The Open Book

The cozy environment of the bus tempted me to have a quick nap. Just as I dozed off, the ring of my co passenger’s mobile made me sit up with my eyes wide open. Little did I know that this incident would really be an eye opener for me. My co passenger answered the call and with a dejected sigh ended it. He became restless but managed to camouflage his mood and closed his eyes. There was just the humming of the bus now and it did have a rhythmic lullaby effect that once again made my eyelids heavy. Call it quirk of fate, another mobile started ringing, this time it was mine.

Lazily I picked it up, it was my friend from Bangalore. He owns a restaurant there and had a roaring success in the initial days. But as time went by most of his line staff quit their job and this had a drastic effect on his business.  As his marketing consultant, I just patiently listened to all that he told. He said that the workers just quit the job with no reason and took up other odd jobs near by. He was having a tough time managing them because, they just said that they did not like that job and that they had many other options that would pay them more and satisfy them. I suggested him some of the “text book” ways in which he could retain his employees, but deep down I knew that since they were line workers, none of the strategies would apply to his cause. At the end, I assured him that I’ll visit him next weekend along with my friend in HR.

My co passenger who was quiet all this time, opened up. He warmly shook hands with me and introduced himself as Dinesh from a reputed IT concern. He was an expert in Software testing and now was planning to change his company. The call that he had received earlier that time was from another MNC which denied offering him a position owing to some reason. Dinesh started pouring out to me about all that he expected in his job. Though he was a mechanical engineer situations forced him to take up testing and lately not many positions are available for his profile. His pay was not meeting his needs and that stress was eating up his life. Again, I listened patiently and asked him about what he really wanted to do. His eyes lit up. He said, he had always wanted to pursue a masters degree in mechanical engineering and that his dream was to take up a job in the automobile industry. I asked him, why he was not looking for a job in the automobile industry now? He said that since he is a test engineer with an experience of 4 years, his chances of making it into that industry was bleak. I felt sorry for this guy, and I assured him that I would refer openings that I come across.

I walked home, with two different things running in my mind. I did not understand what it was. Still in a confused state of mind, I decided to relax in my personal library. Just as I opened my cupboard, a big book which read “Marketing Management” slid down. I got irritated when I saw that some papers which were inside the book were strewn around. As I picked one of the papers, I just flipped it open to see what was written in it. It read…

April 17, 1998

This was an amazing day of my life. A simple incident made me realize my potential. My friends and I were preparing for tomorrow’s exam and one of my friend was in need of this Marketing Management book. Since it was midnight, I sneaked into his house, silently knocked on his window. He opened up the window and was surprised to see me. I tried to give him this book through the narrow bars of the window, but since the book was big, it didn’t get in. I tried all possible ways and angles, but all in vain. Finally, my friend gave up. He said he will not be able to wake his parents now and that he’ll take the book tomorrow morning. Suddenly, I got an idea! I opened the book and slid it through the narrow bars. It went in seamlessly. My friend was overjoyed at this and I felt happy too!

With beautiful memories of my college days flowing in my reverie, I was suddenly brought back to reality with a revelation. The revelation was an answer to my confusion about two entirely different human behaviors to a similar kind of a situation. On one hand, there was this uneducated line worker, who chose to do what he wanted to do and on the other hand there was this educated young man who stayed in his own small world complaining of the insecurities in his job.

I understood that the uneducated mind was similar to an open book, which was open to anything that came its way. Without any difficulty, he was able to adjust to a new environment and an entirely new job. He was able to weigh what was important and what was not. His movement of ‘where he was’ to ‘where he wanted to go’ happened seamlessly, just as the way, the open book slid into its destiny. Whereas, the educated mind built an invisible fence around itself. My software friend had a closed mind and a narrow thought. He was like the closed book that was trying all possible ways to reach its destiny through the narrow bars of opportunity.  Though his heart desired something else, he did not believe in himself and did not take a step to go where he really wanted to go.

So friends, though there are many commitments in life, prioritize them and be an open book.

Understand your heart’s desire and pursue it. If everyone could be where they really wanted to go, we would be living in a more satisfied and happy life.