"Take this exit for The Dubai Mall","Smoking Prohibited, By Law.","Alight here for Sabarimala","Left hand drive, No hand signal". They're all over, everywhere, whether we like them, read them, follow them or not. Sometimes they appear so often that I wonder what it'd be like if there were no signs around, at all. People'd have no clue where they are, or where they're going, or meant to be going. Initially, at least, but like everything else usually works out, eventually, they'd find out.
Imagine if Sachin and Vinod had actually followed their coach, Mr. Achrekar's sign to declare, before going on to rack up a partnership of 664 (still a record in any form of cricket) or if Jinnah didn't pick up signs that there was an opportunity to be a 'Father of the Nation'. So much would be different today.
I mean, I remember when I was waiting eagerly for my 12th results to be declared, so I could apply to colleges that'd accept me with my marks. Results came, they weren't so bad, I thought the time was good to try and apply to a college with somewhat of a reputation like Wadia's in Pune or Xavier's in Mumbai. The thought of staying back in Chennai never crossed my mind. This was around June and the beginning of vacation season in Muscat. As soon as I got my results, I knew I'd to be on my way, scouting colleges outside Chennai if I wanted to be happy and close to the place of my birth, Mumbai or just Maharashtra. I hated Chennai with a passion and still do. Don't get me wrong, I've some real solid memories there, stuff burnt into my brain and consciousness. But it had nothin to do with the place, really..it was just circumstance.
Getting back to the point, I was in Muscat that June and had to ask Dad to get my ticket to Mumbai booked as soon as possible, so I can go knockin on doors of colleges that I'd be proud to be associated with. Dad said, wait, hang on, you can go in a coupla weeks when your mother goes back. I protested, but since he's the decision maker and the financier, my protests didn't really hold up against his planned(?) decision making. When I finally did get back to India, I made mebbe 2 feeble attempts at getting admission into colleges and came back to Chennai to tell mom that they were all asking for 'donations' and I didn't want to enter any college that did. Actually, the World Cup was on and I missed the semi-final of the century where SA lost to AUS by a run or tied and lost because they'd lost before to AUS in the league stages. I had to get back to watch the finals in the comfort of home.
Soon, it was getting late in the year. If I didn't start somewhere soon, I'd miss a year. After a little discussing and strategising, we decided that it might be ok to miss a year to figure out exactly what I wanted to do and do everything necessary and in my power to make sure I get my admission formalities done well in advance and without anything going amiss.
The sign came in the form of an ad in The Hindu. The ad had a huge Taj logo in the middle and then, in a smaller font, the letters IIHM. The Indian Institute of Hotel Management, Aurangabad, backed by the Taj Group Hotels. Aurangabad? Where was that?? Before I could figure that out, I was already on my way to Pune, where we stopped off before heading to Aurangabad.
Life's changed impossibly since then. The sign was actually dad's irrational decision to keep me waiting for two weeks within which I could've done a little more than that feeble attempt at getting into some random college, doing a B.Com. and then settling into a bank job. I didn't know it at the time, but that WAS a sign.
Here I am now, as a deputy Head of Department in one of the finest hotels in one of the only cities in the world known for its offerings in luxury and the latest in ostentation and vanity.
The point is that the signs're all over, we know that they are, we know sometimes that we should follow the signs, but we just ignore them and do something that leaves us thinkin..What if..? Then we see more signs and then we turn our faces away and choose not to follow them..What if, again..?
The tragic irony of the whole thing is that these signs, that we ignore with a shake of the head, thinking "Naah, that's not gonna work" are what we actually end up looking back on and saying, "it was there, right in front of you, sayin THIS WAY UP!". And our friends and well-wishers, who didn't see those signs in the first place actually egg us on and make us think that ignoring those signs was the right thing to do. I mean, not thney in aat they mean us any harm or anything, just that ignoring those signs sent us on this nice comfortable journey with leather seats,great music, good company and a lovely landscape. What's wrong with that? Nothin. Its perfect. Except that we don't like where we're going.
