Aren't each and every one of us just another brick in the wall? Similar, set in our paths, boring! The process begins at the tender age of four, shaping us, molding our thought processes - making us who we are. We comply with a set path in life which pretty much follows a similar pattern - study, work, earn and save, live a family life, retire into oblivion and finally rest in peace! The funny (or sad?) part is that each of those individual functions have a set pattern too! Study and work usually involves some 'conventional' field such as medicine, engineering or law. The wealth acquisition and consolidation phase usually involves addiction to a monthly income and saving in a fixed deposit scheme for the most part.
We, as a society, glorify compliance to these preset career paths and heavily discourage original thought, change and in fact anything that takes us out of our comfort zone. As the Venn Diagram featured above shows, only people who get out of their comfort zones experience the magic of actually living and not just existing!
We need to begin this process as early as primary school. We need to build and develop a system that constantly removes us from our comfort zones and thus help us realize what we are truly capable of. We need to start by bringing out the multiple talents in these primary school children and establish strong foundations on which they can continue to grow and develop. After all, it is only in the face of adversity - when we are out of our comfort zones - that we truly realize our full potential.
To be fair I think our generation has partly come out of this protective/limiting shell. For example in the last five years we have seen the start up culture mature to a large extent in our country. There is a growing trend of a large section of people not settling for the monthly income from an MNC, rather trying to make it on their own in spite of debilitating red tapism and an inefficient support system. Also we have more students opting for research in pure sciences, another field that has always played second fiddle to the Information Technology Industry. We also have an increasing number of artists ready to risk heart break and financial instability to have a go at achieving success.
This trend definitely needs to be encouraged. As a society we need to shift our line of thought away from accepting the norm, the tried and tested formula that will help us exist in a vicious cycle but not live happily. We need to recognize the fact that the path less traveled may contain many more thorns and unexpected twists and turns but the rewards at the end of that path are just as unique as the path itself! The sense of fulfillment at the end, makes the journey worth it!
John Adams, the second President of the United States had once said, "I must study politics and war so that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy." This is a profound statement and I think it can be extended and applied to the situation that we find ourselves in. The first few generations of independent India were required to take up conventional career paths to earn a living and also contribute to nation building. I think as a nation we have reached a stage wherein individuals can have a promising and fulfilling career outside of these 'conventional' fields. Yes we need engineers, doctors and lawyers, but we also need artists, dreamers, researchers, innovators and entrepreneurs to build a society that is fully self sufficient materially and otherwise. In my opinion this is the next stage of nation building. The execution of which is the responsibility of our generation!
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