The Accidental Engineer.....

Early 2000....An era where people were celebrating the arrival of new millennium. A.A point of time when the decade was changing and hopes were high among people about some changes in their day to day life also.Similarly I was also going through a change in the early months.In came 10th class Board result and phew....got more than 80% marks in Board examination...wanted to join the Armed Forces and then found out that Maths-Science was a required subject to be taken for that and that is the moment I decided my major subjects in higher secondary.Accidentally...

2001-2002....Flunged in XIth exams and covered back in XII board with again more than 80% in kitty,you know those years students with 80% marks were toppers in schools and state not like these days in the second decade of the millennium where an average guy gets 80% and toppers range is always above 95%.....gave defense services exam and rejected...wow,it was the first time I hit failure at bigger level(national).Then what...friends,parents and surroundings gave only one option...ENGINEERING is the thing of tomorrow, you would go for engineering and thus my preparations for engineering entrance begins.Got a call from Technical Recruitment in Defense but parents didn't allow me to go...typical old Indian emotional atyachaar...."You are the eldest son of the family.How can you run away from your responsibilities and join the Defense Force.Who will look after us here...and blah blah blah.."

Those were different years of life like the old congress government of MP made life pathetic for people(more that half a day no electricity,and water comes alternate days),Also I learned two wheeler riding first time in life with an immature rider and hurt badly on legs,hands and face and after learning again under the supervision of an experienced coach finally got my first two wheeler..a second hand kinetic honda worth 16k which was their in my hands for more than 6 to 7 years and many more experiences of life.

Finally cracked the State Pre-Engineering Entrance Exam after one year drop in 2003(which I still regret,why did I took a drop...Oh God!).

2003...Early 2003 saw India's exit from the Cricket world cup Final and middle months saw my entrance in the Government Engineering College of my city.I always wanted Computers as my major degree subject but again parents are always right and as per them Electronics and Communications was the talk of the future.And after that whomsoever we talked they also suggested the same.And guess what,after 4 years of engineering I graduated as an Electronics and Telecommunication Engineer :).

So much influence is their of others in our life,almost at every stage.Strange...most of the times we might not be able to convince ourselves..

2003-2004...First year of engineering...I always thought that communication has to do with computers and electronics means electrons,protons and neutrons combined...and thus electronics and communication engineering is born and thus it would be easy to crack...but hard times were just ahead when my first semester result came...

First Lie of Engineering...Got a grace in Maths-1 in first semester..So what,I never liked maths that much,but grace...first time in life I got a grace,which was hard to digest...so finally decided to lie and did not told my parents and relatives about the grace mark pass-out and just told my aggregate percentage(which was enough for a plateful of scolding).

Got better grades in next semester and decided myself to do better in coming years also and thank God I kept the promise made to myself(my final semester percentage were above 80).Bunked silly practical classes,made live projects,bunked classes and ran back home and lot of mischievous activities are the collection of memories in the mind from that first year of engineering.

2004-2005...Second year of Engineering...Finally something cool to tell about.2nd year make ourself king in engineering colleges.I thought that every beautiful girl in college can become my girlfriend,on the other hand it's a different thing that I was  very shy to talk to anyone but thoughts and fantasy can come for anyone and at anytime.Yes.Fantasy can happen.My first major road accident(which gave me my first fractured hand) taught me that filing FIR's is easy in India but expecting action on it early is a day dream(My FIR became a court case 10 years later).

My first major crush with a beautiful girl in college campus,my first friendly interactions with my seniors in college all these happened in the second year only and also my concept about Electronics and Communications changed from that year only :).

Semesters went on and our thinking about engineering kept on changing.Freedom was experienced from heart.Dreams were their in the eyes.We wanted to change the world.Planning were happening every single day and this is how second year also went on.

2005-2006....Third year of Engineering...My first job in March-2006,was the highlight of the whole engineering at that time,but hardly I realized that this joy can be a pain for next 7 years.My heartbreak with a beautiful girl of college was the second most highlighted event of the year, for which I later realized,that everything happens for something good(my wife is much better than my crush).

Third year of engineering created a spark in the heart about joining a job after finishing the education as quickly as possible,but hardly I knew that these days will be badly missed by me in coming years and I know that somewhere every professional will feel the same in their life at one point of life that those early school and college days were the best and most memorable days of their life but not the job days or the appraisal days as the most innocent part of life is the most remembered and our college and school friends comes in those innocent category(at-least I feel the same) as compared to cunning office colleagues and a scary creature called "BOSS" or "MANAGER" is much more horrible than the HOD of engineering.

2006-2007...Passed my engineering in June-2007 with flying colors(at least I think the same keeping in reference with my first semester marks),and of course getting a degree with 73+ percentages is a good engineering degree.MY farewell,my last huddle with my friends and some seniors as a student were some of the emotional highs of that whole year.And of course India lost the initial round of World Cup Cricket in 2007 and that was one of the negative highlight but was soon covered up by 20-20 World cup win and that too over Pakistan(I did not have cable connection,so saw the final match updates on Doordarshan News).

After my engineering completed,my first organization(TCS) called me for job but wait after a gap of 6 months...phew...again a low in life as I had no idea what to do in those months.My mom kept on saying to sit with my dad and learn about his accounts practice and help him out but I kept on ignoring the same(I will tell you the story after 7 years later).Somehow time just passed by and I went for my first job in southern part of the country,Trivandrum(Kerala).

January-2008...Left my hometown with heavy heart.My father gave me my first mobile phone(independent Nokia mobile,as smart-phones were not in trend those days that much),my brother gave me a gel pen (he is 9 years younger than me) as a gift during the day I left my hometown with heavy heart(Still regretting why I reselled that phone,I could have kept it as a memory with me,but I still have that pen which my brother gave,with me and will always keep it with me).

Trivandrum-2008(January-March)....My first independent exploration and that too in the southern part of the country.Truly amazing, breathtaking trips and unexplainable experiences.Except the job training everything was outstanding.In those 3 months I made a rock solid decision that I am not going to get sucked in job for my lifetime,then what? I don't know,but job is not the way...

March-2008....First posting in Delhi(Gurgaon),that too because of setting(I think most of know the meaning of the word "setting" in India),made me travel from south to north.I covered almost entire India in 2 days of train travel.

Gurgaon was my first destination in job,sorry actually second destination after trivandrum.Spend 1 year and 6 months with lots of experienced gained in the bucket,I moved to bangalore in 2009-July

International Business Machine----July-2009 was the start of my career in the biggest organization of the world for next 2 years in Bangalore.It is the most costliest city of the country and with a pathetic salary from the biggest organization in the world, one of the harsh reality of job strucked me,you cannot enhance your income in a job, limitation always eats you up.

2 years in IBM help me get many new friends and some good experience about south Indian culture.Then a twist happened and I got a government job,indeed two.

Two Probationary Officer jobs in 2 different leading public sector banks came in my kitty but both were rejected by me.Alas,I had guts...Not many will take a decision like this but I did,and also I don't regret it.

Bangalore provided me guts to look after business opportunities on a serious note as I was too much fed up with my job.Simple reason,job always has a limited growth and manager always sucks you.

Some ventures which were started part time got failed and one full time business was started called as marriage with a lovely lady who eventually became love of my life and this would be my best investment in LIFE where I am getting and will continue to get best outcomes in the form of love,care,affection and many other intangibles.

But finally 2014 made me realized completely that yes I am an accidental Engineer and that job is and will never be my cup of tea.Decided to put down papers in my final job on 26-June-2014 and guess what,I would be helping my father in his practices in my hometown(This is where I regret that why I didn't listened to my mother 7 years back...But better late then never).

I am too much excited to start my new life with my wife, my parents and brother again in my hometown.The Lost World which is coming back to me again.Abki Baar Modi Sarkaar,Aur Nai Beginning Ke Liye Main Hoon Taiyaar

JOB always has and will have limitations,it will suck you,squeeze you and take away the invaluable from you...your relationships,your emotions,your home,your peace of mind and many more..

Decide to do something in life.I am not criticizing job as many people do it and are more successful than me but my talk says that find out what you really want in life and if job doesn't satisfy those needs than please just don't keep it doing for the sake of doing.

I can get much better in life by not doing a job and starting something on my own,working for myself and my society.I can be really myself when I am free but not when I am on a bond with a Company which least bothers about me.

Can I get back my lost 7 years back...surely No,nor I can repay the loss but utilizing next coming years to serve my people,my city,my country by being myself for the sake of me and my family.

Can I justify being an accidental engineer?I really can't...so choose your path in LIFE wisely as everyone might not get a second chance as I am getting(or rather boldly snatching from destiny).

Can a job or a pay hike replace the most valuable moments in LIFE...Never,then for what we are stuck in a rat-race.Why can't we enjoy nature's beauty and God given LIFE as a free bird as I have decided to do by setting my own limitations myself and not bound to be under someone else's set limitations...Think?

How strange it is that we wish to wear high brands but we feel most comfortable in payjamas,we wish to sit in the Taj and Marriott with elite job class people but we enjoy roadside tea with friends and with the people we love,we wish to own big cars and bungalows and yet we talk our heart out only while walking down a long road,we might have 64 gb ipods and latest smart-phones filled with songs but sometimes a song on the radio brings a smile that can't be compared....can all these small things in life that we really enjoy be with us in today'stressed fill high paying jobs...THINK

How many ENGINEERS and so called high pay getting IT associated really wanted to become that only in LIFE...how many of us had some habits or hobbies which we wanted to pursue in life,may be singing,dancing,being a writer or being a social worker or anything but today we ended up in becoming an accidental engineer.Don't you agree?

I am an accidental engineer...I chose to....but not for the whole life.In next few months I am starting a journey of being myself....Can you also have such guts...?THINK...