Monday, January 31, 2011

TO Be or NOT to Be

This article is dedicated to every Engineer who ever thought or still thinks of another artistic career that will some how cross paths on the road to  the engineering degree or perhaps if not that ,then en-route the post grad one . Since I am pretty fresh from my 1st semester , I do not have sufficient experience to claim or declaim the promises of competitions that supposedly keep our artistic passions alive irrespective I am definite,  that even if there were such competitions , the regret of not having been able to become  a novelist , artist or sculptor etc does not fade away by competing in contests . But then again , what to choose? stability or passion ? It all comes to -which road are you willing to take - the one less traveled by or the one that has ,on it faded footsteps of known-unknown alike .Engineers are problem solvers and so a sense of practicality and logic is inherent in most of their decisions , but what happens when this practicality is fused together with the eccentricity of an artist . The combination can turn out to be at once disastrous and spectacular depending on the way you view it . I am of the belief that one can have the best of both worlds , you can be at once an engineer and a novelist ( or the like )  , all it requires is perseverance , dedication  and passion .As with every failure , we blame ours on destiny , or perhaps will of God but that is simply stating - cowardice , if you couldn't succeed in  making the two things work together , then blame yourself and know that- maybe you never  were as dedicated as the next guy .Situations do play an important role , but situations do not  make your life , you make your life by acting in the right or wrong way in such situations . As hard as all of this sounds , it isn't , for there are innumerous examples , personalities and lives that can inspire and motivate us every day . For instance “Arundhati Roy” - author of acclaimed novel "God of small things" is also an architect , “Chetan Bhagat” is not only an author but also a consultant/engineer , “Karan Bajaj “- author of "Johnny Gone Down" is also part of this group ,”Heddy Larner” was a  Hollywood actress who made significant contributions to engineering , there are many fashion designer that were initially doctors, engineer turned models etc  . Just look in the right places and you will find your own personal flame of hope , warming  and inspiring you  always . I hope all of you get to this destination and figure out whether " To be or Not to be”.