The Two Ends

14 June: Boston Airport: 4 pm

Anita was waiting for her flight to San Francisco; A flight that will begin her transition from the University campus to the corporate world. A feeling of pride enveloped her for a moment. The best company in her field was waiting for her at the other end of USA. Her friends who had come to drop her at the airport took off.

Anita spotted Nilesh waiting at one of the airline counters. To say that there was rivalry between the two of them would be a massive understatement. Nilesh had got through the same company, same location. Only those two in a batch of 60 students had managed to do that.

The two most successful people of their batch facing each other. I am not counting success as purely academically or career wise. Both of them were the so called ‘leaders’ of their so called ‘groups’. Everyone in their department knew them. They were a part of every major activity or party in the campus.

Anita, in her mind, was thinking about the last 2 years. Why couldn’t she be in good terms with Nilesh? He was not a bad person afterall. A week after she came to US, she had an interview with one of the most reputed professor of her department. It was down to Nilesh and her for the final call. Professor went with Nilesh. This moment, Nilesh not only got his 2 years tuition fee waived off, but also ignited a fire.

Anita bounced back from this after getting an opportunity to work in the University’s finest research lab a couple of days later. After two weeks, these two were already famed as ‘The stars’ of their batch and looked up by many as an example. In the first set of exams, Anita had outscored Nilesh and then the talks had begun that Nilesh getting the professor’s job ahead of Anita was ‘just a fluke’. The fact was that none of those two really put forth these arguments. The fire was started by other group members.

Many such battles continued throughout the year. Fight for the best group dance. Both groups had great ‘party occasions’ when the mocked people from the other group. Both groups had a fight again in the cricket tournament, the race to get the best internships, the Diwali party celebrations, their trips. Name an occasion and you’ll have a competition.

Anita, all this while, had limited occasions to talk with Nilesh. She did not know how he was. Did he actually start spreading bad things about me? Did he want to be more successful than me? She had no answers.

Let’s give it a chance, she said. She went ahead and said ‘Hi’ to Nilesh. Till this time, Nilesh hadn’t spotted Anita, so was taken by surprise. ‘Hey’, he said.

Anita: So how’s the feeling. Finally studies coming to an end, excited for the first real job.

Nilesh: Yes, pretty much. Two years were fun. What’s in there next should be fun too.

Anita: I’m hoping for the same. I’m going to miss all my friends here!

Nilesh: Same here. Said goodbye to all my friends today, it was tough.

Anita: Anyways, San Francisco should be fun; I’ll get good friends there!

Nilesh: Yes, San Francisco has nice weather. Remember us going there together for the interview.

Anita: Yes, I do! (She clearly remembered that. Many of her friends had said to her: ‘Go and perform better than Nilesh, the person who took away your first job in US. Here’s your chance for revenge’. In the end, both ended up getting the job.)

Anita: So, you are travelling with only two bags. How did you fit everything into two?

Nilesh: I travel light. All I need from this place is two bags of clothes. Too bad that memories do not fit in a bag!

Anita: They do fit in a camera!

Nilesh: I don’t think so. Anyways, your flight is called for boarding.

Anita: You are not on the same flight? They set you up on a different one?

Nilesh: No, I chose to take the different one. Mine is a tiring 17 hour flight.

Anita: 17 hours, in that time I would’ve reached India.

Nilesh: and I would be reaching India.

Anita: Oh nice, meeting parents before job. How many days of vacation?

Nilesh: I’m going there for good. I asked our company if you could transfer me to India, and they agreed! I’ve got everything that I needed from this country, stayed here for two years, did my masters for free, got good friends, time to go back.

Anita was stunned. She did not know what to reply; too many thoughts in her mind. She could not really understand Nilesh’s decision. Nevertheless, she felt people need to be out of the box to take such a decision. In this world which lures everyone to be in a position to earn more money, she had found someone going in the other direction. It was not like one of those scenes in the movie ‘Swades’, but it had that flavor to it.

‘Good luck, I’ll miss you!’ was all that she said!

The 5 Dollar Bill

I was walking home from my workplace. It was a very cloudy evening with some light breeze flowing. I see a 5 dollar bill (In US, a note is called a Bill, Bill is called a Check and a Cheque.....well it's still a check!!! Why do they have to do things differently??) laying down on the road. 

That note or bill whatever we like to call it, made me think! And I'll be honest with you, I did take it and put into my pocket after some thought. Now before you label me into 'categories' that are unpleasant to hear, let me put down the possible scenarios that could have happened (or what I thought could happen).

Best Case: Someone who really really needs the money would get it. Now this is a really really rare case. I live in Raleigh and most of the beggars in this area are at Moore square which is 5 miles away. I've never seen a beggar in my complex, so that makes it even more rare. It could be that some college student needs it to get home, but the transportation system is free so that is ruled out. 

Most probable case: The bill would have blown by the wind in the forest nearby and nobody would have got that. 

Second most probably case: Someone just like me would have passed by and took it. 5 dollars is not a big amount but it's money nonetheless!

An unrealistic scenario: The person who dropped the bill picks it up again. How rare is that!

Another scenario: Somebody would have picked up the bill and used it for charity or some good work. I do not know how much good work can be done in 5 dollars. But I do know that that someone could just be me! 

One more reasoning: Think that I played some Roulette and ended up winning that 5 bucks. Luck as we call it!

Now 5 dollars is not a big amount and I am no thief. Had I known who the money belonged to, I would have surely returned it. I ended up spending that 5 dollar note to buy a pack of chocolates to keep in my office common room for people to have during the break. 

At the back of my mind, I was still thinking. What if that amount was big, lets say 100 dollars, 500 or 2000 dollars. At what point would I have kept the money to myself. What point could have caused greed to kill the senses. 

Frankly speaking, I do not know. And I do not wish to know. Life is good the way it is!

New Chapter

The noise around me did not help the emptiness within. I still remember the day couple of weeks ago. The day when I left College Park. I have loved this place. Every face around me reminded me of a story that day. It does feel good when you have about 20 people to wake up at 8 on a lazy Saturday morning just to say goodbye. Feels great to see so many people care! Precious moments; similar to the ones when I first left Mumbai to come to US. 

There were 20+ reasons around me for not living a lonely life and a few more reasons were just a phone call away. I had come here with 3 bags and left the place with a few more, that too without much shopping.

Memories flashed by. The two times when my bank balance touched zero. My first paycheck, walking up to IHOP at 4 in the morning. Several job interviews which I screwed over, few that went well. The day we moved in and shared the apartment with hundred different cockroaches in the kitchen. The day when I went unprepared for a group presentation and ended up saying things like ‘All that shines is not gold, everything has a dark side’ and the whole economics class laughed. 

I can go on. I’ve met some really good people along the way. Sometimes, you have bad experiences, but if you look one level deeper, the people where never bad. The circumstances were. Every Indian student in US knows that he has spent a fortune coming here and will look out for ways to recover it. There’s nothing wrong in that, except in the process you knowingly or unknowingly end up hurting people who are dear. 

The apartment where I first lived - Seven Springs!

Now after 2 years, the fight was over for most around. The waters were calm. When everything looks perfect, there comes the time to move on. You cannot be at the training grounds forever; someday you have to play the match for real.

I don’t know how that world would be. I do not have the experience of swimming in corporate waters. But the days of tracking the next bus on mobile would surely be remembered after buying the first car. Cooking food for 8 people will be replaced by cooking food for yourself or eating outside. Early mornings will be ‘in the office’ and not ‘in the bed’. The long phone calls will be cut down. 

The dream was cut, it was time to say good bye. The train moved and my friend called saying ‘You have left a few things behind’. I looked at my bags, they were all there. 

‘Memories’, he said!

What Next

What Next?? 

I’ve faced this question too many times and almost every time, I had only two words to say ‘No idea’. I chose to join IIT coaching classes ages back just because one of my good friends did. To be frank, I did not have the faintest of idea what IITans did. I had no clue where I was heading. I have no clue why I chose ‘Electronics and Telecom’ either. Back then, I could have selected any branch and it would’ve really made no difference. 

The ‘Go with the flow’ mentality makes you feel comfortable sometimes. You feel safe when you know that you are heading in the direction which thousands of students follow every year. You know you are assured of a job which will ensure safety. It may not necessarily be the thing you like, but like swimming, you learn to float on the water first and then when you are safe, you start swimming.

 A couple of years back when I was sitting in my college canteen and chatting with a senior of mine, he made a really interesting comment. He said ‘Some people climb the mountain too early and when they reach the top, they have no idea what to do’. Isn’t it true? Haven’t you come across people who choose the path of MS or MBA after engineering just for the sake of reaching heights? If you ask these people,’ why MBA?’ they will fumble. 

It is not wrong to be free-flowing, the flexibility is amazing and you eventually start liking what you do. But it is terrible if you end up not liking what you do. That dream job of yours which has caught your attention because of the fat paycheck may give you more headache than money. The MBA in finance which you chose purely on the basis that this particular college is famous for Finance will lead to you doing things that you have no interest in. 

After coming to US, I’ve learned to be brave and pursue what I really want. There is one course in my department which is ‘one-of-a-kind’ in all of US and there is stiff competition to get that one. I had the opportunity to choose that course but I chose against it. I will not end up learning something that does not interest me. Companies are not classified as ‘Dream’ and ‘Normal’ for the amount of money they pay. 

I know this took a lot of time, but now I know exactly what I want to do ahead in life. Luckily for me, that’s going to be my next step, however, it wouldn’t have made a difference if there was a transition step in between. The destination is what makes the journey worthwhile. 

After all this ‘hoopla’ a couple of years down the line I may figure out this is not the thing I really like. That will be the time to write another fresh blog.

In Transit

‘Kaam Chalu’….or ‘Work in progress’ was written on the diversion created by the Reliance Metro work going on in Mumbai. I bet this phrase was not just for the Metro, but for almost all my friends….and yes, me too.

Two years after engineering and everyone around is ‘In Transit’ mode. Moving towards the ‘One Big Break’ with more urgency than ever before; bearing all the troubles, the confusion, the chaos to see a better tomorrow. It was not the city which I left a couple of years ago. Probably when the Metro would come up a couple of years later, it would be a little more comfortable, but people have suffered a lot for this comfort. Nevertheless, building the Metro was essential. 

Like Will Smith will put it forward as ‘This little part of my life is called struggle’. But the best part of the city is that it never complains. Never about the traffic, the crowd, the troubles. These things are always going to be there. Life goes on. There are always ways of going about things. Banning the ‘Hookah’ does not stop the people from having it, or the restaurants from serving it. 

When I look at most of the friends I have, I feel the same thing. They are in transit, just like me, but that hasn’t changed a lot of things. They are still the same as I knew them. Just a little adjusted to let go the little curved balls that life has thrown at them. When life throws curved balls, these people never asked ‘Why?’

It feels nice. Life will always be in transit. Are you the person who honks at the traffic when a new flyover is being constructed or are you the one who blasts music in the car without caring much about the traffic makes a difference.