Promises and Com(promises)

As a child I wanted to become a doctor, a fighter pilot, a MI5 or MI6 agent, a soldier and don’t remember what more.......

As a child I loved life (so do I now) and loved probably everything it had to offer me. Nature, wildlife, treks, trips, schools, studies (yes I did....), sports, friends.......

I never really understood how I developed so many interests in life. Probably all the credit goes to my parents who taught me to enjoy the life as it is. At every moment while I was enjoying them, I made myself some promises. To be with all these things for rest of my life.

Today, I am doing MBA from one of India's most prestigious B-schools. Here everyone comes to be successful. To get a good job. A high paying job. Enjoy probably the last two years of educational career and transform oneself into a "rich"er person.

Unfortunately that richness is measured in terms of whether you get 7 or 8 or 10 or 12 or 15 lacs. In return you get a job in some top notch company. In years that follow climb the ladders of organisational hierarchy. In the process of reaching the top we don't really realise the years that fly by. The only things those occupy our lives are work, promotion and money. And I fear myself just doing that.......

I fear that in the quest for the top, I might not be able to fulfill all those promises I made myself as a child. I love reading, writing, trekking, travelling, swimming, playing, listening to music and many more simple things. But I hardly see anything of these in today's cut throat race for the top. It reminds me of the story I read sometime back....that of a fisherman and a businessman. I know I am writing this at the risk of being labelled as an unambitious person. But I also stand at a juncture of life where I need to decide whether the compromises will override my promise or I find some way to compromise on compromises to fulfill my promises.