs, the Karthikeyans, and I dare say, the Reshammiyas (naturals, but not prodigies). True, in these fields too, there are the Altaf Rajas, the Rakhi Sawants, the Salman Khans and the Sreesanths. But probably, these people face the same predicament as most of us do in engineering, medicine or management and would have been better off doing something else. So, then the question, albeit a bit late, is "Why did I academically do all that I did?" I took up science in high school, got into engineering and worked as a software developer for almost three years, threw that away making the experience thence gained come to nought when I decided to do an MBA in Finance and then spent the larger part of a good two years getting properly ground within the works of an MBA life and learning how to keep myself going without sleep. But then, did I want to be a scientist? No. A software developer? No. It was good while it lasted, but then was it my final calling? Never. A fund manager? Finance has its charms. It is challenging and prods me to learn more and more. Its an exciting job. Yes. But is it where my heart is? Thats an emphatic NO! Then why? Probably, the middle class mindset of everyone being either an engineer or a doctor, or (lately) an MBA had much to do in deciding the career path that I had taken. The new generation, especially the middle class; most of their parents are people who havent had it too easy in life. They have mostly migrated to far-away lands, in many cases lived in unimaginable conditions amongst complete foreigners and built their nest right from the ground up. These people have known the value of every penny earned and saved, mostly the lesson being taught to them the hard way. Its only natural for them to wish their own children financial security at the very advent of their professional lives. And this forms the base for their nudging their children into "professional courses" - something that sadly doesnt leave the children with too many options. The end result is that by the time they have gained sufficient maturity, and realized with great difficulty what they truly want, they are a stage when they are saddled with familial responsibilities and the one thing thats on top of their "worry-list" is their fast receding hairline. Probably too late to accept that the professional roller-coaster that they have been riding on till date has only left them back at square one and too late to start off on a totally new journey.

So for me, the idea behind a regular job would always be to build up a pot which I can reach into in times of financial need. It might be exciting and keep me on my toes. But would it have a soul for me? Would I absolutely love it? Probably not. I am not saying that I am "gifted" so to speak or even a natural. But when I let my mind drift and think as to what I would love to do irrespective of the time of the day, there's only one thing that surfaces cleanly above the mishmash of vocations that I can think of. Music. Carnatic classical music. I repeat again as a disclaimer to anyone who after reading this feels I am being a braggart, I am not saying that I am gifted. I just feel I have both a sense and more importantly, a passion for it. There are a few other things also close to my heart, but this one thing unarguably ranks first. As far as Farook is concerned, he too has clearly marked out his dream vocation. At the end of those two odd hours, we said, "Let this not be an empty conversation. Lets some years down the line, meet and assess if we have lived up to our words."

Have you figured out whats that one thing you would heartily do if one day you were offered that along with a disclaimer saying "No remuneration involved!"? Everyone should have that figured out. And that by the way, is just my opinion.