Blessings in Disguise

It was too late before I realized that I was too late for my interview. This time I knew for sure if I didn’t make it I would probably  have my family rip me apart , my friends laugh at me like they usually do , my girl friend lose hope on me and mainly my mentor in college never give me that second look again for any kind of help. God, that one minute I realized I was doing nothing in life. When I had no interview the previous day I got up fresh at five in the morning and today, when it is an important day of my life, I sleep like a log. What the hell is wrong me? Finally, I dress up; manage to get out of the house for the interview. I still had confidence that I would make it. Also, managed to get an auto and I was on my way to the interview.

On my way, I found this dog bleeding and was even surprised to see that nobody was interested in the dog .Another few hours; I definitely knew the dog would be dead. I was sure that the dog was hit by some vehicle and the owner of the vehicle never bothered to take it to the hospital. Then I realized, nobody took a second look at the dog because they had their office. Oh my God, I thought for a minute, has the human race become so mean and crude that their office is more important, that they cannot take a trifle thing like a dog to the hospital. That one minute I closed my eyes and set my priorities straight. The dog seemed more important to me that day. I took her in an auto, took her to the local hospital. The doctor said she would have been hit by a car or a lorry and also said she needs a few weeks of rest. I admitted her, when I was the leaving the hospital I somehow I felt a certain a wave pass through me. This wave or I guess my inner conscious that I felt so powerfully that minute made me feel good as a person and also told me that I should chuck the interview and go back home.

When I went home, my whole family kept asking how the interview went and started laughing for no reason. My father as usual said ‘Oh I am sure my friend here would not have been able to make it ‘For the first time, no yelling, no words of my family hurt me even a one percent. I guess my call for the interview was a blessing in disguise. I just knew I care a rats ass about anything and wouldn’t care too hoots even if it meantime breaking up with my girlfriend. I knew now why I got up late. I am not an engineer even after studying four years of it. So what if my family had a group of engineers. That does not mean, I have to be one.

I spoke to no one, went directly into my room and just crashed. That day evening I got up at five and told myself that I am going to be doing some service to people. Whether it’s an NGO, an old age home or an organization to take of orphans I am ready for it. I quickly started my Pulsar and went to MAD and enrolled myself. Everybody there looked and smiled at me and said why you are here after doing engineering. I felt so welcomed there and felt so great to be a part of such a nice organization which has also done a lot of work during the Bombay Blasts and the Orissa storm.

I didn’t know one day could change your life so much and change it for the better. I again felt a wave pass through me, the wave told me, Oh my god you are not welcome in your family but you are welcome outside. That made me wonder whether I should go back home. I realized that respect is really important .I don’t even mind people shouting and telling me their problem on my face, but  these silent digs that my family make at me are really distasteful.

 I went back home, told my mom and that I am going to be living alone for some time and I needed it. I felt I needed solitude, I needed the silence, I needed the time for contemplation to realize who I truly am. I managed to find a small place to stay in. Those twelve months I spent taking care of orphaned kids, saving a dog’s life and also doing a lot of corporate social responsibility made me feel so much better. Yes, that year I obviously didn’t earn much. But. I must say I was happier, more content and was more on the path to self insight.

Today , I am back to engineering , my family understood that I needed that time to myself , my family understood that what they were doing was wrong . I knew, me telling them would never help and that I wanted them to realize everything on their own. I also knew that I can’t go on doing service , that I have to come back  into the family fold .Later , get married , so on and so forth . Today , my family respects me , I earn well , I work in Ford as a system engineer and am basically happy with life . When I get time, I try to do work for the society. Yes, I am a happy man now.......