When I was a kid, about 7-8 years old, I flew from Bombay to Kerala. By Indian Airlines, of course… I adored the air-hostesses; they were so charming and affectionate. Plus they looked amazing… I made up my mind: I would become an air-hostess when I grew up. Unfortunately, my Muttachchan (grandfather) dispelled all my notions about the job by telling me that an airhostess had to clean the dirty bottoms of all the kids on the flight. It’s funny-sad how less seriously grown-ups take kids and their ambitions… as seriously as the kids take every word which falls out of a grown-up’s mouth. I really should be careful what I say around kids…I gave up on the first ambition in my life.
Somewhere in 4th-5h grade, I thought that I must be a *psychologist*. The term ‘psychiatrist’ was unfamiliar to me those days. I found myself having a high level of sensitivity to everyone around me and that convinced me: Isn’t a *psychologist* supposed to empathise (and sympathise) with the world in general? Embarassing to disclose this right now but that more or less defines my thoughts at that age…
Come 10th grade; I underwent an appendectomy; managed to read ‘Coma’ a few days before that… freaked me out! Then I read ‘Doctors’… oh, to be a doctor! Not just *any doctor*, but a neurosurgeon! Romantic illusions of helping humanity and saving lives… a pretty typical picture, I think! But I hadn’t bargained for Biology, the most mundane subject ever!!!
I gave up my romantic doctor ideals soon enough; the thought of studying Biology and drawing diagrams of the human circulatory system for 4 years was discouraging enough. I soon got interested in the world of business, courtesy Economic Times. Business World and Business India completed the picture… I had to do my MBA, I thought.
Phew…. it suffices to say that I did a 4-year degree in Civil Engineering (which involved LOADS of drawing anyway; no hearts though!), then ended up working in a software firm… Flirted with the idea of becoming a writer, a professor in Sanskrit… This morning, I wondered if I could have made a good astrophysicist.
Contrasting with all this is the case of my cousin who loves animals and wanted to be a veterinarian since her kiddie days… She’s currently studying veterinary science in B’bay. Btw, I am confident that I’ll find my truest vocation… someday.
roopa1978 says:
Loved your post,coz it mostly made me nostalgic.I’ll probably write about all the different kinds of jobs I wanted – from being sweeper, to vegetable/fish lady,to designing clothes,saving lives as a doctor,playing air hostess and eventually dentist.
Like you I settled from something quite different. Got into some advertising,ad film making and eventually journalism.And now,I design instructional content for corporates in the US. Quite a growth from sweeper to Instructional designer eh!:)
August 20, 2004 — 6:51 am
Lakshmi says:
You’ve come a long way, babe…:-)
August 20, 2004 — 9:36 am
arunshanbhag says:
Isn’t a *psychologist* supposed to empathise (and sympathise) with the world in general? Embarassing to disclose this right now
why embarassed? its beautiful!
I think, right now I am in the book-writer and sanskrit professor wannabe phase 😉
August 20, 2004 — 8:10 am
Lakshmi says:
I meant that it is embarassing to reveal what a limited idea I had of the qualities a psychologist has.. For one, he has to be clinical; if so, how can he empathise and sympathise? He’d lose his professional detachment, wouldn’t he?
August 20, 2004 — 9:38 am
arunshanbhag says:
the pendulum is definitely swinging the other way. The detachment is to ensure you are not caught up in the emotions, and prescribe the right treatment. Now it is important to be ’emotional’ in our interactions and empathasize with those who are impacted by our decisions. Business literature too now pushes a leader’s EQ (Emotional Quotient).
how goes it with your public policy MBA? didn’t you ask about that earlier?
August 20, 2004 — 11:49 am
Lakshmi says:
First the GMAT, then everything else…:-) Kept those R&D plans on hold, for now…
August 20, 2004 — 1:32 pm
parag says:
Never travelled on an airplane when I was a child. Was enamoured by the power of buss conductor who could start or stop the bus with a pull of string. That is what I wanted to be for a long time.
Currently, I want to be a stay-at-home dad. It is just one decision away, which is hard to make.
August 20, 2004 — 8:26 am
arunshanbhag says:
It is just one decision away, which is hard to make.
ditto here!
August 20, 2004 — 11:50 am
splitpeasoup says:
When I was about 8, I wanted to be (a) a writer and (b) a farmer (I had this somewhat romanticized idea of a farmer being someone who gets to play with animals all day). When I was around 10, I wanted to be a scientist. I loved science in school, even math, strange as it seems now. When I was 13, I fell in love with biology and a year later rediscovered physics.
So you could say that in most of my school years I was fascinated by science and technology. After I got into IIT, I started hating it! I think my favorite courses in IIT were humanities literature courses. Math became a dreaded word.
In grad school I fell in love with the idea of teaching and rediscovered some of my fascination with science and tech.
At work, I began to appreciate the discipline and communication and organization skills you need to work in a big team, and came to my firmest yet conviction of what I want to do with my life:
I want to be a professor of Electrical Engineering. I get to do research, teach, *and* write, and what gets better than that?
August 20, 2004 — 8:32 am
Lakshmi says:
I agree… A teaching profession in this country can be highly fulfilling, I guess…In lucrative terms too. On the other hand, my Mom teaches a bunch (in fact, bunches and bunches) of primary-school kids in India and still finds it satisfying….
August 20, 2004 — 9:40 am
sat_chit_anand says:
I wanted to be a car mechanic after I saw the local car mechanic go underneath the car and fiddle with many contraptions and tool. The whole internal working of the car was some kind of mystery which I tried to unravle quite unsuccessfully by disassembling all the toy cars,trucks etc I had. The good thing though that I did was to reassemble a lot of them which now that I think of it was kinda cool. Then came the ambition of most teenagers to be an Air Force Pilot. The plan was comforatbly thwarted by my mom’s stiff opposition to enroll me in a military school. Biology sucked big time in school and junior college and math was easy to come by so eventually landed in engineering only to realize that entreprenuership was my calling. I also wondered what good is doing any studies to be an entreprenuer. Now at this stage I want a business of my own but dont know in what. Any kinda business idea gets evaluated and shot down in mid flight of my mind by explanations like “Where will I get the investment ? ” to plain and simple “This is the dumbest idea ever”.
August 20, 2004 — 8:39 am
vasanth says:
and we benefitted with your presence here i am sure !!
of course there ppl in our company who miss you laksh !
August 20, 2004 — 8:42 am
Lakshmi says:
Nice to know….:-)
August 20, 2004 — 9:40 am
shri says:
Well, I always wanted to be an engineer, which maybe I am.. maybe not (it is a long story.) . Now I am trying for an MBA. But my secret dream – of becoming a director.I wonder sometimes, how it must be to direct a movie. The script, the camera angles, the way the movie is made, the process fascinates me. Not the usual Bollywood crap, mind you, some good, nice movies. Sometimes, I dream of being a photographer or a writer, or a singer. As a child, I used to dream of becoming a world-class swimmer or even a gymnast!! At one point of time, even wanted to be a mahout!!
Then, when I am feeling all sad and down, I dream of being famous and rich or travelling to all those places, that I have always wanted to go to. Nedless to say, a half an hour spent in this kind of daydreaming is like giving yourself a “mind massage”. Very soothing and relaxing! 😉 😀
*sigh* I dream far too much.
August 20, 2004 — 8:49 am
savyasachi says:
Three cheers to Astrophysics! Why don’t you start now? And I am serious…….consider this: most Indian women who come to the US for Physics go into Astrophysics and Indian ladies make very very good Astrophysicists. Plus, the attitude in this field towards women is refreshingly different from other fields, so give it a serious thought…..
If you want more encouragement, go look up Prof. Priyamvada Natarajan at Yale. She does gravitational lensing and cosmology…..
August 20, 2004 — 8:57 am
Lakshmi says:
🙂 The astrophysics idea vanished the minute the I put the book ‘Relatively Speaking’ down… Goes on to tell you about how convinced I was!
August 20, 2004 — 9:41 am
99kanitas says:
yay CEs 🙂
August 20, 2004 — 9:32 am
athiran says:
paaDam cholli padichum..
thalli padichum..
njanum oralaagum..
auto pilot polaagum..
August 20, 2004 — 10:09 am
Lakshmi says:
:-)))
Sudhi and Meenukutty?
August 20, 2004 — 10:12 am
hariputtar says:
after various romanticized ideas of career choices: i realized i was seeking approval – by being of use (listening to people, extending help to them, making useful tools for them, being able to send money to them , distinguishing myself in the eye of the society etc). and then came a point – when i did not care too much about approval part – its not that i dont care at all, just that it became less important. i realized i wanted to be *rich enough* and *have enough time on my hand* to do what i wanted at that particular time. because tastes change. interests change.
i just want to have enough spare bandwidth and resources to do whatever catches my fancy – immediate vocation is not always important (though it helps that the jobs i have had were engaging and stimulating). i think if i keep what i have now – it will be *super* enough. bcuz i have a feeling that i have peaked. :))
August 20, 2004 — 10:39 am
Lakshmi says:
🙂 Good for you!
August 20, 2004 — 11:12 am
harish_an says:
very interesting…..
i wanted to be a detective, a spy, a soldier, an airforce pilot (almost got there but for the damn glasses)…most of these influenced by the books….just after that things just kept moving …guess thats when i stopped wanting to be something
i found myself doing engineering… not that i did not want it… it was good fun, life in the hostel studying for a few days a year… till i ended with a job which again was not all that bad… the mba was more of an escape from the same desk….
anyhow a mallu are you?? mmmm interesting…whereabouts are thy roots?
btw the same airhostesses are still serving in indian airlines… they just lost the charm and affection with some poor passengers luggage i guess.:)
August 20, 2004 — 2:52 pm
Lakshmi says:
Sure, I am a Mallu… and a lousy one too..:-(
With no one to speak Malayalam with, I am turning into a rusty one! And no Mallu movies either…:-(
August 21, 2004 — 1:34 pm
hariputtar says:
this is hilarious: http://www.shelterbelt.com/KJ/basheer1.html
August 20, 2004 — 4:22 pm
Lakshmi says:
Must read it, must read it…
August 21, 2004 — 1:33 pm
hariputtar says:
yes. the jabs at communist leadership, the irony of a namboodaripad being a rebel are difficult to miss. 🙂 and though i am glad he was x-lated – i think there are kinks in the translation. imho, u guys shud get working on it. u can add to – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaikom_Muhammad_Basheer
August 21, 2004 — 12:17 am
rileen says:
Looks like i’m the unambitious odd one out – never wanted to be anything in particular, which is what i am, nothing in particular :-p !!
Several passing fancies, of courses – but no *burning* ambition.
August 21, 2004 — 1:19 pm
Lakshmi says:
I love that attitude.. itchy feet is a nice description!
August 21, 2004 — 1:32 pm
deelight says:
I don’t think I’ve still figured out what I really want to do…
August 23, 2004 — 12:17 am
Lakshmi says:
That makes it two of us….
August 23, 2004 — 6:20 am
rileen says:
Makes a crowd, now 🙂
August 23, 2004 — 8:53 am
trycatchdenz says:
The more the merrier, eh…
Cheerz,
Denz
August 26, 2004 — 4:12 pm
trycatchdenz says:
Vous etes un ingenieur aussi?
Cheerz,
Denz
August 26, 2004 — 4:11 pm
Lakshmi says:
Oui, Denz. Et vous?
August 26, 2004 — 7:44 pm
trycatchdenz says:
J’aussi. 🙂
Cheerz,
Denz
August 27, 2004 — 5:43 am
Lakshmi says:
My French ends here…:-)
Welcome to the club….:-)
August 27, 2004 — 6:44 am