When it’s time…
Have you ever attended a funeral so grand and happening that you wished you were dead too? If you haven’t, you haven’t seen life yet. Our time on this planet is marked by few key events: birth, school, job, wedding, EMI and death. And when it’s not your time to celebrate, you seek others who are celebrating. Why else would would you feel great when Virat lifts his bat or Messi scores a hat-trick or Anand checkmates his much younger opponents? You are celebrating the magic of life through them. In almost all books of purpose, we read about the so-called pursuit of happiness. Do note that none of them sound sure on how to pursue. Anyway, we are supposed to be happy because if we aren’t happy, we can’t keep others happy. But in reality, we aren’t into the pursuit of happiness as much as in the very act of celebration.
We need to celebrate. Somehow.
Fortune plays a massive role in this game of roulette. Some of us are born in the right house and get to enjoy all the privileges while others suffer throughout their lives just because they ended up under the unfortunate roofs. Some of us got absurdly lucky while a lot of us barely scratched the card. Moreover, even if we were to discard the privilege bit, there are more than enough excuses to celebrate or lament. Some of us might have parents, siblings, friends and spouse alive while others might not. So, the tug of balance continues. We get some. We lose some.
I understood that we should never exceed our limits of privilege during my first job itself, more than a decade ago. Since I used to work graveyard shifts, I downloaded movies in office and got away with it. This was before that fateful evening when I reached office at 5.30 only to be asked by the IT guy to go visit the main boss’ room immediately. With no clue whatsoever, I presumed that maybe I was about to get an unexpected raise because of my dedicated work. Surprise was about to unfold in a rather hilarious manner.
Main boss: “It has come to my notice that you download movies during office hours.”
Stupid me: *mumbles inaudible gibberish*
Main boss: “According to Wilson (IT-guy-turned-snitch), you are downloading 5 movies at a time!”
Stupid me: “No, sir. I download only 2 movies at a time.”
Main boss: *stares and then smiles* You know why it’s not correct to download movies in office?
Stupid me: “Sorry.”
Main boss: “Because if one person downloads, others will copy him. Over a period of time, it will be the new normal. Everybody would be downloading and bringing the speed of the Internet down on this floor.”
Stupid me: “Sorry, sir.”
Main boss: “We give certain freedoms to the employees because it’s necessary to keep the spirit high as you guys work when the world is sleeping. But doing something that’s not allowed makes you selfish.”
Stupid me: “Sorry, sir. Won’t happen again.”
It hasn’t happened since 2008.
Speaking of jobs, don’t we give our occupation way more significance than it deserves? There are things we do to add meaning to our existence and then there are things we do to make a living. Very rarely does a job overlap these two territories. I had this realization while talking to an ex-colleague at a Sunday pop-up lunch. I asked her how is her new job treating her. To which, she replied rolling her eyes, “A job is a job, no? All jobs are alike whether we like it or not.”
