It was not until I received this month’s Rolling Stone magazine, that I realized it has been ten whole long years since I begun this ever so painful journey in moving from school into the corporate world….passing teen age on the way. An entire decade has gone by. And when I look back and analyze the days that have gone by, the one word used to describe the decade would be - CONFUSING. But then apparently that’s what becoming an adult is about. You tend to question your beliefs, likes and dislikes and slowly start to change the way you are to confirm to the way society wants you to be. And this is where all the confusion begins. All those hours spent in moral science class and lessons learnt from Aesop’s fables disappear when one enters the real world, and believe me when I say it can mess with your head at a lot of levels, and this is where scotch and smokes and other ‘enhancers’ play a role….fortunately, I developed the taste for scotch only in the later years when I began working and really don’t care for anything else, so hallelujah.
It seems that just ten years ago, I was coming out of the silly phase of music namely a time when you thought Savage Garden were the greatest band ever, and now I can’t even tolerate them. Music has been replaced with more mature choices like Metallica, Megadeth and a lot of other bands. Music no longer became about the beats, but became about the meaning. And at times just plain heavy to head bang life away. It was probably songs like ‘Fade to Black’ and ‘Unforgiven’ that kept me sort of sane through most of engineering.
Music aside, if I were to go back and speak to the me from ten years ago this is what I would say,” Hey dude! Wassap? How’s it going? A couple of things and more I need to talk to you about to prevent life from going horribly wrong. First thing, don’t worry, you will lose weight…it may not be much, but you will lose weight. It would be nice if you can lay off the burgers and steaks and get into the gym a little sooner. You’ll feel awesome. Now, as far as the band thing goes, please don’t wait until engineering to hit that guitar. A little sooner would be cooler. We need to have more than a handful of performances under our belt. But stick to the music…do not play it for the chicks. That is something that is not happening. And do not waste any time on the same. It’s all a dead end. There are two occasions where it will lead to excessive intoxication, suggest we don’t go down that path as it is tough to get the smell of puke out of your clothes and shoes. The biggest thing you need to put your foot down on is the choice…well, the imposition…alright, punishment of engineering. You would want to do either journalism or law, maybe even architecture. You will be forced into engineering as in some corporate definition is “the right thing to do”. Put your foot down and say NO. If needed, throw a tantrum, a few days of starving would do you good. This is one decision which is going to come back and haunt you for many years to come. Even if you do decide to do engineering, do not take up Electronics and Communication. One thing you need to understand is that your strong point is never going to be exams, and this restlessness is never going to change. You’re always going to get bored of things quickly and will look to move on to something new, so do not beat yourself up because you are not scoring marks. Most of the people whom your folks compare against you will turn out to be average people, so don’t waste your time competing with them. There is something bigger out there and look towards that. Think Metallica, not Dave Mustaine. Oh…Manchester United would be winning the UEFA championship some time from now…so good time to place bets. There are whole host of things I want to give you advice about, but then I know you’ll turn out pretty alright. Life will toughen you up when required and all will be alright. So I don't want to spoil any of the fun or excitement in the decade. Things will be confusing, but then it is just natural...don't get too overly worked up in your head. Anyway, I still wish you pay a little more attention to grades…..Ciao”.
Knowing the chubby me from class 10, I probably would not take myself seriously and would shrug the advice given by me and go back to my burger…or steak..or …oh well, you get the picture.
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