Tamasha #Just be who you are
Within every generation the tussle between ‘Who you are’ and ‘Who you should be’ is inevitable- the ever eternal struggle between passion and pragmatism! While some fight, some rebel, mostly just go with the flow. It’s happened to all of us when our most important decisions were based on not what we ‘Wanted’but what was ‘Correct’.
When I jokingly say “Anu Malik Garg is the new avatar and I am not “Anu Malik” anymore, it’s actually said with a pinch of salt. The new avatar is a tamed, tepid version, cloaked within the confines of a societal cocoon, being led by the destiny – the most convenient fall back excuse that I give myself every day. Does that make me a loser – No. Am I unhappy – No. Do I blame anyone – No
It’s just that – ‘I AM’…..like everyone else….
But ironically, life throws another punch, as today the roles have reversed. I find myself on the other side of the table channelizing the dreams, aspirations, uniqueness, and careers of the Gen Z in the family, who are straining the shackles, wanting the freedom to BE “Just who they are.”
When the super genius engineer in the family wanted to break the shackles to join a research and development start-up, we geared him towards the fortune 500 brand as that was the ‘Correct’ choice. When the kids in the family – sorry they are adults! – choose their life partners, we judge them on the parameters of ‘social acceptability and standing” and ask them to make ‘Responsible’ choices. When we talk to our children about choosing what they should do, we brain wash them early that it should be economically viable, scalable & practical. We feel duty bound to hound our mistakes and our lessons and force them to choose a path ridden with our experiences and choices and NOT theirs!
When did this transition happen? When did I change the glasses that I wore to look at the world? When did I become a droid, spouting rules and regulations, programmed into me? When did I get religionised into discoursing ‘politically correct’ scriptures?
I don’t know. But perhaps, it’s time to unlock the dungeon and dig out the buried ‘real me’, as maybe ‘She’ will have the courage to tell the young ones to be…. “Just be who you are” ….