Being through this pain of entrepreneurship and re-setting myself back to the corporate world. The daily grind of 9 to 5 jobs with serious financial planning to secure our future in this uncertain world has made us all a bit serious, or I am just overstating.
1st of April, I was traveling back from my hometown to Bangalore on our Great Indian Railways. Railways have always fascinated me primarily because of the weird & unpredictable nature of travelers. So to be in peace, I generally try to book 2 tier bogie (2AC).
A mess or I am just being unlucky, though I am married still whenever I travel alone, the railways always provide me a side upper seat next to the door. Which for no reason always being tee-toing for the entire day. And sometimes when you are lucky and get a lower middle berth somewhere in the middle of the bogie. An uncle or aunty will come up and request to go to the upper berth as they are too old to take that pain. And being a gentleman we always comply. All that is okay but with it, they sleep almost for the entire day with constant snoring, which heightened the irritating agent in us with aggravating back pain after the long hours of hunchback seating. Trying to get a chance to open the laptop to work in pursuit of a dream to change the world for a better place, never happens.
Leave it, I ditch everything and pushed myself hard to sleep around 7 pm after a potful of homemade delicacies. Suddenly half past seven, my mother-in-law calls me up. My mother-in-law is a happy-go-lucky personality, always cheerful. She told me with a bit of a tense tone - They can't make it to our Ooty trip, I asked why, and she said my father-in-law has some very important work to be delivered to a client, so it seems impossible for them to make it. I was kind of taken aback, I told her I just discussed it two days back with him, and after his confirmation, we have booked the entire trip as well as got our leave planned.
My inside was a bit angry, irritated, and saddened but as culturally tuned we never get back to our elders. Bit sad, I told okay. After the call dropped, I recalculated and planned on how to cancel the entire program and thought if they could have made it, it would be awesome.
Post two hours, she called me again, I was like now what. And then she asked me did you canceled the bookings. I told her, to let it be, and when I reach Bangalore will discuss it and then will cancel. She was like - Wish you a very happy fools day, April fool!
Wow, I wondered, I was like when have I become so dead-serious with life? Knowing it was the 1st of April, the thought never crossed that someone can fool me.
A very meaningless incident in my life but a very thought-provoking one. I don't remember the last time when I played April Fool other than being a kid. I was wondering how serious have we become, running life like serious Adults. Where is that kid in us, who wanders, enjoys & relishes every moment in life?
We are living an uncertain life jumping days from one paycheck to other, clearing our bills, and waiting for appraisal. With rigorous planning to take control of our lives from being uncertain to be certain. But don't life is designed to be uncertain, free, and carefree like the kid we used to be? Or I am simply overstating?
Millennials, How serious have we become?
*Based on True Story.
**Image credit - Raj Khandelwal