The Eccentric Human

There are debates, discussions and rarely are these calm. Things get hot and egos get hurt. What is amazing is the regularity  and consistency of such things. What could be the reason for this? Are there two sides, one on the side of Sauron and the other on the side of Gandalf? Rarely. The Lord of the Rings, gives a message here. Gandalf is initially grey, things are not clear. But as things progress, he is forced to be reborn as “Gandalf the White”, after an epic battle.

I think things in life are also similar. Mostly, to start with, things are grey. There is difference of opinion, but there is no clarity on things. However, over time one is supposed to come to term with the reality and take a call on the “whiteness” or “blackness” of a thing. Now this is where human eccentricity steps in. Rather than coming out of our tower, like Soromon, we keep seeing the world from the same perspective. The result is that more often than not, we end up on the “black” side than the “white” one. For example, most of us still view our actions on the environmental front as “saving the earth”, where the reality is we are just saving ourselves.

There are numerous examples of human eccentricities but I think none exemplifies it more than that of an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs are, essentially, very eccentric humans. But they are eccentric in a different sense. Their eccentricity is based more on their ideas and beliefs than their egos. There is a very thin line between the two and it is very easy for the two to cross the boundaries. And in some sense, I think that it is this thing that differentiates a “good” entrepreneur from a “bad” one. I mean an eccentric person who is able to be madly in love with his ideas and beliefs while also being full of humility, is certainly one to be with. Here, you have a friend like Gandalf. He will appear to disturb your peaceful existence but in real sense he is only trying to bring you out of your closed perspective and warn you about the fatal nature of your current existence. Gandalf’s friendship is hard, for most part but I think its worth it. Because in the end you win, and your victory has a purpose, a spirit and a stubborn belief. Its an eccentric solution to eccentricity!

The Last Pilgrimage

It’s almost two months since I was officially declared an Engineer and almost a year since I have claimed to be one. But the feeling of having left DAIICT, my Alma mater still does not sink in. I have been wanting to write this post since the convocation, which was one hell of a meet, but somehow I could not gather so many thoughts and emotions into words at the time. I guess, these two months have given me the time to put my thought together in a more coherent manner. So here’s something for the readers through the lens of “nostalgia”.

The Inevitable

About a year ago, at this time, I was preparing for my BTP presentation. The time was ticking and for the first time I realized what ‘the inevitable’ is. Leaving the place, the room and the friends was always a distant possibility. But in those last few days it was a fact, something that could not be avoided. There would be friends whom probably, I would never meet again in my life. The whole culture that I had started to like would fade away, no more AOE, no more barging into friends rooms to just do timepass, no more certainty about things in life… But then, I guess after a point, I became numb. I just took days as they came and all the time hoping against hope that the dreaded day, when I and my friends leave, would not come. But time does not stop, and I had to leave. It was not emotional, surprisingly, but it did leave a big hole in my heart. A feeling of emptiness.

Not Immortal

We youngsters have a problem. We don’t realise that we are mere mortals. At least, I never thought about things from that angle. That was till I heard about that the demise of my batch-mate, while he was planning to go back home. My second myth shattered. Within days, I faced the two biggest realities of this world. First that you cannot do anything to avoid the inevitable and secondly, there is an end to everything, even you.

Not Indispensible

Life came a full circle when I went for the convocation. I expected it to be fun, meeting all those people and being the old self once again. I knew the time was less but nonetheless, we had all the plans to utilize every moment to the maximum. I reached DAIICT and we went to to all those restaurants we wanted, to feel like those “good old days”. The convocation was a wonderful time. Was just great to meet all those people again, recalling those moments that probably none of us could ever forget. But what struck me was that things had changed at DAIICT. There were new faces, I did not have my room; the place was not mine anymore. It was as if I was being told that I was just a part of the institute. If I go, there will always be someone to replace me. It was comforting, in some sense, that there would be juniors who would carry forward the things we had initiated. But there was also this sad feeling of not being a part of all the “action”. I guess life has its ways of teaching its lessons.