~ Reflections ~

We are one confused species... we seem to strive for different things in each phase of life, and yet manage to be dissatisfied with the outcome... As kids, we wish to grow up... We have parents whom we'd love to over rule.. With each growing year, we become more independent, and seek money, career and similar trappings... and in th e process losing out time with people... I wonder how this would've been if it was the other way round... grew up as an adult and finally became a child, would I be more satisfied in life !?!

What would you do if someone asked you to appraise yourself.... will you do what the word is trying to say i.e. ap'praise' yourself (considering your next years salary, and in some cases the job, is dependent on it !) or will you take a step back and actually do what it takes. It is very easy to say that what we write is genuinely what we believe has been our contribution... but more often than not (unless we are delusional), we know the truth about where we stand... This is not just true about our professional lives but also our personal lives... So how do we do an honest one, atleast in our personal spaces... because it doesn't seem easy to take a step back and look at the situation and how one is faring.... Mirror mirror on the wall... who is the fairest of us all !

All of us work... some on our own free will, and some for the corporate world, and a lucky few who manage to achieve both... While I am pondering how to best do the work at hand, I often wonder about the choice to be made... whether to the best I can do with the one opportunity I have to prove myself, or to do a good job leaving some space and energy for other things lined up... Some might argue that every job should be done with an attempt to achieve perfection, and only then do we come close to achieving something worthwhile.... at the risk of sounding lackadaisical, putting your heart and soul into everything at hand is very exhausting....  So I am always left wondering where to give in my 100%... but the balance will get nothing at all....  So much for work - life balance !!!

When we are 16, most of us are wondering what we want to do with our life (i mean careers here)...  Some of us find our calling by interest, some by force, and some just manage to dabble through different things and get there.... However, in India, one of the most "chosen" careers is that of an Engineer. Its almost a national hysteria - an admission in a good Engineering college. This phenomena has had a ripple effect.. The first being that now there a huge number of Engineering colleges (with little or no infrastructure whatsoever) which are full of students trying to soak in the practical aspects of science and technology... none of them realizing that they'll soon become a part of this ocean.. of Engineering graduates (i refuse to refer to the likes of us as Engineers!!! )... The second is the total ignorance towards the other lesser known career options, be it psychology, journalism, law, photography, medicine, architecture, design and the many others... A dire