The world as I know or at least the human society that we live in works on principle of perceptions. And it is our single most desire to bring out the right perception when we interact. The fallacy is stated in the manner with which seniors would perceive the young. I am an entrepreneur and at age 32 and I consider my self in between the young and the senior. At the same time I have the liberty of opting to be any one of them based on where I am and what I am doing.
The thing that I always contemplate is “why don’t people hear the young mind”. And there are layers to this discussion that I always debate on especially on an evening walk. What comes to my mind are following.
In India the sanctum of respect is imbibed in everything we do. From greeting some one senior to signing our emails. It`s sacramental if the “R” word from respect is taken out in any form of our communication.
The second layer starts with the freedom to express, or to hold an opinion especially when it does,nt matches with the senior in 10 meters diameter. Some how in our societal endeavour to imbibe the “R” word, holding a counter opinion is considered impolite. And woo!!! That’s something you don’t want to be. One of my friend always said. You know what’s pulling us down, what’s pulling India down. It`s the concept of 1 billion nice people. We don’t want to be impolite. It does,nt translate to us forming an aggressive society. It`s an indicative of where things are going wrong fundamentally.
The reason this is flowing out here is because I, like millions of Indians have faced it for a long time. And now as I see my self some where between the young and the senior. I ask my self the perennial question “is now the time when I attempt to change what I have followed?” and more often than not I find my self in that quest.
For me it all started in year 2002. I was a curious case at that time. I had studied Biotechnology at graduate level and ended up doing masters in computer science. Wanting to club the two together I started searching the web and the word Bioinformatics came up. Well! that`s what I wanted to know more about. So ended up chucking my 5 day old job and travelled on the road to reality. For next three weeks it was a role form one academic office to another. Realizing that the preferred mode of communication between someone who is already doing it with someone who wants to learn it is pretty one sided. Almost like a 2 year old kid trying to push a car aside so that he could park his tri cycle there. Anyways so here I was wondering what it takes to get heard. What is it that needs to be done from my side so that someone could at least take me in as an unpaid apprentice. Well It took me years to realize that I was up against the fundamental structure of our behaviour. The power circle where the young is to be ignored.
Almost at the end of the learning curve before I finally gave up and planned back my days with the regular IT job. I took a trip to a fantastic academic centre. Indian summer was on its peak. I wore the most crisp white shirt and walked in with confidence. Climbed up the six floor and reached the designated office. There was no one there so I waited. Sweating and thirsty, the light filtering through the stained glass reminded me of nebulous stage one goes through. Somewhere lost between childhood and present a voice came through. “Are u waiting for me!” I said yes and we moved to the office.
The unique thing about life is things happen when u least expect them to happen. So here I was expecting the same reflection of society in my conversation which would last not more than 30 sec. All set for the setback I speak and find for the first time someone listening. I speak out the honest trail of my imagination and in that single moment I realize how rare a moment like this is in a youngsters life. When someone ahead of you provides the listening window. A cold glass of water and an honest advice was all I needed and now it was mine. For I walk out without the apprenticeship but something more enriching. A concept, a power that’s locked up with the seniors. The power to bring the younger half of our 1 billion from a shadow of apologetic respect to one on one direct communication.
The thing that I always contemplate is “why don’t people hear the young mind”. And there are layers to this discussion that I always debate on especially on an evening walk. What comes to my mind are following.
In India the sanctum of respect is imbibed in everything we do. From greeting some one senior to signing our emails. It`s sacramental if the “R” word from respect is taken out in any form of our communication.
The second layer starts with the freedom to express, or to hold an opinion especially when it does,nt matches with the senior in 10 meters diameter. Some how in our societal endeavour to imbibe the “R” word, holding a counter opinion is considered impolite. And woo!!! That’s something you don’t want to be. One of my friend always said. You know what’s pulling us down, what’s pulling India down. It`s the concept of 1 billion nice people. We don’t want to be impolite. It does,nt translate to us forming an aggressive society. It`s an indicative of where things are going wrong fundamentally.
The reason this is flowing out here is because I, like millions of Indians have faced it for a long time. And now as I see my self some where between the young and the senior. I ask my self the perennial question “is now the time when I attempt to change what I have followed?” and more often than not I find my self in that quest.
For me it all started in year 2002. I was a curious case at that time. I had studied Biotechnology at graduate level and ended up doing masters in computer science. Wanting to club the two together I started searching the web and the word Bioinformatics came up. Well! that`s what I wanted to know more about. So ended up chucking my 5 day old job and travelled on the road to reality. For next three weeks it was a role form one academic office to another. Realizing that the preferred mode of communication between someone who is already doing it with someone who wants to learn it is pretty one sided. Almost like a 2 year old kid trying to push a car aside so that he could park his tri cycle there. Anyways so here I was wondering what it takes to get heard. What is it that needs to be done from my side so that someone could at least take me in as an unpaid apprentice. Well It took me years to realize that I was up against the fundamental structure of our behaviour. The power circle where the young is to be ignored.
Almost at the end of the learning curve before I finally gave up and planned back my days with the regular IT job. I took a trip to a fantastic academic centre. Indian summer was on its peak. I wore the most crisp white shirt and walked in with confidence. Climbed up the six floor and reached the designated office. There was no one there so I waited. Sweating and thirsty, the light filtering through the stained glass reminded me of nebulous stage one goes through. Somewhere lost between childhood and present a voice came through. “Are u waiting for me!” I said yes and we moved to the office.
The unique thing about life is things happen when u least expect them to happen. So here I was expecting the same reflection of society in my conversation which would last not more than 30 sec. All set for the setback I speak and find for the first time someone listening. I speak out the honest trail of my imagination and in that single moment I realize how rare a moment like this is in a youngsters life. When someone ahead of you provides the listening window. A cold glass of water and an honest advice was all I needed and now it was mine. For I walk out without the apprenticeship but something more enriching. A concept, a power that’s locked up with the seniors. The power to bring the younger half of our 1 billion from a shadow of apologetic respect to one on one direct communication.
