thats what steve jobs says. you know that guy who made the mac with steve wozniak. the ceo of apple. the the guy who made pixar. you know the guy. well he said these lines in his famous speech at stanford. and it all made sense to me during my days of iit jee preparation. you all know what that is. if you don't, what the hell are you doing on my blog in the first place!!
so, that punch line made a world of sense to me then. then i messed up the exam. wanted to drop a year and give it again. i wanted to be hungry. but all people could see was that i wanted to be foolish and they didn't agree with steve jobs. he's a multi billionare for fuck's sake.
so anyway, they didn't agree. and it was me, a guy who apparently 'fucked up' inspite of being prepared. and did so consistently in every exam he ever gave. it was that guy against everyone else. and obviously everyone else won.
but now i'm here. and it's not bad at all. the crowd here is much better than what i'll get in iit. and i'm saying that on the basis of what i hear from my friends in various iits. so it true and not wishful thinking.
then what's the problem? is that what you ask me? the problem is this place is isolated. it's close. insulated. designed to suffocate. and designed well. your options are limited. everything around you is only because people just as helpless as you made it that way, to keep themselves sane. to keep themselves occupied. and occupied productively. well at least for the most part.
what i want is another shot at a city life. that's what i want. iit is no big deal now. cause i know, six hours is the difference between iit and any other college. that's it. so the 'brand name' or 'the tag' are not driving forces in anyway. not the least bit. just the opportunity to live in a city. a place full of opportunity. that's all i want. sounds a little insane, doesn't it? live here, then you'll know. it is.
so all i want to do is give it another shot and if i can write the paper like an ordinary individual should, it would be awesome. just to experience that feeling of satisfaction. the feeling i would get when, if, i can write a proper paper, that would be worth the effort, irrespective of me making it or not.
now you must be thinking that all i'm talking about is iit-bombay and iit-delhi. right. that's all i'm talking about. but will it make sense for me to leave electronics in BITS Pilani (apparently the best electronic engineering degree in the country) for say chemical or civil in bombay or delhi. probably not if you go by face value. that's where the stay foolish part of it comes into play. i guess i should be foolish. work, and decide later.
i guess i will do that.
leave your thoughts as comments. i need as many opinions as possible, though i'm sure none of them will be able to change my mind.
:)
ReplyDeleteKid, I've been there done that. But what you see, is through the eyes which "you" have and not through that of "others". Someone's life cannot be summed up in a 4 words - "Stay Hungry, stay Foolish". Yes, it's all nice and wise to listen to it, and yes it gives you that ticklish feeling inside your stomach to think about it, but there is more to life than thoughts and a few success stories.
You say - "The problem is this place is isolated. It's close. Insulated. Designed to suffocate. And designed well. Your options are limited. Everything around you is only because people just as helpless as you made it that way, to keep themselves sane. To keep themselves occupied and occupied productively. Well at least for the most part."
Honestly, is that bad? I mean, think about it, where else in the whole world will you get a world class degree and yet learn how to occupy yourself in your leisure time? Where else in the world will you get this opportunity to explore things the way you wish to, at your own time and pace, rather than going off to another one of those malls or roaming around on the beaches? You have your full life for that, and you ought to realize that. But what you get out there, secluded in the middle of that desert, is what no other experience can match! Pardon me for saying this, but once a person gets out of a life-threatening situation, he learns to love and appreciate life. And honestly, if you hate the place that much, then learn to live there, so that you come out a better person. Take this up as a challenge, and believe me when I say this, it will be one of the smallest challenges you've ever faced. Life is way bigger and messes up people when they are least suspecting it.
"That's where the stay foolish part of it comes into play. I guess I should be foolish. Work, and decide later." - yes, that's being foolish, but being foolish for no reason. Steve Jobs ended up being foolish, because he had no other choice, he just didn't like find a meaning in his life. And yes, I understand that, everyone understands that. But you, in your case, are being foolish just because you don't like your surroundings. Life has a way to get to us, and honestly, I wouldn't be surprised someday if you end up in IIT-Roorkee (which is another village, not as much a 'village' as Pilani though) and are recruited by Schlumberger to work in an Oil rig in the middle of no where. What would you do then? Think about it. These are questions you ought to ask yourself. What you run from today is not because you are being foolish, but because you are not strong enough to fight it, and if that's the truth (no you needn't answer this to me or anyone. Retrospection will answer this to you yourself), then there is no "running away" from it. Life haunts, and so will these situations, which always have a way to come back again and again. So you have ways to go; either you can run away, or struggle and win over it face to face. Your choice, of course.
All the best.
Kid,@"..so all i want to do is give it another shot and if i can write the paper like an ordinary individual should, it would be awesome. just to experience that feeling of satisfaction.." if you write it like an ordinary person, it will not be awesome. Only the extra-ordinary people who score 100% will be actually satisfied. You are average? you will wanna be above avg. You are above avg? you will wanna excel. You are the topper? You will wanna get full marks. It's always more, more, more.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I just wanted to write this but by now I am guessing you will have thought of the same :)
Also, I agree with Akash,especially when he says "once a person gets out of a life-threatening situation, he learns to love and appreciate life. And honestly, if you hate the place that much, then learn to live there, so that you come out a better person.."
ReplyDelete