The road not not taken!

In a month's time, I will be somebody what I set out to be four long years ago. An Engineer! And now that I was going to be one, my conscience was incessantly pestering me as to why I chose to become an Engineer! I tried explaining to it that I hail from the city of Hyderabad where everybody is in the mindless exercise of mass producing engineers but it didn't seem to buy it. In fact, it guffawed at me like I just said a Russel Peters' and called it "the lamest reason ever"! So in a desperate bid to cover up my rather juvenile reason for becoming an engineer, I turned to Satanputr who conjured this for me!

I am an Indian and there are a billion other people in my country who say the same. I am in the final year of my Bachelors in Engineering and will pass out in 2010 as one of the 2.5 lakh engineers who are added to India’s technical pool every year. And for a person who vehemently detests being a part of the ‘herd’, it was not an easy path to choose.

Right from an early age, I exhibited an exceptionally strong inclination towards engineering. While many might call the television an idiot box; it was this idiot box which played a crucial role in the discovery of my love for science. At an age when most kids were hooked to The Flintstones and Top Cat, I found myself glued to the Discovery and National Geographic networks watching shows on engineering marvels in the fields of automobiles, aircrafts and construction. It amazed me to see how much thought went into the design of a suspension of a car, the stealth design that went into the making of an F-117 Nighthawk or the ingenuity showed by the civil engineers in building the “Tube” in London. While out on a drive with my father, I was as inquisitive about the gear box as I was about the ice cream I wanted him to buy me!

As I moved to high school, I displayed a particularly strong interest in math and physics with the latter exciting me a greater deal than the former. I also became increasingly aware of my ability to think out of the box and question the convention and I could always defend my views thanks to my analytical and reasoning skills which seemed to come very naturally to me.

I have always been lucky. From sweet nothings to being the good luck charm of the local cricket team, I have always been considered fortunate. But, I believe my biggest fortune has to be the India I grew up in. It was an India which grew along with me; atleast, in the field of technology. As I reached my teens, I found myself increasingly drawn to all the electronic gadgetry and wizardry which was flooding the Indian market then. I found myself increasingly itching to learn how these electronic marvels worked and became restless when I found it was all a little too complicated for my age. It was only when my father suggested that I can start off small by learning and building “Make your own” kits that I found some peace. So, by the end of my high school, listening to the late night songs playing on my self-made radio, I was crystal clear about what I wanted to pursue for my undergraduate studies.

There was a problem though. Engineering is a very popular option for undergraduate studies in India. And, I found myself ill at ease with this fact. For a moment, I doubted my own conviction in pursuing engineering and the reasons I was pursuing it for. But one year at my college and my fears were allayed. I knew I was where I belonged and realized the electronics stream I picked was perfect for my curiosity as it encompassed almost every aspect of technology. The courses were not just knowledgeable but extremely satiating. As I moved into my sophomore year, the courses started to become exclusive and began to take a specific and deep approach. By the end of the third year, Communications and Electrical Sciences became the areas in which I wished to make a career in. I believe the reason for that is the extensive practicality of the courses and also, without sounding imprudent, the quicker grasp I had over these subjects.

Academic talk apart, I am also a person of fine taste. I enjoy listening to Indian classical especially, the sitar by Pandit Ravi Shankar. I like to play the guitar for hours together amusing myself as much as I relish fine arts and pursue painting as a hobby. And I just love the English language. I love its sound and how it can be played around with to spin yarns of words such as this. Also, having had an upper middle class upbringing in India, I understand the value of a dream and what goes into realizing it. I understand the diligent industrious effort which goes into any aspect of life and am sure that if I continue in the same spirit, I will one day lead a herd of my own.

P.S: This post is a testimonial to all those people who spent endless hours writing bull stories (read SOPs) about how they knew all their lives that they are going to be engineers and how they devoted their entire life in working towards it!