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Submitting to stupid rules

Sharangdhar , Last updated: 27 January 2010  
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As I walked down towards home one day, I heard someone calling my name. I turned back to see who was there. It was an old friend of mine walking briskly towards me. He had a heavy bag on his back. "Relax. What are you doing out here at this time? Its eleven o'clock in the night" I asked. "Just returning from office yar" He said with a very low voice. He looked really stressed out and tired. "I joined this new company a few months ago", he continued, "it was not expected to me that they'd take me. I had applied very casually. But I guess it was my destiny to work with them" "Destiny?; since when did you start believing in destiny dude?" I asked. "Yeah it is like that" reluctant, seemed he to discuss more about it. "Alright Alright. But tell me what did you do after college? What is the nature of your work?" I still wanted to talk the same subject. But I took a long and smoother route to the destination.

This friend of mine was very brilliant. Studious, I should say. Being amongst the top 3 students was like the whole definition of academic excellence for him. Obviously so, we never had been in touch really. He then told me that he had done some professional courses and had got some management diploma certificates. "Do you still meet those college friends?" I asked. "Not really. All of them have got so busy in their own stuff these days. There was this guy who stayed in my town that I used to be in touch with. But now he too has got a job and has become a rare specie
like myself. So now there is practically no one whom I'm in touch with. Its such a pain."

He did not want to talk about his job really, but he was so affected by it that unknowingly he was coming back to the same topic no matter what. "Why do you have to work for such long hours? Is it sort of a peak season for your company or.." "Its not about seasons. Its about reasons. Everybody has a reason." "What reason do you have then?" I got a little aggressive. "I need money. I need money for myself, for my family. I have to support my parents. I want to get married to a girl but she wants me to earn some freaking sum of amount every month. I cant have all that If I don't work like this" He continued advocating his own helplessness.

"Listen, it doesn't mean you have to sacrifice your personal life for that. What are you going to do with all that money when you don't have time at all to spend it? What is the point in returning home with no energy to even smile at the people waiting for you there?" "Duh" I guess he had no answer to this. In fact, he had, but he could not accept it. He abruptly said that he had to go some other way and took a turn. And I kept walking down the main street thinking about this.

People actually submit to some stupid rules and cultures established by the community at large. I mean, who likes to come home every night at such a time where there is no one on the streets except for some stray dogs; at such a time when everyone at home is either asleep or just forcibly keeping eyes open to see you arrive and then they could go to bed peacefully. People still accept situations like it and live like that. What is amazing that they are still proud of it. Proud of the money that they 'earn'. Proud of the 'positions' that they have.

I felt pity for him. More importantly, for his complaining tone. If a person does work like that, he should not complain. If one really doesn't like it, then he shouldn't just complain, he should do something about it. The thing is, people fear. People fear to be real. They fear that if they do not do the things that the majority of the world does, they will not get the things that the majority of the world gets. And that is why, they continue to live 'like' someone. They continue to dream to be 'like' someone. It is not a great thing honestly, to be 'like' someone. Greatness comes with uniqueness. If eiffel tower is great, it is because there is only one eiffel tower in the world. As simple as that.

My friend was not the only one who submitted to such undesirable work cultures. Its a stream. A stream of people in the world who work like this for whatever reasons they might have and be unhappy about it at the end of the day. There is no point in knowing if there is really so much of work to do or not. Its all about keeping a balance between work and life which many employers claim to provide but the reality does not really match with their claims. People should never just accept things like that. One should know when to refuse. One must refuse to work like that. If one person does it, there will be five other people backing him up. And I believe working conditions are much better in developed countries. Work gets over at five thirty and people actually Have a LIFE there....

I was really thinking too much. I was annoyed. Even I had a heavy bag on my back. I was coming home from office. Fact remains; I hated it. Fact remains; I was doing it.


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Sharangdhar
(CPA, CISA, exp in IFRS, )
Category Students   Report

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