Sunday, July 4, 2010

Quarter Life Crisis

Uff…what a great amount of trouble I have gone through as I begin this…was struggling to find something to write about something which I myself would like to read…which reminded me of the fact, that this was a blog not a newspaper column where I have to ..as the term goes “cross my t’s and dot my i’s”.

Now that all the hoopla surrounding July 2nd is now over, maybe its time I thought about what ive gained or lost during this period.

Three years is generally the time when people leave their jobs, switch to other companies either because of the pay or that their girlfriend works there or because they want to stay closer to home or the latest trend that is higher education. New recruits who stay behind after this period are generally only superannuating.

I remember I once commented about a friend who has been in this BPO since five years..that he had reached his retirement age and should now quit the job and switch to some new place.

The problem with staying too long in a company is that the experience you gain starts turning into baggage. And baggage my friends is expensive to carry about. There are limits to the period people don’t get influenced by the culture of the company they work.

There is another problem of juniors joining your company. I as a person have always valued intelligence more than experience. These new recruits display more intelligence and suddenly all the thought that I was young and better than most of the other people around vanishes like a puff of smoke. You are left lingering and pondering over your future as these people steal the day right under your nose.

Yesterday, as I was having lunch in the company’s canteen with a few colleagues, one of them remarked that I was actually four years older than her. I until then was living in a false hope that I still had many years to go when this comment came and I realized that I had actually spent three years in this company. And the more disturbing thought that I was now even closer to the ‘marriagable’ age when mindwise (as most of you will agree) I have not yet reached that peak from where things only start to go down.

Sometime back when I was watching this Friends episode where all the characters turn hyper on turning 30. I thought 30 was not too old, why are all these people feeling this way? It now dawns upon me that I am not getting any younger.

I just feel that there should be some thing you could drink or do or eat to stay young or atleast feel young. The company does value your experience but it is the intelligent who will solve problems and move ahead. It is that age should not play a role in affecting your mental faculties. I would definitely want to wear the clothes that I’m wearing now or the thirst for knowledge that I have now or have the miniscule amount of intelligence that I display now when im 10 years older.

Why should people become this boring and ‘bhai saab’ like when they get older and reach this age? Why should they start talking about the ways they can save their money when they should be living life to the fullest? Why should you try and be responsible when you actually enjoy the irresponsibility in your personal life? Why should you let go of all your friends with whom you’ve spent so much time when you get married? Why isn’t life simple like it used to be in the older days?

Someday, these questions haunt everyone and for most the haunting might have already started. But the fact remains that all of these are going to happen no matter what…

PS- 'There is no off position to the genius switch'- Anon

1 comment:

Yash said...

The kind of comments u received are the comments I hv faced right from BIT :). All of u were younger than I was. But this is no reason to feel older. I was just born earlier.
My dad was that way till very recent past. only after 55-58 that he started to feel older - reason - duniyawale. I dint understand why they addressed him as 'senior citizen' etc. Never mind.
Dude - a cliche but truth - the age is in ur mind! we need to meet :P