A Roman poet named Juneval in the 2nd century had been looking for something describing which he said “a prodigy, as rare upon the earth as a black swan“. Any guesses, what he was looking for???
Scroll down to see the answer.
Well, Juneval was looking for a wife. This story is not about Juneval or his prodigy, it is about me.
A Black Swan in a family of academics
My life has been smooth. No guesses here, I am the youngest in the family. Most of the times, I got what I wanted. As for the rest, I fought. I fought with my sister, my friends, at home, at play, at school and made sure I got what I needed.
I did not like studying to the dismay of my parents. In a family of academics, I was a “Black Swan“. I would like to quickly revisit the definition of the metaphor that black swan is “a highly rare, unexpected event or consequence”.
Motivation, my father’s way
However, I managed to get good grades throughout my education. Credit goes to my father. He made sure I was motivated enough. I must mention, my father had his peculiar way motivating me. He would describe me vividly that I would be scavenging off the footpaths if I dont study well. Trust me, it kept me motivated enough. Somehow I reached the first milestone of my education, which these days I am using as a proof of my date of birth! My father had a special place in his heart for all things government. As a result, the rest of my education happened at places with the most studious students and most boring cafeterias.
Ate chicken puff and did not study at all..!
My father was a banker. He got transferred during my intermediate. This meant that we had few discussions regarding studies. It was liberating. I went to college, made friends, ate chicken puff and did not study at all. After two years of this perseverance, it was results time. My mother started having nightmares of me flunking the exams. I thought it was funny but for the love of my dear life, I dared not say it aloud. I had confidence in my caliber, I did manage to get good grades. My mother heaved a sigh of relief. I also had appeared for college entrance exams. Surprisingly, I even made it the extended merit list of IITs. My father was extremely elated, he was on cloud 9. This meant that we would be having lesser career related discussion. All was well!
When life happened
For once in life, me and my father were of the same opinion, that I should study engineering. My father thought, we already have a doctor at home, an engineer would only make sense. I had my own reasons. I thought engineering was very easy. In future, I was proven drastically wrong.
I joined the first and oldest engineering college of Odisha as a hostel boarder. That’s when life happened!! Not because I made a bunch of good friends, not because I got a job, not because I became independent and not because I made some of the most beautiful memories of my life there. It was because I experienced my many firsts.
- First and foremost, I stayed away away from home and survived on my own
- I shared a room with 6 talkative girls and had sleepless nights filled with with conversations and laughter.
- Went on stage to speak about something other than “thought of the day”
- Survived on pani puri for lunch
- flunked an exam. Well, my mother is blissfully ignorant till date.
My divine enlightenment
At the end of 4 glorious years, I managed to get myself a job, and precisely 4 months later, I was about to experience my “divine enlightenment”. I thought, I had reached a point in life where I dont have to study anymore.
Well, life had a different story to tell! On the first day in my first company, I got a notice saying if I dont clear a certain certification exam, I would be taken off the payroll. This was the stepping stone of my “divine enlightenment”.
I realized, no matter how old I get, no matter where I go, how high I fly, I have to study, keep studying throughout my life. Since then, studying through my corporate years, a hundred deadlines, a thousand overtimes, a million one-to-one’s later, today, I am narrating to you all, how the black swan took flight.
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