To be or not to be...

Come March, and it is not just the hot Indian summers that greet you. Apart from green mangoes, March is also the season of exams. From final examinations to entrance examinations, the young nubile mind is put through a tiresome series of mind boggling tests. And finally, one is asked to choose from various options. Engineering, medicine, commerce, literature, economics, legal studies, hotel management, pure science, the list is endless.

“So what do you want to become when you grow up?” Now this may seem like a harmless question, but every time it is posed to me, it gives me the jitters. Yes, I am nearing 20 and I still don’t know what I want to become. I am generally quite quick at making up my mind on most issues, but this particular one has proven to be a tough nut to crack. I have played with a lot of ideas and below is the list of career
options I have considered at one time or the other


• Ice-cream wallah: Every child’s fantasy. Mine as well. So at the age of five, if anyone asked me what I wanted to become, I had the answer on the tip of my tongue. However, I began to see the cons of this job. You don’t really get to eat all the ice-cream you want, you have to cycle around all day under the hot Sun and you have to watch at the other kids eating your ice-creams, while you stood there with a watering mouth.

• Engine driver: Yet another childhood fantasy that remained unfulfilled. One trip to the engine was enough to convince me that I did not want to work 24*7 in a hot, steaming furnace covered in grime and soot.

• Teacher: My mother continues to tell me that I will end up as one. Considering the fact that I was born on Teacher’s day, this is quite a possibility. But I have seen the hell that most teachers go through and I am not sure I am quite capable of controlling the unruly kids of these days.

• Detective: Now, these were the days when my diet consisted chiefly of detective novels and more detective novels. So little wonder that I imagined myself as a Nancy Drew in the making.

• Forensic Investigator: Having graduated from the Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys and Agatha Christie’s, I ventured into the realm of modern day science detectives with the ilk of Robin Cook’s and Robert Ludlum’s. I was quite fascinated by the many ingenuous methods of detecting and considered it a worthy career option.

• Marine biologist: Discovery and National Geographic channel opened up whole new vistas of the marine life and I thought it would be quite fun living in the ocean for a larger part of the year.

• Microbiologist: Heard this name in the passing and thought it sounded quite fancy. Considered it for that reason alone.

• Writer: Somewhere down the line, I realized that even I could write. A little further down the line, realized that nobody wanted to read what I wrote. So I wisely blamed it on a prolonged writer’s block and gave up for good. But by the time I turn 80, plan to come out with an autobiography. meanwhile, am planning to equip myself with a degree in literature.

• Lawyer: John Grisham fascinated me and since I loved to argue, I thought this would be an ideal profession for me. One of the only options that I seriously considered and attempted as well. Sadly, missed NALSAR by a meager 10 marks. That was the end of my legal career.

• Journalist: Though am not that great with the words, this sounds like one of the professions that would really interest me. Still considering it.

• Social Activist/Worker: Feel quite strongly about quite a few causes and sure do want to make some changes in this society. Another option I still am considering.

• Civil services: Am tired about people cribbing about how the country is run. Why the heck don’t they try and change things. Well, me sure planning to give it a shot.

• Politician: Might sound quite disinterested in politics but this is one career option I wish to pursue in the later years of my life. So 40 years down the line, if you hear of a politician called Shilpa Krishnan, it might be me!