I got an offer for a journey during the final year of my engineering graduation course. A journey, that commenced, a few days after my last day of college. A journey, for which, the destination was not known, or I did not give much thought to it rather. A journey, that I had decided to take on, as it was the safest and best option for me then. And the bus for it also appeared great, when I saw it from a distance.
It was an A/C bus, with tint glasses all around isolating us from the world outside. Round the clock, artificial light and air prevailed, making the rotation and revolution of Earth insignificant inside. And as I got in, I saw most of the co-passengers seated before my entry, and a few others got in with me. The bus was almost fully packed with some vacant back seats, where we were asked to be seated. It was comfortable place, out of sight of many, felt relaxed, and with lot of faces smiling at us, we had a seemingly friendly atmosphere welcoming us.
As the journey progressed, I was moved a seat ahead. Felt happy about it, but at the same time started feeling a little pressure, which I didn't care then. But as it went on, this pressure increased, beyond my threshold. There were lot of co-passengers, staring at me, and with switching behaviours, or was that I got old enough to understand their actual behaviours?
And to add-on, there were frequent fights - fights for window seats, for front seats and for whatever that seemed better. In that battle for better, some were pushed out of our seats ~ some moved out by themselves, and some got out of the bus, but into another bus which seemed better to them. These fights never ceased, for no one seemed to be happy with the seat they occupied, for their thirst for better was never quenched, for a better one was always there in their view.
The above things did bother me, but not much. What bothered me the most was, the journey fare. In the beginning I didn't have much idea about it, it was never explicitly told, but lately came to know about that. It was in the form of some rules which states – "The bus will only stop at driver's or bus conductor's wish, and never at yours." “Sit, where you are asked to, doing what you are assigned to do, and never question it or the system that rules you."
That fare was too much for me. It became difficult to get down for personal needs, irrespective of its sensitivity. It became mandatory to do things that your logic or heart have no desires to do.
This is what the life of a software engineer is - fights for appraisals, sacrifice of personal life to meet deadlines and milestones of a professional life, doing work- most of which will question your reason for doing engineering.
My freedom or logic is too much to be paid as a fare for a journey of this kind. For me, given any moment of time in my life, I want to enjoy, I want the freedom to do what I want to, and I do not want to do things that my logic does not digest or my heart will not agree upon.
And so, I was left with no other choice than to get out of this bus – "So please stop, I want to get down!"
P.S: Dedicated to a friend of mine who missed his roommate’s marriage because of his professional life.
It was an A/C bus, with tint glasses all around isolating us from the world outside. Round the clock, artificial light and air prevailed, making the rotation and revolution of Earth insignificant inside. And as I got in, I saw most of the co-passengers seated before my entry, and a few others got in with me. The bus was almost fully packed with some vacant back seats, where we were asked to be seated. It was comfortable place, out of sight of many, felt relaxed, and with lot of faces smiling at us, we had a seemingly friendly atmosphere welcoming us.
As the journey progressed, I was moved a seat ahead. Felt happy about it, but at the same time started feeling a little pressure, which I didn't care then. But as it went on, this pressure increased, beyond my threshold. There were lot of co-passengers, staring at me, and with switching behaviours, or was that I got old enough to understand their actual behaviours?
And to add-on, there were frequent fights - fights for window seats, for front seats and for whatever that seemed better. In that battle for better, some were pushed out of our seats ~ some moved out by themselves, and some got out of the bus, but into another bus which seemed better to them. These fights never ceased, for no one seemed to be happy with the seat they occupied, for their thirst for better was never quenched, for a better one was always there in their view.
The above things did bother me, but not much. What bothered me the most was, the journey fare. In the beginning I didn't have much idea about it, it was never explicitly told, but lately came to know about that. It was in the form of some rules which states – "The bus will only stop at driver's or bus conductor's wish, and never at yours." “Sit, where you are asked to, doing what you are assigned to do, and never question it or the system that rules you."
That fare was too much for me. It became difficult to get down for personal needs, irrespective of its sensitivity. It became mandatory to do things that your logic or heart have no desires to do.
This is what the life of a software engineer is - fights for appraisals, sacrifice of personal life to meet deadlines and milestones of a professional life, doing work- most of which will question your reason for doing engineering.
My freedom or logic is too much to be paid as a fare for a journey of this kind. For me, given any moment of time in my life, I want to enjoy, I want the freedom to do what I want to, and I do not want to do things that my logic does not digest or my heart will not agree upon.
And so, I was left with no other choice than to get out of this bus – "So please stop, I want to get down!"
P.S: Dedicated to a friend of mine who missed his roommate’s marriage because of his professional life.