Rude Awakening
Life is full of unexpected things. How many times have we heard of this line so much so that it has become a cliche. The first time when this line made a vague sense to me was on a day when I tried to explain it to someone to reason out my actions. They just came to me, sounded very good and appeared to be philosophical enough to be used. Then I didnt realise the deapth of these words.
It wasnt until I was being grilled in Coimbatore for my training did I realise or rather experience the meaning behind these words. How I landed up in Coimbatore is a matter of unexpected course that my life had suddenly latched onto. Niether was I in control of my own life nor was I in control of the world around me. Everything which seemed to happen was , yes unexpected. There I was made to work hard day and night for my training , never had I worked so hard for anything in my life. Did I liked being grilled like that or did I loathe that menial work ,I had never known for I had never thought for I was running to fast to notice ,to take account of my feelings, to make sense of it all. Everything which was planned went down the drains and nothing which I had in mind had started working for me. The things which I wanted to slow down were fast spining out of control and soon they were out of my hands.
But the optimist in me was never let down and on the inside I knew and strongly believed that all of this will end up in good. I said to myself that this is a place where Iam struck unfortunately or rather fortunately, but no matter what, Iam going to make the best of it. I tried to take in as many things as I can and learn while I had a chance. And learned I did voraciously. I learned a lot technically but the treasured thing which I learned , the prize which I was gonna take from this place was the way it had transformed me from a student to a professional. I had always believed in change and always preached that change is the only way by which man survives. Man changes either by choice or by chance, this chance had changed me. It had given an entirely new perspective about life and taught me many things which I supposed I knew.
Adaptability is the hallmark of a professional and our instructors were exacting in its showing. They pulled out the best from every one of us and pushed us to our limits.Initially I complained then I whined and later I fell in line. I took what was on offer and gave my best to it. Though I didnt seem to be getting what I liked, I began liking what I got. Is this a way of positive approach or a euphemism for compromise only time will tell. I pretend to like the former.
The present which I cared about was no longer in my hand but for my future I had a hope. I hoped that i would get posted to a place where I would get a chance to grow even more. To experience the life in another new way. I hoped that Id get posted to Mumbai. But hope is word which makes no sense in this world of unexpected existence. My hope was not to be. I was posted to Kolkata.
This didn't dissapoint me because I was prepared for it. For the unexpected. It's a predicament of sorts to hope for something and be prepared for the unexpected. Then why hope for it in the first place when you know the eventuality. Because hope is the word which makes you feel alive. When there is nothing more which you can control in this world the only thing which you can do to make you realise that you are a human is to hope. To have a hope is in essence having a life whithout which one merely exists but doesnt live.
That evening when I got the news that I had been posted to Kolkata the cliche repeated itself and made more sense to me than ever before. It was my French madam who said "What's the fun in life when everything happens as you expect?". This made me smile, not a sarcastic one niether a warm one but one which said "Ill never grow tired of listening to this!!!". So i was off to Kolkata with a bundle of enthusiasm, eagerness to learn , confidence to take on any challenge and adaptable to face any situation. Or so I thought ......
It wasnt until I was being grilled in Coimbatore for my training did I realise or rather experience the meaning behind these words. How I landed up in Coimbatore is a matter of unexpected course that my life had suddenly latched onto. Niether was I in control of my own life nor was I in control of the world around me. Everything which seemed to happen was , yes unexpected. There I was made to work hard day and night for my training , never had I worked so hard for anything in my life. Did I liked being grilled like that or did I loathe that menial work ,I had never known for I had never thought for I was running to fast to notice ,to take account of my feelings, to make sense of it all. Everything which was planned went down the drains and nothing which I had in mind had started working for me. The things which I wanted to slow down were fast spining out of control and soon they were out of my hands.
But the optimist in me was never let down and on the inside I knew and strongly believed that all of this will end up in good. I said to myself that this is a place where Iam struck unfortunately or rather fortunately, but no matter what, Iam going to make the best of it. I tried to take in as many things as I can and learn while I had a chance. And learned I did voraciously. I learned a lot technically but the treasured thing which I learned , the prize which I was gonna take from this place was the way it had transformed me from a student to a professional. I had always believed in change and always preached that change is the only way by which man survives. Man changes either by choice or by chance, this chance had changed me. It had given an entirely new perspective about life and taught me many things which I supposed I knew.
Adaptability is the hallmark of a professional and our instructors were exacting in its showing. They pulled out the best from every one of us and pushed us to our limits.Initially I complained then I whined and later I fell in line. I took what was on offer and gave my best to it. Though I didnt seem to be getting what I liked, I began liking what I got. Is this a way of positive approach or a euphemism for compromise only time will tell. I pretend to like the former.
The present which I cared about was no longer in my hand but for my future I had a hope. I hoped that i would get posted to a place where I would get a chance to grow even more. To experience the life in another new way. I hoped that Id get posted to Mumbai. But hope is word which makes no sense in this world of unexpected existence. My hope was not to be. I was posted to Kolkata.
This didn't dissapoint me because I was prepared for it. For the unexpected. It's a predicament of sorts to hope for something and be prepared for the unexpected. Then why hope for it in the first place when you know the eventuality. Because hope is the word which makes you feel alive. When there is nothing more which you can control in this world the only thing which you can do to make you realise that you are a human is to hope. To have a hope is in essence having a life whithout which one merely exists but doesnt live.
That evening when I got the news that I had been posted to Kolkata the cliche repeated itself and made more sense to me than ever before. It was my French madam who said "What's the fun in life when everything happens as you expect?". This made me smile, not a sarcastic one niether a warm one but one which said "Ill never grow tired of listening to this!!!". So i was off to Kolkata with a bundle of enthusiasm, eagerness to learn , confidence to take on any challenge and adaptable to face any situation. Or so I thought ......
posted by Ash at 4:07 AM
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