Quarter Life Crisis

Prologue: The quarter-life crisis is a term applied to the period of life immediately following the major changes of adolescence, usually ranging from the early twenties to the early thirties. The term is named by analogy with mid-life crisis......

     A friend of mine once stated that it would be wonderful if we could work hard enough to be millionaires by the time we're 30, or else start working at 30. Initially I thought it didn't make sense at all. If you're a 24 year old guy in India and not working, its a serious crime. Everyone looks down upon you like a piece of dirt (girls have an easier option! get married early or share the same fate). So where do I stand?

    My crisis doesn't involve insecurity, unemployment or loneliness. I do realise the fact that googling myself doesn't set the search engines on fire. But I stand a better chance than most others. Kunnath Valappil Sajeesh is as unique as a dodo, or maybe a brontosaurus (one of the reasons why I use my full legal name nowadays). Just a couple of highly inflammable comments targeted at some superstar would provide impetus to hash-tags at social networking sites (SRK would not work, he's stooped to the level where he call himself an "inglorious B******" to make it to the news).

     I've been working for 4 long years (to make it sound longer, 48 months would be a better usage) and can't imagine working for the next 20 years. 20 years would be 240 months. If i saved 10k every month that would be 24,00,000 when I retire. 24 lakhs in 2030. Hmm. That wouldn't be enough for me to fulfill my dreams (currently on the list is a Ferrari, yacht, couple of islands, and a private jet).

     The best way to make myself famous and rich would be a career in politics. But I'm hardened by self-imposed principles and that wouldn't allow a colourful future. It might be like a Boom-Boom Afridi knock. Right up there and back in a flash. The alternatives include publishing a book. Hard luck buddy! The minimum qualification includes an MBA from a phoren (read foreign) university or at least an IIM-A, B, C or the likes. I like my current job, (never know when your boss might feel like reading your blog) in fact I totally love it ;). But I don't think I could do it for the rest of my life. My quandary continues.

     I turned 26 over the last weekend and completed the first quarter of my life. It was like one of those annual business review meetings. The first quarter is always the one where the work just starts. The next two might make all the difference (if I live upto the end of the 3rd one that is). The best part of being on the other side of 25 is that I don't feel old. Rather the people around me don't make me feel old. Most of them talk about the 70's and 80's where the youth had to struggle (Humbug! I struggle on a day-to-day basis to make it through Bangalore traffic). I don't have a notable paunch (emphasis on notable) and can run faster than most 20 year-olds (I get to choose my opponents). I don't smoke but can't claim that my lungs are clean (with all the passive smoke I inhale). My birthrights allow me to drink without judging the counter-effects of Alcohol (my malluness remember). I also found a way to conquer the mid-life crisis. On Google. Something that my ancestors can never claim they've done. :D

P.S: “In the best of times, our days are numbered anyway. So it would be a crime against nature for any generation to take the world crisis so solemnly, that it put off enjoying those things for which we were designed in the 1st place: the opportunity to do good work, to enjoy friends, to fall in love, to hit a ball, and to bounce a baby.”