The Rat Race Derby

Dude: The Hot-Shot Young Executive

This is the story of “dude”, who fancies himself as a hotshot, young (sic… if you can call a 30-year-old that), jet-setting (is there a word called train-setting?) executive. When dude entered one of the top B-schools in the country (the topmost of those with American affiliations), he was ecstatic, believing firmly that he had finally “arrived” in life.

He stepped out with stars in his eyes; stars shining bright because dude was out to change the world. After all, he had the necessary tools to make it big (pun completely unintended), really big: A B-school degree from one of the best schools, a foreign stint, names of large corporations on his resume, decent grades (to show for all the sacrificed dates)

The stars remain but they seem to be covered by dark clouds of exasperation every now and then. Dude, when he walked into a much revered MNC post his “MBA”, one offer out of three, had a chip on his shoulder. He wore the badge of is achievement with pride. He then came to the realization that the there is a world which is very antagonistic to change, to high-sounding degrees.

Dude, often found himself lost and dazed in the labyrinth of an “empowered workplace” and woke up to the power of “personal equations”. He screamed, beat his chest and asked himself “Did I put in so much time, effort and money just to realize that in the workplace there’s a lot of sucking up to do?”. Dude asked himself ‘Do I need to embody the spirit of the vacuum cleaner in order to realize my dreams?’.

It is then that it struck dude that his definition of dreams was faulty. It is then that the true worth of his ‘education’ came forth in a moment of shining revelation and absolute clarity dawned. Dude remembered an exercise that he went through while in school. Asked to write a eulogy firstly the way dude would like to be remembered and then as his best friend (would write with utmost honesty). The way dude wrote his own eulogy would then be what he really wanted to be, and his friend’s speech would be what he really had been. There was a gap. There often is with all of us (provided we are honest).

Often we take a path only to realize much later that we were chasing a mirage all along. It is often too late to turn back. Getting into the rat-race is easy. It is unforgiving and there rarely is a return. B-school didn’t teach me to be another jockey in the ‘rat race derby’, it taught me to realize my FULL potential. Problem with most of us is that our definition of ourselves, of FULL is confined to the workplace; at least our ‘professional life’ is the largest contributor/parameter of self-appraisal.

Dude wants to be a good professional but not at the cost of being a good human being, a responsible son, a trustworthy friend, a fun guy to be with. Dude wants to read his books; wants to write his silly articles; wants to kid himself that he’s pretty good at watercolors; wants to imagine a deafening applause when he belts out classics in the shower; dude wants to take pleasure in the small things in life.

Dude has finally ‘arrived’ in life.