The Boy and the Achiever

He was studying in the third year of an esteemed engineering degree and a speaker came to the department faculty for a motivational speech. He has achieved many great things starting from nothing; the speaker proudly announced. The speaker also mentioned about all the hardships he went through to get where he got eventually.

The boy listened to the whole story and it was the time for polite inquiries. He raised his hand not so firmly yet decisively and asked the speaker 'Are you happy?' 'And what happens to all the achievements when you die?' The speaker was stumped for a moment and the audience gave him the look (it loosely translates to the meaning 'what on earth is wrong with you?').

The speaker had no answer for his question and everybody knew that he asked a question that has a profound link to the soul/humanity/humility. see, i like to club those words together, becasue it gives out the same meaning in the end. Any how, returning back to the story; we chase after sucess, money, fame, promotions, power. But we struggle to write down ten good deeds we have accomplished over the years. We struggle to write down three names of people where we have made a difference, honestly and intentionally, not by accident.

How many times did we agree with the boss even though it didn't make any sense ? how many times you wanted to throw a tantrum at the fake encounters you come across. Yet, you're constrained because it is not the way of the professional. The professional is politically correct and works as a part of a team. It sounds as of we have bastardized the words 'professionalism' and 'team work'. 'Professionalism' doesn't mean that you put up with bullshit and when you get penalized for not putting up with it, you tend to question the total social construct of professionalism; theory and practice.

Similarly, team work doesn't mean that you agree for something below par and then you have to represent the idea. Team work means the players set in motion for a common goal (and if the common goal is a ridiculous one, one has the right to raise their opinion about it, and even restrain from taking part).

So, it is difficult to see how the young boy is going to survive in this so called corporate environment that demands people to wear silly masks. Masks that showcase the expected level of false sense of professionalism and teamwork. I'm not sure if he'd found the magnificent euphoria that he was hoping for, but in any case i'd like to wish him luck.