During one of our official travels, I started chatting with the cab driver. Though it started as a casual talk, the guy seemed a bit intriguing and I
started probing. The guy who belonged to a remote village of Kerala, has completed
his ITI diploma in electronics. I asked , why did you do that. He said, “ because my neighbor told that a technical diploma will help in getting a job”.
But, he didn’t get a job. That’s when his relative who lived abroad suggested
that he should atleast have a plus two qualification in order to get a job
abroad. He went ahead and did that too (rather, managed to get a plus two
certificate!).
Having spent five years additional after his tenth, he started doing some menial jobs here and
there. That’s when some other relative adviced him to take up Nursing course
and also told that they will ensure a job in Canada. With lots of hope his
mother pledged the small piece of land that they had and got an admission in a
Nursing college near Bangalore. After joining the course, our hero realized
that he doesn’t know anything about
nursing, neither is he interested in it. However, the college authorities ensured
that he was given a certificate for the 3 years that he spent there, since they have taken the exorbitant fees.
After all the jolly time spent in Bangalore, he returned
back as a 28year old guy whose sole ambition in life is to make riches. But
unfortunately, he then realized that nursing job here is low paying and
moreover he didn’t know even the fundamentals of nursing! So, he quit his
aspirations of Gulf and Canada and realized that he should start earning. He
took up small and menial jobs. But , then came the twist in his life! He got
interested in Politics and a little bit of religious activities. He started
taking part in religious conventions because he got paid better. However his
ambition of becoming rich still remains the same.
However, due to family pressures, he has now taken up a job of a driver in a Travels company ,which guarantees him fixed remuneration and he can do what he loves to do - "driving".
His primary activity with the small income that he makes out
of driving is to buy lottery tickets as well as spend it on alcohol or drugs. He purchases lottery tickets daily and
imagines that one day he will become immensely rich.
During the travel, he
purchased one ticket with a bumper prize of 5Crore. He started asking me,
“Maam, Will I win the 5Cr?” . I said, “First tell me, What will you do with the
5Cr, if you win? “ . Prompt came the
answer, “ Then I don’t have to work at all in my life right. I will just spend
the money lavishly and die happily.” During the entire travel, he asked me , whether he will get the 5Cr or not.
I didn’t argue further with him about having a goal or
living a better life, because he is too fixated on the fact that money is the
solution to all his problem and his primary problem is that he doesn’t want to
work. Yes, he is looking for shortcuts for not
working at all!
I feel pity for that young man for two reasons.
- He is leading a meaningless life now , at a prime youthful age.
- He never got a good mentor who could actually guide him rightly on his career and personality development.
And I feel sad for the fact that our society is getting more
and more such youngsters who lack focus and do not know why or what their life
is meant for!
It is high time that we channelize our youth towards the
merits of working and skill development so that we do not get such lazy
uninterested young people in the
nation, who look for shortcuts for making money.
Professional career counseling at right time is also the
need of the hour instead of just going through the tides of the wave or joining
some courses just by the recommendation of someone.
