The White Hat’ke’ realization!

It’s the IPL season and it’s not only cricket on the TV that keeps you entertained, it’s also those advertisements that invariably catch your attention either because the remote is out of your reach or you use that break to pee and grab a bite!

One such ad that’s caught everyone’s attention, more so because of the countless memes, is the WhiteHat Jr!

Yesterday I had my YouTube playlist in the background while working…usually after every song your fingers are accustomed to doing the Alt+tab to hurriedly click ‘Skip Ad’. Struggling with my excel sheet, I missed the action when suddenly this Whitehat Jr Ad started off and I instantly switched over to listen because…It was of a 12 year old girl talking about her love for coding and the app that she was designing to end world hunger…WOHOO!!!

A statement that heavy and intense knocked me off and I went spiralling down to my 7th grade days.
At 12 you know what I was doing? Trying to end MY hunger. Coding? Hahaha, the only code language I knew was ‘P’ language. “Youpu epeveper hepeard opof thapat???” 😛

I was a bright child, I still am..On the days I don’t experience load shedding 😀  On a serious note, this is crazy!! I know it’s a competitive world, it isn’t what it was two decades ago but… Stop!! I for one, can’t handle this much pressure.

I wasn’t one of those kids that seriously dreamt of becoming someone famous or a doctor/ engineer/ architect/ accountant!! (Let’s not discuss dreams here :P) My parents, like every other, had hopes but I must say I never experienced pressure of any kind. I have been most fortunate that way…

I had short term goals and I worked to achieve those.

– In school I aimed for the best rank in class (Mom always wished for my name to appear on the calendar/ board of achievements… My name, however, went down in school’s history for being a brat!)

– In 10th I worked for 80%, just enough to get me into Podar college to fulfill Pop’s wish (only I ended up in SIES for IT over Hindi, a very regrettable choice!

– In college I took up Bachelor of Accounting & Finance because that’s what friends were doing and it sounded all bigshot and HiFi!

– I signed up for MBA classes on Mom’s insistence, one that she and her bank balance regret (Yes Mom, I still owe you that money!)

– I switched over to CA because I was afraid my poor math skills would not even land me in a normal school, let alone IIM!

All of this I did because I had no big goals and ambitions and believed ‘Go with the flow’ was a workable mantra.

You know, recently I came across an article that I could totally relate to. Infact a lot of it felt like words in my heart that could never be given life, for the fear of being judged.

“Is something wrong with me if I’m not ambitious?”

Oh you must be wondering about my lineage and let me tell you our IYER family is NOT an exception! We have the IIMs, IITs, CAs, etc etc. You know the drill – Education, degrees, qualifications… All of it – more the better. So I took this motto to heart and today I’m proud to say that in our family I’m the only one with a CA degree with 6 attempts 😀

I have a degree. I have a job. Yes I do. But am I doing something I love? Do I love what I’m doing? Oh c’mon Sneha, why this cliché, you ask!!

I’ll tell you why! I’ve been visiting this topic more often than before during this lockdown. Then I stumbled across this blog and I was happy to learn that there are real people like me out there.

Movies and stories about people fazed by these important questions and decisions are in abundance but we don’t quite relate to it much because reality isn’t rosy at all and practicality is the word of the hour/ day/ life!

What if I were to tell you that I had decided to quit Jio and venture into becoming a writer!? This decision is likely to create more worry than merry because of the following top most reasons:

 1) Why will you quit Jio when they’re the only ones doing the jeena in this lockdown!? #Dhan-Dhana-Dhan!

2) You have no prior writing experience except for a blog with a handful of loyal subscribers and what if this writing is merely a hobby or infatuation?

3) How can you quit without placing yourself in another job?

While I know this topic is extremely subjective and subject to t&c, the blog made me realize that the word ‘ambition’ isn’t what it is made out to be. It can be what YOU want it to be! All I know is that for me it’s not about hustle and fighting to reach the top. I mean where is the ‘top’ no?

Note to self: Do not beat yourself up for being different or slow or less academically or professionally inclined. Do not be afraid to give wings to those special dreams. Maybe you’re a slow bloomer but believe that you will be the most beautiful when you do so bloom. 

While I figure out a path that I’m daring and willing to tread on, I’d love to know what you readers think!

Cheers 🙂

P.S. There’s this song from the animated movie Mulan that’s always had a special place in my heart…A part of the lyrics goes like;

Who is that girl I see
Staring straight back at me?
When will my reflection show
Who I am inside?I am now
In a world where I
Have to hide my heart
And what I believe in
But somehow
I will show the world
What’s inside my heart
And be loved for who I am