The Bangalore blogs : 3 : Buddha's Delight and More

Today I met another old school-mate, this time over lunch at a Chinese restaurant. I could clearly see his discomfort with the fact that I am now a vegetarian, but I guess one can cut a guy some slack when one is meeting with him after eight years! So, respecting his polite but decidedly forced assurance that he could eat vegetarian food just fine, I spared him the ordeal of ordering and went ahead with it myself. Eight-treasure soup, Singaporean rice noodles and Buddha's Delight thus found their way to our table. I don't know about my friend, but there was definitely some delight in it for yours truly.

Lunch table conversation was mostly about the good ol' days at school and about his studies as an aspiring dentist...it was the first time someone explained selecting a vocation for the kind of time schedule associated with it. I was quite impressed...when you select a profession, you also select a lifestyle associated with it; the numbers of holidays, the time you can give to work, the time you have left for leisure etc. A career is more than just a job choice...it is about a lifestyle. He had decided to embark on this line of study because he felt that in the future, he would work fewer hours, never really be troubled by emergency calls etc. Keeping in mind the already lucrative nature and scope of dentistry today, with most people being very conscious of their pearlies, I'd say "Smart move, old chap!"

Another thing that emerged from our conversation was that he had stopped playing a sport in which he had exhibited a high level of competence when he was in school. I was slightly taken aback when he mentioned this because his skill as always something that did our House proud in the inter-house matches. His blunt and slightly saddened confession that he had stopped playing his sport because of the demands of work made me think about how even preparing for the world of work can put so many people out of touch with their leisure activities and avocations. Without knowing it, they stifle important parts of themselves. Reading for pleasure becomes unheard of, golden voices barely sing a note even in the bathroom etc. etc. At some level, this is tragic. Such a major part of every human is more than what he/she can express in the world of work. To suffocate or mask it is a crime that most people commit against themselves. Humanity, as a collective, is responsible for this...we are placing unreasonable demands on ourselves in our bid to develop, progress, earn...We must ask ourselves what toll this is taking on us. We must ask this question now and ascertain the answer for ourselves, before it is too late...