Of 'growing up' and 'becoming'

During a chitchat session, my dad had me in splits when he mentioned that, as a kid, he always dreamed of growing up to become a bus conductor.
“Wow! What a rewarding job , Dad” I said, still laughing at his atypical choice.
But to him, the rationale was straightforward – You get to ride on a bus all day and what’s better, even get paid for it! :-)

And that made me go into flashback mode.

Here’s a list of the dream jobs that I aspired for during my ‘wonder years’ and beyond..

Bollywood Heroine – I was probably 6 or 7 when the movie Mr. India was released in Bangalore. I still remember sitting in the balcony seat of Drive-In theatre, nudging my mom every 3 minutes to translate the Hindi dialogues for me. It was fun to watch Anil Kapoor’s antics and the kids’ cavorting all over the place. But when Sridevi appeared on the screen, it was something else! As I watched her boogie to ‘Hawa Hawai’ and play powerchick journalist with equal oomph, I was floored. And hey, she even got the superhero in the end!I was convinced - I wanted to be her.
The next day, as I played a little “Mirror Mirror on the wall” with my dressing table mirror just to double check , it said “You’re alright, except for the two bunny teeth jutting out of ur mouth” . Oh No!! I ran to the resident Bollywood expert, my mom – “Mommmm..Is there a heroine who doesn’t have err...perfect teeth?” . Not realizing how life changing her answer could have been , she replied casually “Hmm..yeah there is, Moushumi Chatterjee”. Phew! That was reassuring!

Interpreter - Soon, the heroine dream wore off . With my parents constantly motivating me and my siblings to excel in academics, I probably realized they wouldn’t be as excited about the Bollywood angle as I was! And excel , I kinda did. I topped my class most of the time in middle school, although there was the occasional underdog who would saunter in and beat me to first place! But I was unbeatable in languages. I top scored every single time in all three languages in the curriculum– English, Kannada and Hindi. My mom would beam with pride in the Parent-teacher meetings whenever my class teacher was all praise for my language scores. As we walked home from one of these meetings, she told me about these amazing people called interpreters. People who had a multitude of languages at their fingertips. People who accompanied hi-flying politicians, beaurocrats et al on foreign jaunts just to help them understand what another person was saying in another tongue. People who were paid 60 bucks(!) a page to translate a script to from one language to another! And it dawned upon me- I could be one of them- the high flying, money spinning multi linguist!

Housewife(!!) – I know I know, it ain’t a job. But it was a dream nonetheless! I was in class 8 when two completely unrelated events occurred – I fell head-over-heels in love with one of my bro’s pals and my cousin sister tied the knot. Her marriage was the stuff that dreams were made of. A typical day in her life consisted of lazing around home all day and getting decked up in the evenings for cotton candy/bhel puri outings with hubby. And then, the million and one phone calls from hubby during the day, where she’d blush as he whispered sweet nothings into the receiver. I wanted my own fairy tale too! I was yearning to lead the domesticated life, of course with my crush , happily ever after. All my smitten self just wanted was to emulate them! All of a sudden, housewifedom was happening!

Doctor – With time, my crush met with its fate. It was over. It just faded away, just like that!And I was back to dreaming about less rosy stuff. And this time, it was about the medical profession. At Class 11, all thanks to my great scores, it wasn’t hard for my Biology professor to believe I fitted the bill perfectly. While the rest of the class dozed off during lectures about the human digestive system, I would be listening with rapt attention in the very first bench. He’d exhibit my near perfect answer scripts for the entire class while I’d smugly smile at everyone from my seat.After Class 12, I even gave my medical entrance exams scoring twice as better as I did in the engineering entrance exam. But then, this was not to be either. My parents and everyone else in the family very successfully put a damper on my spirits when they scared me about how I’d be studying forever and ever and ever, while my peers who opted to study engineering would be having high flying careers, earning 10 times more!

And so I gave up. The doc dream was over too. And I made a half-hearted choice. To be an engineer.The irony hadn’t ended just yet. I studied to be an electrical engineer and ended up in the software business!

Looking back, there aren’t any regrets. There is absolutely nothing I’d want to change. My job’s been empowering in a lot of ways-Given me the gift of self belief. Made me independent, well financially atleast. Given me the opportunity to travel. I even found myself a husband, while at it! I couldn’t have asked for more! Finally, I had ‘become’ something.

And I had ‘grown up’ as well. I’d learnt to judge what was best for me. Realised that what you want changes with time, as you evolve as a person.That you weigh out pros and cons and make a well-informed decision. Acknowledged that your parents know best and letting them decide for you isn’t a bad idea after all. Concluded that ‘Everything that happens, happens for your good” is not just a cliché but a fact of life as well.

So, what did you want to be when you ‘grew’ up?