Sorry, I have no time to introduce myself because I'm running a race- a race to see who comes out on top over everyone else.I'm not sure since when I've been running but I've been running ever since I started running.Hardly can I see a destination, but I will keep running with nowhere as my endless destination.
Is this what I really want? Well.. I dont know.Just as we all want to be on top I want my little moment in the spotlight.And you have to be in the number one spot simply to survive, and survive that I must.Therefore I will run. There are routes, though limited they are. High pay, medium pay, low pay jobs.Tech job, softy job, management job. MS abroad- ambitious universities, good universities, ok-ok universities. MBA- Top tier business schools, B-grade business schools.And that is my domain and I'm not to run outside the boundaries.I need to run to continue living in the “status quo”, do-what’s-expected-of-you lifestyle that’s got me this far.
Dreams? Oh yeah... I had a few...but.. Why take a chance on a far-flung dream (that may fail!) when you could follow a formulaic pattern that leads to an already determined – and hopefully successful – conclusion.Why think beyond the circle when the circle is so self-sufficient?It has been set and treaded upon.That alone is the legal track for the race and you lose if you step out.Being money-minded is practical. Dreams are mere illusions,they lead you nowhere.See something that works and stick to it, don’t fix what isn’t broken! That's how you got to be in the race and that's why I'm running.And yeah...Hi! I am... just another rat!
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16 comments:
Shouldn't a person outside of the 'system' post this?
- A happy and content RAT
u r right...and I'm one outside the system or atleast i'm trying my best to.
And i'm happy to find happy rats.. a rare species u know!
It Doesnt have to be within the circle. Why should it be within circle ? But yeah we are all rats, running a stupid race if I might add.
Hey, isn't this equivalent to "Those grapes are sour"? All of us have dreams. What if succeeding in the rat race is a person's dream. I don't find it shallow. Non-conformist attitudes generally lead to societal decay. The reason we have food on our table and a computer to blog is because of the so-called "rats".
@Suren that is my exact question.. why should it be within the circle??
We are rats running a blind race.. it need not be necessarily stupid.
@ Ashwin It's more equivalent to "It's not my cup of tea". Suceeding a rat race can be a persons dream.. that's an exception. Exceptions dont make good examples.
U r right.. all of us have dreams but how many of us honestly live by it? If refusing to see someone else's dreams makes me a non-conformist I'm better off being one.
Awesome article.. Kudos!! Yet again!!!
However, I do not quite agree wid u tat it is an exception to find ppl who dream of running the rat race. If u honestly look around, Indians are by and large dreaming of precisely that.
It is nice to imagine that everybody is talented and has beautiful dreams and is forced to do engg. It is wonderful and poetic and very useful if u wanna scorn engg. But it is not all tat true. Few ppl dream, dear gal. ANd fewer dream of doin diffrnt things. Which is y dreamers have always been laughed at by society. And why most ppl wanna stay safe inside the rat race!!!
And ya, I agree wid Ashwin. Following the system is not bad if you like the system. Of course, I agree that most of us dint take engg bcos v liked it. But wat if v eventually started likin it?? Following anything BLINDLY is bad. But that's all. It's not wrong to run a race, if u r the kind who likes to keep runnin. Or to win... N most of us would love to win, given a chance. Mayb v haven't had the chance yet. but success, even in a rat race, is quite very addictive. n, at times, worth running for.. :D
@ Suchitra very sensible arguement.Its for love of the winning that most of us run.. but what if u get there, after the few moments in the starlight has died down n the applause faded and u realise 'this is not what i wanted to win'.As Ashwin points out lot of ppl dream of winning the rat race but I'm talking abt dreams that r yours alone, not the society induced ones.Something that you might like to do even when u know u r not going to be recognised..Its the love of what u do than the love of what ur reputation will be out of doing it or what one will get out of it.
Its popular misconception that when one pursues a dream, he is left to fret in poverty. that is not so.Warren buffet,oberoi r few ppl who managed to pursue their dreams n still be ahead in the so called rat race.
Correction:my protagonist is running a blind race.
@Priya - What about the millions of ppl who took great pride in following their dream and ended up in poverty?
Anyway, I find the whole concept of "Dream" confusing. I don't think I ever had a dream. I used to want to become a locomotive pilot when I was young. Is that what you call my 'dream', or was it a childhood fantasy?
Anyways, I want to have a comfortable, luxurious life till death and I've realized the easiest step involving minimum risk is to become an engineer in a top ranked university.
Why do many people who don't make it there find it wrong? Do they think their plan of opening a boutique or writing poems for a living is better than mine? We engineers never judge anyone by their livelihood. Then why this discrimination?, which makes me wonder if its all greed and jealousy which coined up the word "rat race". Dumb people are so jealous of successful people that they're no longer considered humans, but rats.
Why is it always medicine or engg after 12th? What abt advertising,journalism,vis com, forensics,design...? These jobs fetch a fortune these days if u dint know!Most ppl force themselves careers like engg for security,atleast u r honest abt it. It's not only the money that i'm talking abt, afterall everyone needs it.Its the routes.We conveniently follow someone blindly, refusing ourselves what we want because of our own blindness.Even now at the verge of finishing our ug we can only think of iims and ms.I know u are good at animation n stuff. Did you consider an M.design at IISc?An amazing course with excellent (read high pay) placements.But how popular is it in our coll? In our race for prestige n pay we only follow what others consider good career options not those that r really good ones n that which u'd really want.
Maybe the word "dream" is a tad too light n poetic. I feel ambition is a word too intense for rats.
Well, there are thousands of universities which teach the above mentioned vis comm, journalism, forensics, history,lang etc. and there are several hundred thousand students in India studying the same. You're logic is similar to me approaching an IIT student and asking him to do his engineering studies in NIT instead of IIT and get over his rat-race mentality.
Well, I considered animation just a hobby, and it still is.
@Priya - Don't get me wrong when I say this, but one quality I've observed in all activists(Animal-rights, environmental, human-rights) is that they try to exert their opinion and principles on others. They tend to try and change the world as they want it. They are just one step away from fascism. So please come out of this "activist mentality" which our media is trying to encourage these days.
Every person knows whats best for him and will do what he sees fit. As long as it doesn't directly harm us, I don't think I would want to stop him.
>>It's not only the money that i'm talking abt, afterall everyone needs it.Its the routes.We conveniently follow someone blindly, refusing ourselves what we want because of our own blindness.
--->Well, there are good looking people who sell their bodies and dignity for money, I consider a career in engineering far less dishonorable.
Don't you think planning(with elder's help) ahead for the future and working hard for it is better than those roadside romeos who end up as jobless wife-beaters? Anyway, upto you to decide.
IIT, NIT, MIT,they r all engg colleges no matter what the hierarchy is.If one "wants" an engg then its obviously IIT that should be given the first preference.Giving the best in what one wants most is important. I dont for once deny that.
Also I'm not talking about ppl who struggle for a square meal a day should be pursuing their ambition.Its the ppl I know, from our own college. We have the sources,knowledge and enough support to embark on what we want. Still we dont.We keep our options narrow and follow someone's lead.We get paid high, get promotions and with that we consider our careers a sucess.We are afraid to try new fields that could be interesting, even promising.Its only this part of the rat race i dont like- confined routes,minimising our wants.When we giving our best in what we r capable n what really we want then it'd be a human competition rather than a rat race n there's got to be competition for one to get ahead and develop or else it could get stagnant.Pioneers,breakthru technologies,inventions,people who have achieved and people who will achieve can only be created by human competition.When u only fight for survival the sparks die down.
And I'm no activist and i have the same opinion of them as u do.'Doing what u want and giving it the best' is something so basic n something so neglected by the ppl at large and I pity such ppl.And a blog is no place to change the world and thats not something i'm trying to do.Its a place for expressions and expressions r based on opinions.Here they are mine.And I appreciate your opinions and the logic in them though I may not accept with them.
good article :)
Hi Priya,
Happened to come across your blog from ur comment in Ab's blog.. You write very well.. Keep it coming..
- JAR (Just another Rat, in your words)
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