The 21 Year Old Rat

The weather outside is amazing. Its that time of the year when young bangaloreans like us should be outside in one of the hundred open coffee shops the city is famous for.  However, some of us just aren't that lucky. We have to sit at home all day figure out what we want to do with life, and if you're the procrastinating type like I am, then sit and write a blog.

College comes to an end in one year. Everybody around you, your friends, parents, uncles, aunties, extended family, neighbor and even the apartment watchman expects you to know what you want to do next with life. 

And because I cant take more pressure than the atmosphere already exerts on my head, I've come up with a certain Plan A, Plan B and Plan C; and to an extent have started working towards Plan A lazily.

But, has anyone of the above mentioned people ever asked me, ''Machcha, is this what you really want to do?"  NO. No one cares what you really want to do, parents want you to have a good job, uncle and aunties don't want you to do better than their children and the watchman just wants you earn enough to tip him for his pan masala everyday.

Its not actually their fault also. Its mine. I don't have the balls to stand up to anyone and snatch the remote control that is controlling this electronic rat (me) beyond its battery capacity in this stupid rat race. I need a recharge, but we're Indians, we follow the dada-dadi commandments of life, ''Battery kyun change karna?! Paise waste mat karo! table par maro, jor se maro, chalege."

So while I prepare myself for yet another exam to satisfy my nine other heads, one bike ride in the rain and few slow songs later I have a hindi movie climax scene playing in my head:

The Villain part of my mind : What are you doing with life?

The Hero part of my mind : preparing for a safe, secure, boring, satisfy everyone life.

Villain: Are you having fun?

Hero : absolutely not

Villain: then why are you still doing it?

Hero: cause its what I've been doing since I could spell engineering, take the safest route possible.

Villain : thu!! *!@#$%%^

            live life freely man. what is this? yella OK, tension yaake?

Hero: But...

Villain: Aye man, listen to me, life is having 2 roads okay? one going to bus stop, where everyone climbing same bus, other going to cycle shop, where everyone take own cycle go own way. 

Hero: Saar, whatte thought. I'm inspired (without watching bhag milkha bhag)

After sitting and thinking for eternity I finally realize this is not what I'm going to do. So in a dramatic moment I enter my parent's room to snatch the remote control from their hands. They realize the rat has stopped working properly, so here comes the table banging question " If not this then what are you going to do beta?"

And dada- dadi were right. The rat started working again.