The Thing is that I’m not too interested in being an Engineer. Yeah, it does like a dumb career choice seeing that I’m on my way to get an engineering degree but that’s how my life has been, Mostly going with the flow. Things happened and I didn’t have ideas at that time and with me being the eldest in the family I had to explore things on my own; The what, the how and the where to apply, the procedure, etc., being the lazy dude I am , I didn’t venture too much away from the taken path. Me as an individual at a point of time did but only minutely change what I did. Like when I choose EC at Nitte over perhaps a Civil at Nitk. Because when I was to do Engg., I would rather study what I would like to learn about. Why wouldn’t you? Well looking back I still feel it was a good decision. Being at nitte has helped me so much more. I’ve got good friends, I’ve had good fun and I’ve lived.
So now we meet again at our next cross roads. TCS ya Infy? We can choose one. But once selected in one we would be stuck there for at least the duration of the service agreement expiry date. Now that’s 2 years for TCS while Infy is only 1 yr. So if I would be looking to seriously pursue my higher studies I should look towards Infy as a good employer. The pay there also seems to be slightly more.(lesser holidays)
But now what if I don’t make it to any of the higher studies colleges(that I want to get in and not any institute down the road) this year? Or the next? Wouldn’t TCS look like a better option in the long run. From what I’ve heard is that it gives better job opportunities.(more holidays)
But coding is not what I would like to see myself doing with my life. But I can’t see myself working in an EC background either. Yes I do like the coding aspect in EC better any day. Right now what seems to be an ideal choice for me would be like doing my MBA. That means passing through CAT(IIM’s) and/or XAT(XLRI) and going towards more managerial positions, of which HR looks inviting because it s essentially interacting with people.
On the other hand, GATE offers me a good College (IIT’s, NIT’s,IISc) and an approx Rs 8000 a month scholarship provided I get into a college. But looking at my current situation and with only one month remaining for GATE after my exams, my chances don’t look so good in it. But this has been a dream of mine to study from a premier technical institution.
And the choice of going abroad was thrown out by me a couple of months back. Presently it looks economically crazy to go for it. Scholarships are rare and you are more or less expected to foot the bill. That’s where huge bank loans will come in. How long do you think you will take to repay them back? After your MS that is. Yeah, the degree is coveted and most people say it would not take too long, provided that your MS is in a good subject. Some people like Rahul are indeed going for it. He’ s got a good GRE score and is pretty sure about what he’s going to do.
Now my choices are not limited to just these. An uncle of mine wants me to join government service. Perhaps write IAS like a certain ‘son of mangalore’ who passed it last year. The government does need youth but am not too good with languages. This had prompted me to dump the idea of a medical seat even though I had a CET rank of 441( yea bragging rights are mine). Because like medicine, government is about serving people.. Although what we see is not too many are doing that. It s not like they are not willing but it’s more like the system does not allow them to. Joining a system that does not work well will do no good.
So what do I want to be?
Somewhere down the line I want to quit work and start to enjoy the finer things in life. Do what I want to. Go through my Bucket List. This would mean safe and wait. What the TCS spokesperson, Sampath Kumar, said really impressed me. He gave us a brief intro of his life. Now that’s an accomplished man. He spent 19 years working for Bharat Electronics Ltd. Did his higher studies with them. Quit to join an MNC, quit the MNC when he was about to be promoted and started something that he wanted to do; Rural education. He became an educator and a multi-certified one at that. He was one of the founding team of the first BPO in India and then he joined TCS and is part if their leadership group. The guy is genuine. He’s lived his life. He’s done what he wanted to do. I haven’t met many such people in my life. Whenever I do , I feel immense respect for them. It made me remark to Karthik ‘ somewhere down the line , I wish I get a job like his’.
All this takes me back to ‘the Masterplan’ made by Rajat and me. But the feasibility of the plan would be only if time was slightly on the infinity side. ‘the Masterplan’ would also mean that you would be studying for a good amount of your life, but it would allow you to do all that you dream. It works well if you aren’t sure about what to do next. But the next thing on ‘the Masterplan’ is an Mtech degree through GATE.
So there we have it. My dilemma, in my words. It’s quite a lot. But it feels good to type it all out. I needed to do this and hope that few who read this were not too bored. So on the 19th I feel I’ll decide what needs to be done i.e., TCS ya Infy. Making Major decisions in between semester exams is just adding to the stress. Sheesh!
. With newspapers covering the bedsheet i sat at my usual “workplace”. something entered my head . i ended up distorting the entire thing but somehow managed to salvage it into the result that u here behold. in the beginning ,i thought i would title it ” freedom” but now it doesnt look fit. any ideas???
an Innocent Life 