I Am Different

After computers entered our lives, they started engulfing everything else. Information Technology Revolution is a great event that will occupy a very important place in the history of mankind. Today, we cannot live without our smartphones, computers, internet and so many other things that we older generation are too dumb to even understand! Thus every student coming out of twelfth grade has only one option - study Computer Engineering, write GRE exams and fly off to that wonderland - America! Irrespective of what his inner call is, the parents and peers push him to that path only. Is there any other path to a peaceful life? There is!

“Are you not writing CET exams? Why” This was the question posed to my daughter when she finished her twelfth grade, by one and all. Everybody was shocked that we did not force her to do that. “She is too young to decide. Should you not guide her? Today, the in-thing is computers. There is no field that can survive without computers. Let her at least take up the entrance exam.” But we knew she was not made for sciences and her personality was totally different. She was a very creative person, loved nature, loved to work with the people at the grassroots level and above all, hated the stress of deadlines, targets, and numbers!  

We, therefore, admitted her to the Fine Arts College. She enjoyed the course thoroughly. She realised her heart was in creativity. She has multiple talents of creativity - mimicry, singing, acting, writing, drawing, painting, sketching, crafts, etc. She performed very well and even won awards in contests and scored a University rank in her final year. After her fine arts course, she pursued her PG in Textile Designing at NID, Ahmedabad, which is THE place for Design Courses. Of course, NID was a very different experience for her, because it was preparing professionals and not mere designers! The course content was very tough. There were strict deadlines and a lot of hard work. She really struggled, because for her perfection was the aim rather than meeting deadlines. She came out with flying colours.  

We were amazed by the way she secured jobs on platters! The NID brand added a lot of value to her profile. She did try out a few of them in textile industries. But, she very soon realised that those jobs never suited her. They did not respect her creativity and only used her talent for marketing. She could not enjoy the irrelevant duties that were attached to her and could not handle the stress.  

She then took up a job in a school as an arts teacher and enjoyed it a lot. She loves children and when she could spend so much time with them, it was a bonus for her. She then approached her alma mater - The Valley School, which was where she got enlightenment that her calling was fine arts and not science. They were very pleased to take in their own ex-student as a teacher. Her life was made. That is one of the best things that have happened in her life. That school gives her total freedom to use her creative skills in all fields. She is an arts teacher for students of all grades from one to twelve. She is enjoying every minute of her job in the vast expanse of the school, situated in a forest. Nature inspires her most and soothes her mind even when she is in the worst of her moods.  

Most of the children love her and enjoy her sessions, which are never boring and stereotype. Creativity has no limits. The parents of the children also are very happy and appreciate her skill, passion, patience and bonding with the children. Her little son too goes to the same school with her and he too enjoys the wonderful school. There is a lot of music in the school and she is able to use her singing talent too.  

We were always astonished by her creative skills and did our best to encourage her by putting her in various classes and taking her to competitions. Today, we are happy and proud that she has found the field of her passion and is enjoying her job. We are proud to hear that she is being recognised and appreciated by her students and their parents and of course the school authorities. What more can a person ask for?  

Then came my son’s turn. He was a very different kind of child and all his teachers in schools found it challenging to understand him and tap his intellect. Thus he was always a problem child in the beginning and thereafter the teachers would love him for his knowledge, his nature of thinking differently and his humility. When he came to High School, one of his teachers identified his special nature of original and inquisitive thinking and advised us to send him to institutions like IIT, where such thinking will be recognised and promoted. By the time he finished his twelfth standard, he was very sure that he did not like engineering courses and loved core science, especially Physics a lot. Once again everybody around was surprised that we were not keen on admitting him to an Engineering College as everybody else was doing, because that was the oft treaded path.  

We trusted our child because by now we had understood that not every child can yield to such pressures and there is a life outside the IT sector too. Thus we admitted him to IIT, Kharagpur to pursue his passion - Physics. We were very sad to send him away that far in his 18th year and mourned for months after he left. But today my son feels his personality was rounded only there. He understood life, realised the value of good food, independent living and so many other things. He became totally independent and flew to Canada to do his Ph.D., found his life partner, who understands him thoroughly and is now working in Singapore. He still works in the research field. He is very happy that he is able to pursue all his passions - Physics, music, travel, reading and also spend happy times with his family. We are happy and proud for him too, as he is able to enjoy his life his way and not by the standard definition of society.

Thus, we are thankful to God to have given us the sense to encourage both our children to follow their passions and enjoy life in a true way! What else can give more satisfaction and joy to parents than seeing their children enjoying every moment of their lives peacefully rather than minting money but finding no time to enjoy the earnings?