Many Asian countries dwell on an introverted society and culture where being silent is a mark of respect you have for your superiors. And most of the time, you end up being quiet rather than speaking out, if you end up doing the latter, you end up being the disrespectful. And this is not a scenario which arises when you start your professional journey or when you get married and end up being the second husband. The need for you being silent to show your mark of respect comes along when you are born, like the disclaimer shown at the end of a mutual funds Ad! “Speaking out is liable to greater risks including you being a social outcast. Please read the offer documents carefully!” Most of our fathers are pretty much what their fathers wanted them to be, the day you start going to school, you face the grueling punishments and you are scared to talk whatever shit you want. And as you grow up, you end up being stuffed with others’ dogmas. The feeding generally takes place during 7 PM – 10 PM during the “TV time” every night by your parents. They start off with, “How can my son have “this job”? How can you settle for “this university”? What will my neighbor think? And not to forget the colleagues who are definitely the most important people for the working man. How easy is it for a person who comes through all these hurdles and treading on a path defined by these expectations, dogmas and one’s own fear of being a social outcast and go on to achieve what he wants to?
Luckily, there are always the very few who go on to achieve what they want and when one sees their path, the anomalies they have created and its importance as a variable in defining their outcome can be observed. Although all of these observations vary from person to person, the majority rejoice and celebrate his presence. And there are the usual widely accepted losers who tend to go back to the shells which has been defined and built by our forefathers.
We see a lot of people around us who undergo a similar battle to break all the odds and make their way to the top, we ourselves have these small battles to fight, obstacles to overcome and stand out of the usual crowd. The fight becomes tougher when you end up being in an environment with new rules, widely accepted ethics and principles and most importantly their dogmas. Now how would you react? The first scenario being beating them by playing without their dogmas affecting you as you cannot relate to them and end up doing what they think is the impossible. The second being, you go further into the shell and start doing your work according to how you have been brought up thinking that is the right way and end up being tagged as the outcast in the new environment which regards your style of working as a negative approach. Either way, depending on how you look at it, you decide who you are. Now how many of us decide who we are and what happens to those who let others decide?
The very few who read this post might either end up in a confused state of mind without relating to what I am trying to say or end up with the most memorable laughter in his life. But the point being, I had to type what I had in mind. My friend comes to my mind when I type this, he has been continuously pleading me to spare the internet, but then should I work according to his dogmas?
Posted on January 24, 2010
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