When I sat and talked to my day (part 14)

Back after a while! 

Actually, the daily dose of work keeps me glued to my day. On one end the world is talking about 1 billion chat bots to be deployed in the future, perhaps with each having a defined set of work, on the other, there are countless out there who is looking for something substantial to do.

Today, I want to talk about this very aspect of life - that is, finding something substantial to do in life. Before jumping to my stories of the day, I want to go back, way back to when I was in school. My father had an uncle and he was a great storyteller. He would come our ancestral house, stay with me, talk to me about his life stories, explain things to me in simple language and would make sure I get glued to my own depiction of imagination. I loved him, I still do. He had once told me a beautiful anecdote of a judge, who happened to be also part of our extended family. It went like this - there was a critical case where the judge had a tough hearing from both sides and there was clearly no clear-cut motive behind the crime. In the end, the judge had simply pardoned the person who was the prime suspect. To the best of the knowledge and acumen of the judge, it was a mere accident. The crime was committed accidentally. I will not go into the details of the case. But what was important for me to know was - he had told me, one should understand what the substance, boundary and scope of one's responsibilities were. As a judge you could punish, but at the same time, you could pardon too. You should understand the entirety of your job!

Think of the following -

• We play certain roles in life, without actually knowing what these roles mean to us. I have been a father of two. When the eldest child was 1 year old, I was also a 1 year-old father. Did I know back then what fatherhood really meant? Perhaps not, but then, within the framework of my life, I knew at that time, what a father should do. And what a father should not do. I guess that was just about enough. But did I entirely know what an ideal, or at least a good father ought to do? I believe, had I known, that would have made life much easier. And me a much better father!

• When we enter into a job status, say, that of team leader or a project leader, how much do we know beforehand what that status demands from us? I believe many out there get promoted due to exceptional work in their respective fields and also by being an efficient and accurate problem solver. But the question is - is that enough? Shouldn't there be a limit to what we should be allowed to do? And what we should not? Within the modalities of the job profile? Do we have a good grip on that? Let uss ponder over this.

• When we do creative works, how shall we train ourselves? A singer should work with his or her voice, a writer should read more often, a painter should visit museums regularly and an actor should watch more films. But how many out there do these trainings? Often I hear about how to become a writer - simple answer is, become a reader first, the writer-self will emerge automatically after a while.

Once the boundaries, the demands and the training mechanisms are understood, I believe the next step happens in the form of concretizing what the goal should be.

Going with the above-listed vocations, I could go on and write the following:

• As a father, the goal is to create an extension who can carry forward the legacy. Every action we take hereon as a father, every single day that passes, every minor incident that shapes our fatherhood can now go in the direction to build up a child. "The child needs a helping hand!" The child needs ultimately to become a person! What we as father failed to achieve, we want to see in the next generation. Of course, that does not mean putting immense pressure on them, but simply making sure they get enabled. And not get into struggle and problem.

• In a job world, let us figure out what we are working for. The least common denominator is the end-product we are entrusted to deliver. It can be a regular product, a service, a charitable offer or a creative output. Believe me, once we have got hold of what we are there for (I mean in a certain job), the mindset gets an upliftment. Day in and day out we can come and deliver for the end-product! We can forget all ups and downs, and stay focussed on creating the output we are paid for.

• If we zoom in on creative world, I am sure many of you out there will agree, there are two ways to create. Either badly or beautifully. A creation is either good or bad. It is either appealing or disgusting. Its in a way very deterministic. Before jumping into doing an art-work, we should ponder about why we should create it. Before writing the essay, we should ask ourselves - is there really a need to write an essay on the tribes of India? Is there a need to make a film on the lives of the drain cleaners of metropolitan cities? Why should we depict, in poems, the beautifully protected nature of northern Sweden when we know climate change will one day wipe away all the good work done by humans? The answers to all these is - pursuit of beauty. The more we search for getting it, or reaching it, beauty comes to us.

Until the next episode, good night friends.