Belong
I´d worked a very long time to get where I was in life. I
studied hard, graduated from university and had reached my dream. Jobless.
Contest chair, fellow Toastmasters, guests and those who
have been jobless at some point in your life.
I was an
Indian, with a masters of IT – there were two options:
-
stay
in India and become a Service Desk operator – hello, I am John and how may I
help you?
-
go
to Europe and open an Indian restaurant – Would you like the chicken tikka
masala, sir?
I had done a few jobs during the holidays, but none of them
went well:
-
The first one was in an orange juice factory. They
began squeezing me, then I got canned because I couldn’t concentrate.
-
Then I was a woodcutter. I couldn’t hack it so
they gave me the axe.
-
I tried to be a tailor, but I wasn’t really suited
for that.
My first attempt at finding a proper job was in the last
semester of university.
Day 1 - 50% of my classmates found a job. Except me.
I told myself your first job is not your last job. The
first woman you meet is not your wife. I wish I had got that job on the first
day.
Day 2 - 75% of my friends found a job. Except me.
Gold was gone, silver slipped away – maybe I was born for
Bronze.
Day 3 - 99% of my classmates found a job. Except me.
A place on the podium was long gone.
Things could not get worse than this or could they?
Everybody walked up to me with pitiful eyes. Ranjith, you will
get that job. “Loser”
Even the cook in our canteen told me. Ranjith, eat up. You
will need the strength for the days to come.
I DID need it. After University, I walked the streets of
India for three months trying to get a job. I was fed up. Maybe I did not belong
to the promised land of software, and I should get back to making curry!
But then, a friend of mine talked to me and suggested I get
an internship instead. Internships. I thought internships was for losers or for
those who were interested in the white house.
I got an internship and at the first day at work I witnessed
this:
Anna was smoking away in front of the company and a
colleague asked her if she read the warning that “Smoking was bad to health”.
Anna said, “I am a programmer. I do not worry about warnings, I only worry about
bugs”.
I looked at that and I realised that I
understood that conversation. This was a place where I belonged.
From a place where I belonged, I decided to go all the way
to Germany. Was it for the Beer, the Bratwurst or the blonde Bombshells? No, I was
a teetotalling, vegetarian virgin till I came to Germany.
I started belonging after I came to Germany.
I lost my first job in three months’ time, not knowing the
difference between permanent and probation period.
But then I started to like my future jobs and belong in them.
I joined a wine tasting group even though I did not know
the difference between a Riesling and Rioja. Did I belong amongst these professional
wine tasters? I must have. I met my future wife in this group and also someone
who liked my curries.
Life sometimes takes you through challenges, but you end up
in a place where you feel like you belong. Like all the shy speakers, sociable
speakers and sensational speakers who feel like they belong at Toastmasters.
Go out there make curry, try internships, work on jobs,
drink wine, find a life partner! Go out there and belong!