Everything is Amazing... But Nobody is Happy....!!!

The song “Adraaraa Naaka mooka adraaraa Naaka Mookaaa” reverberates in the hall. I wake up not realizing what that sound is. After a brief moment, I understand that it is my alarm tone and my cell phone is promptly obliging to what I asked it to do. “wake me up @ 11 am”. (11 am??? Gosh…!!) I find it annoying to the core; yet I realize I ve 2 get up.

Am off to take a shower. I open the valve and I have the option of getting both hot water and cold water. I also have the option of either using the tub (don’t worry.. I ll never fit in a tub. So I often say ‘No.Thanks’.) or using the shower. Then I come out, switch off the Air-Conditioner unit that has kept me cool irrespective of the scorching weather outside. I put on a jeans pant (which I never need to wash for like 2-3 weeks and I call myself clean and hygienic) and am off to catch the bus.

Here comes the bus. I stroll into it. Try to seat myself in a lovely cushion chair under the air-conditioner. I reach my destination which is like 5-6 miles away, in a matter of 10 mins. On the way I see beautiful freeways, highways, tall aesthetically pleasing buildings, flashy cars, sports bikes, bridges etc.

I open the door of my office. (As a grad student, I m given an office and computing resources to facilitate my research. (??)). I then log into the University’s internet domain. The connection is so fast that one whole movie can be streamed in a matter of 10 mins. I open my Gmail account to see if there is any new email. I find plenty of new emails. Some of them, from various corners of India like Chennai, mysore, Nagercoil, Delhi, Coimbatore, surat, pune etc. and some others from New York, North Carolina, Dallas, Los Angeles, Michigan etc. The Winamp in my computer keeps playing one cool song after another. I realize time after time how good AR Rahman is..

I open my bank account to see if there is any money and I happen to realize that my monthly salary has been deposited directly. All that I had to do was click on a button to make that happen. I feel like having a coffee. I stroll down from the 8th floor to 1st in an elevator that takes me down in a blink of an eye. Just a swipe of credit card does the trick in the coffee shop.

Thus goes on my day. I find everything so easy and amazing. But yet I am not very happy. One thing or the other keeps bugging me. It may be as silly as missing a bus to not getting a job. I guess, as ur comfort level and luxury increases, so does the desire to achieve greater things. We never really are satisfied and happy for what we are and what we have, are we? Atleast I never take a moment and cherish what I have. Its always been ‘what I will be in 2 years 4m now, 5 yrs 4m now’. At the end of my good years, I m afraid I will feel that I didn’t stop and have fun. (there comes another fear).

100 years before, I wouldn’t have been able to say anything that I said in the 1st few paragraphs, except maybe having a coffee. That much has the comfort level increased over the years. The world is much easier and comfortable to live in. (of course there are new threats and fears). Yet how many people are really happy? I wonder…..!!!

The NobleST profession....

I was watching a movie some days back. It was a movie about doctors. In a med school, the Dean of Medicine asks a freshman student “Why do u want to become a doctor?” .The student replies “This is the noblest profession. I want to do service to people”.

I remembered my 5th grade then. I guess this happens in all 5th grade classrooms. The teacher used to ask “What do u want to become in the future?” Half of the class used to say that they wanted to become doctors adding that it is the noblest of all the professions and a quarter of the remaining used to say ‘teachers’. Their point of view was that it is the noblest of profession. I guess with time, ur objectives change and monetary reasons overpower benevolence and goodwill. However that is not the point.

We all believe teaching and practicing medicine are the noblest professions. But I beg to differ. Ya. Engineering is my choice. Not because I m one, but because, if ‘making lives better’ is the baseline for grading nobility of professions, I guess Engineering is way ahead compared to any other. Motor vehicles, large buildings, bridges, computer, internet, television, Communication channels, roadways, railways, airways etc. are result of engineering and these have become more than an inevitable part of our lives. Add to that, all the medical devices like MRI scans, ECG, etc. etc. (I m not a doc. So I don’t know much. This is all that I can think of after watching 5 seasons of House MD). again are a result of engineering. I m not gloating, but it is the fact.

Talking abt nobility of deeds, I had a faculty friend while I was in CEG. His name is Mr. George. He is working on his PhD under the great former president of India, Dr. Abdul Kalam. His work mainly deals with developing a chip to be implanted in the brain of mentally challenged kids which will enable them to be happy all the time no matter what. (I hope that I didn’t give away much. If u r reading this, George sir, pardon me for revealing ur research topic). The last two projects that I have been part of have dealt with developing assistive devices for physically and mentally challenged students. If at all it seems to people that Engineering is not as noble as some of the other professions, I guess its because it is not projected that way.


PS: No offense meant to my teacher mom and doc sister…