The Road Taken, That Has Made All The Difference!

Shouldn’t we stop putting pressure on our children to take up career that they are not interested in, no matter how good the monetary prospects?

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

-Robert Frost

The people in my city wanted their children to be doctors and engineers. Kota – the study hub keeps in account that each and every child born there should at least once have tasted the knowledge bestowed in the coaching classes. No child is asked what he or she wants to do. But ‘Sharma Ji ka beta’ is going to coaching to crack JEE, then my son/daughter will definitely go.

But even for a second has anyone given a thought to it — what if that child doesn’t want to be an engineer or doctor? What if he wants to be a singer, chef etc.? What if the girl whom you sent to become a doctor wanted to be a photographer, dancer or a nun?

The answer is that the future is decided in Indian society by Sharma Ji and his son. But why? They are no one. They are not the one who distributed sweets on your birth, they are not the one who became happy on the first step you took, and seriously they are not the one who took care of you during illness!

My parents were not amongst the Sharma Ji influenced the group. They let me do what I wanted. They let me free, they never chained my thoughts. So, here I am … eeks (breaking sound of glass…)

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*Breaking of sleep and dreams

“Wake up it’s 8 in the morning!” shouting my roommate while sweeping the glass she broke. The cracking of glass not only woke me up but also cracked and smashed all my dreams once again. It brought me back to life stating that the road taken by you is the Sharma Ji’s son’s road!

Agreed, I didn’t know what I wanted! But one thing I was sure of was I wanted to be the traveler who took the less traveled road. The road full of excitement and risk. I wanted to be the example for everybody. But see the irony — I am the example like Sharma Ji’s son.

I will never be able to become that photographer who saw nature dancing all around her, I will never be the singer who mesmerized the crowd, I will never be the astronaut who becomes the first one to find the aliens, I will never be the nun feeling the pain of the poor…

But I hope there is no more of Mr. Sharma’s son doing what people want them to. Killing all their desires, dreams and hopes. May be one day no boy has to leave his tennis and badminton due to having to prepare for engineering exams. May be one day no girl has to stop singing because singing will not bring her money – the only unit of measuring success. May be someday a nun will be made to hear the cry of needy and heal them. Because the success she gets may not be monetary but will be enough to make her happy, give satisfaction and the real meaning of life.

I don’t know what life has wrapped up for me in future… one thing I know is:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

I took the one which was most traveled by… That has unfortunately made all the difference.

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