June 2nd, 2004. Flashback.
Tears. "Really?!" She thought to herself. She was never openly emotional. In fact years ago when she was just a little girl her older brother had told her that she looked awful when she cried and that if she had any sense at all she would be sure to only cry in the bathroom behind closed doors. He also suggested that looking at herself in the mirror while she was there would be a good idea since he guessed that would make her stop crying as quickly as she could. It was probably lighthearted brotherly wisdom but Simran had never forgotten that advice. Actually, she lived such a blessed happy-go-lucky life that she couldn't remember the last time she had cried and she certainly couldn't remember the last time she had cried in public. But today was the last day she would see many of her best friends from college before they each went their separate ways, to different cities in pursuit of their dreams. She had stoically kept a smile plastered on her face but as they drove to the train station to see off the first of their friends leaving the city, she felt an overwhelming sadness and those darned tears spilled over without warning. It felt like the end of an era - a beautiful era. The sadness was extremely short-lived though and thankfully no more than a few tears were shed even though many around her were copiously crying or practically bawling out loud.
Within a few hours the excitement of the life ahead was back in full force. She was practically tingling with anticipation as she thought about the new phase of life. Starting a career, earning her own salary, working with seasoned professionals - it all seemed so daunting and yet so fun! So what if she hadn't known any better when choosing her course of study? Computer science may not exactly be what got her juices flowing but she knew she could be good at anything she put her mind to. In reality, she'd always had a head for business and had done very well in the few accounting and finance related areas she had encountered. She liked to think it was in her genes - her father was a successful businessman after all. Or perhaps she had picked it up during all those stimulating dinner table conversations that had turned to channel conflict, sales and marketing or ethical and moral dilemmas related to their family business. In fact she had often thought that some day she would be part of that business but somewhere along the line, as she grew up it became clear to her that it was not meant to be. Her father clearly wanted his son to take over the business and was obviously grooming him for the role. He adored Simran and pampered her no end but firmly kept her out of all future business plans. It confused her initially - was she not competent or capable enough to join their business? Had she not topped her class in every single test throughout her schooling? She had always been pampered by her parents and brother. For the longest time it did not occur to her that her father was merely being old school in his thinking when he decided that his son shall be the sole heir to their business. The logic was simple - the daughter would get married and be part of a different family after all. That would make her an outsider and it simply wouldn't be practical to involve an "outsider" in the family business, would it? When this reality eventually dawned on her she felt so deeply hurt and so alienated that she did not even raise the issue with her parents or even her doting older brother. She had often wondered how things might be different if she were a second son or if her brother had been a sister instead. Still, she looked up to her father so much that when he firmly guided her towards computer science engineering as being the "ideal choice of career for a girl" since it seemed to be a well paying 9-5 desk job, she demurely accepted and put her heart & mind into it.
Simran graduated with flying colors, with two job offers in hand but what she really wanted was to write the CAT entrance exams for a coveted admission to one of the prestigious IIM business schools. When her father discouraged her from pursuing an MBA straight out of engineering, again she relented. To her it merely meant that she would have to work as an engineer for a bit, stash away some initial savings and take an education loan to go to business school. There would be plenty of time to build her own business later. Yes, she was going to build her own successful business someday. Someday soon.
Tears. "Really?!" She thought to herself. She was never openly emotional. In fact years ago when she was just a little girl her older brother had told her that she looked awful when she cried and that if she had any sense at all she would be sure to only cry in the bathroom behind closed doors. He also suggested that looking at herself in the mirror while she was there would be a good idea since he guessed that would make her stop crying as quickly as she could. It was probably lighthearted brotherly wisdom but Simran had never forgotten that advice. Actually, she lived such a blessed happy-go-lucky life that she couldn't remember the last time she had cried and she certainly couldn't remember the last time she had cried in public. But today was the last day she would see many of her best friends from college before they each went their separate ways, to different cities in pursuit of their dreams. She had stoically kept a smile plastered on her face but as they drove to the train station to see off the first of their friends leaving the city, she felt an overwhelming sadness and those darned tears spilled over without warning. It felt like the end of an era - a beautiful era. The sadness was extremely short-lived though and thankfully no more than a few tears were shed even though many around her were copiously crying or practically bawling out loud.
Within a few hours the excitement of the life ahead was back in full force. She was practically tingling with anticipation as she thought about the new phase of life. Starting a career, earning her own salary, working with seasoned professionals - it all seemed so daunting and yet so fun! So what if she hadn't known any better when choosing her course of study? Computer science may not exactly be what got her juices flowing but she knew she could be good at anything she put her mind to. In reality, she'd always had a head for business and had done very well in the few accounting and finance related areas she had encountered. She liked to think it was in her genes - her father was a successful businessman after all. Or perhaps she had picked it up during all those stimulating dinner table conversations that had turned to channel conflict, sales and marketing or ethical and moral dilemmas related to their family business. In fact she had often thought that some day she would be part of that business but somewhere along the line, as she grew up it became clear to her that it was not meant to be. Her father clearly wanted his son to take over the business and was obviously grooming him for the role. He adored Simran and pampered her no end but firmly kept her out of all future business plans. It confused her initially - was she not competent or capable enough to join their business? Had she not topped her class in every single test throughout her schooling? She had always been pampered by her parents and brother. For the longest time it did not occur to her that her father was merely being old school in his thinking when he decided that his son shall be the sole heir to their business. The logic was simple - the daughter would get married and be part of a different family after all. That would make her an outsider and it simply wouldn't be practical to involve an "outsider" in the family business, would it? When this reality eventually dawned on her she felt so deeply hurt and so alienated that she did not even raise the issue with her parents or even her doting older brother. She had often wondered how things might be different if she were a second son or if her brother had been a sister instead. Still, she looked up to her father so much that when he firmly guided her towards computer science engineering as being the "ideal choice of career for a girl" since it seemed to be a well paying 9-5 desk job, she demurely accepted and put her heart & mind into it.
Simran graduated with flying colors, with two job offers in hand but what she really wanted was to write the CAT entrance exams for a coveted admission to one of the prestigious IIM business schools. When her father discouraged her from pursuing an MBA straight out of engineering, again she relented. To her it merely meant that she would have to work as an engineer for a bit, stash away some initial savings and take an education loan to go to business school. There would be plenty of time to build her own business later. Yes, she was going to build her own successful business someday. Someday soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment