Friday, September 14, 2012

A predictive letter?


Dear Suresh,
You must be surprised to be receiving this letter from me. It must thrill you to know that this letter is from your future self. The problem is that, as is usual with you, this thrill is likely to be misplaced much like the thrill you get out of showing your palm to anyone claiming nodding acquaintance with palmistry. But, let me not anticipate your reactions.
World wars may be fought, people may get worked up about corruption and governance, India may lose at Cricket and food may be getting scarce but you would only be worrying about your performance at school. So, there is hardly a point in my telling you all about the world, for you would only skip it as not being important for getting good grades. So let me concentrate on school.
You will be astonished to know that you can get something right! You always were afraid that you would have a pretty undistinguished academic performance at school and how right you were! It may make you glad to know that you did not etch your name in the records of the school for the most abysmal performance ever by a student – but having said that, I have said all that can be told in praise of your school performance.
You were always the sort to keep picking at a scab and irritating the wound. It is unlikely that you will be satisfied with a general statement and will want a subject-by-subject dissection of what went wrong. Do not blame me if you feel like burying your head in the nearest coal mine.
In English you were decent and continued being so. You, however, never make any great use of it. You could have learnt to say, “The government has callously disregarded the danger to pedestrians etc. etc.” instead of “The government has not taken care of pedestrian needs etc. etc.” and become a top-notch journalist. You could have learnt to write, “What is Life without xxx Deo” and become a advertising guru – you did not! All the use you will put your English to is to say, “Dear Sir, With reference to your letter no. ….. dated……….”!
I know mathematics is always your bugbear. For you mathematics is mathematics and apples are apples. So, if someone asked you, “If you had five apples and you gave me three, what would you have left?” you get angry about the other guy asking you for three of your apples. Physics and chemistry only confused you and biology made you gag at night remembering the half dissected frog jumping all over the place to the tune of squeals from your fellow-students.
Despite all that, you will get into Engineering (IIT?? No! This is not a daydream, boy, this is a statement of future fact) and even pass out. The problem is that you may be able to pass exams but you will realize that being an engineer is a lot more (and a lot less) than adding B.E after your name.
You know how great your geographical orientation has always been. So, when you find in the control room that a valve has gone bust and it needs instant action to avoid a catastrophe, you run around in circles crying piteously, “Valve! Valve! Where is the valve?” Not quite the picture of the dashing engineer running to the rescue of the production unit, is it? (Well! You can take pride in the fact that it is people like you that probably caused the invention of the GPS – a step-by-step guide to reaching your bathroom, among other things!)
That will shift you into the arena of finance via an MBA. Since addition and subtraction is just about what you are capable of, you do not do too badly there. The biggest realization of your life dawns on you later. No matter what esoterica of mathematics a person learns, what is most important to him is addition. People spend all their lives adding up their wealth and going gaga (or not!) about the total. Whatever else they may do to eke a living, they end almost every day in enjoying this additional activity!
I will leave you on a happy note! You were right about one other thing. You always thought that you would hate working – and, boy, you have no idea how right you will prove to be in the rest of your life!
With best wishes,
You from the future



This post is part of the contest A letter to yourself.. on WriteUpCafe.com


46 comments:

  1. Loved it ..:) 'Valve Valve"..Loved that part. Its a common misconception that being an engineer, ANY engineer its our duty to repair any appliance or circuitry at home..!

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    1. Thanks harishankar! As a chemical engineer, it was my duty to bypass the broken valve and allow the process plant to function without lethal leakages :)

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  2. Awesome post!!! Loved every bit of it :) There is no better feeling than telling yourself that you were right :P

    Btw, I also did a similar post but a serious emotional one, some time back.. And I will shamelessly leave the link here (Bloggers, I tell you :P )
    http://expressionssss.blogspot.in/2012/04/post-to-past.html

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  3. Lovely read ... GPS for bathroom :) hats off to your imagination ...

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  4. Dear Suresh, I never knew there was a mature Suresh within you! Now onward listen to that wise man!

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  5. Hi Suresh

    What an article! You know what, during my engineering days I realized that the students who just passed out of the ITIs (not IITs, the Industrial Training Institute Diplomas) and land jobs in factories have a lot more practical knowledge on electrical engineering than the engineers doing all the math.

    Btw getting into IIT is not a joke and shows the intellectual in you , despite all the jokes you make about yourself :D

    Absolutely brilliant post and loved the GPS to the bathroom and the apple math. Hilarious as always :D

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    1. Thanks Jaish! Not intellectual enough to get into IIT. I only managed IIM thereafter :)

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  6. Suresh, loved the bit on English because I relate to it. I would love to write with all the hi-fi words but stop from using them I know most of them would be from the thesaurus and none of them from my original thought process. The GPS bit is too funny

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    1. Thanks Balu! I was also intending to point out how the words color the attitude towards the news!

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  7. Excellent letter. I too would have written something similar for myself but I wouldn't want to discourage the young dreamy aspirations of a youth! :)

    Destination Infinity

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    1. Ah! When I was young I did not have dreamy aspirations, only apprehensions :)

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  8. Nice humor, Suresh and congrats on being chosen by Blogadda for Saturday Spicy pick.

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    1. Thanks TF! I was surprised when I tracked back my traffic sources and found this picked by Purba for Blogadda Saturday Spicy pick!

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  9. great post. awesome. Loved it.
    www.duringmytimes.com

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  10. The post revealed a lot more about you than all the tagged posts where you had to write about yourself. I loved this post. And I wonder what I will write to myself .
    Good luck for the contest, Suresh. And congratulations too, for this post being picked for BlogAdda's Saturday Spicy picks :-)

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    1. Thanks Sudha! And congrats to you too for your post being picked for the same thing :)

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  11. Valid points throughout. The point on addition makes complete sense, that is what people eventually end up doing their entire lives.

    So, if you were to really receive a letter from your future self, what form would it be in? Handwritten, computer typed, voice, video or in the form of a memory??

    Regards

    Jay
    http://road-to-sanitarium.blogspot.in/

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    1. Mmmm! Handwritten would be worse than useless, it would be illegible :)

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  12. How hearty a letter to your self. It surprises me, The blatant sincerity with which the letter is written.:) I should say that this letter made laugh out loud and wry with worry. The precarious image of you running around the room searching for the value was hilarious and the realization that my own be is rather a waste of time made me wry a bit.

    Oh! BTW I really doubt if there is any GPS application that could help you with you toilette needs, trust me the best result it would give you is a drive to a public toilette 200 km away. Not very useful when in distress.

    Pages Off Life

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    1. Poetic License, Rupertt! You cannot allow Reality to mar a good line :)

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  13. I just wonder where from you bring all those humor and make a post so spicy and you are the person I have seen who always mock yourself and yesterday only I read somewhere I don't remember where that only real intellectuals can mock oneself..:)

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    1. Ahem! Intellectual :) ! That is a name that no one has called me yet :)

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  14. A wonderful letter! Just loved the english part especially!! Quite brilliant, I say.

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  15. I liked the concept, never really got down to writing it though.
    You have written a appropriate one and I liked the way you ended it :D

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    1. Thanks, Ghazala! That was the only way it could be ended considering how much I had to egg myself on to write it :)

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  16. Those are endearing glimpses into the making of Suresh as we know today, the lighthearted, self-deprecating, fun-loving blogger. Carry on, sir!

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  17. Nice post and very nice imagination !

    -Ash

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  18. Indeed a different topic..beautiful imagination

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  19. What a gem of a post! Hoist yourself on to that pedestal, CS.

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  20. Lol. I loved this letter, especially the apple part. I too would hate to part from my apples :P

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  21. How brilliant was this..and u were saying tht u were simply clowning around!!! How dare u..
    from the gagging on biology...to the getting angry for being asked 3 apples...to the valve valve...how awesome!!!
    and hard working. I am sure u r!

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  22. Thursday starts off on a High Note, thanks Suresh! There was so much that was witty and humorous about this piece that I will not pick and choose. Several authors can make you smile, but only a select few can manage a continuous smile--You Sir, are amongst that select few. Self-deprecating is humor is not all that easy to write, there is always the chance that you can go overboard, sentimental even, and the effect is lost--here though, you have achieved that elusive balance and made this post a Joy to Read.

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