What Am I doing here?

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This is the story of a shy, timid kid who wants tochange the world. As a kid, he had a great appetitefor knowledge and wanted to be jack of all trades. Hedesired a telescope so that he can look at the skiesand the other worlds, he wanted a microscope so thathe can study leaves & insects and understand our ownworld, and he wanted a Casio keyboard so he cancompose sweet-little musical pieces. He expressed hiswants but got nothing. Slowly, as he grew up, hebecame involved in tackling the cut-throat competitionof higher schools and junior colleges. He studied in aprogram that was considered hot and in-demandeverywhere, but mostly because everyone else wastrying to get into that program. Further studies ledhim to places. Now he is well past his teens, but heis still the same hungry person who wants

tocontribute his two cents to change the world for good.He thinks this is the right time to make the ultimatedecision but for some reason, cannot make up his mindand decide for sure. There are some factors thatshould not be hindering his decision, but they stilldo. Confused, he goes off to consult his Master. Thisis the story of what they talked:Student: Master, I want to know what am I doing here?Master: Blogging?Student: No...I mean to say what am I doing on thisplanet...amongst all these people...in this country?Whats my Purpose?Master: Ummm.... I am glad you asked that question.You must be in your 20s. You see many people in their20s start asking such questions. Some ask it a littlelater or little earlier; quite a few don't ask it atall and proceed through their lives without evenbothering much. I can definitely say that you havedone a lot of introspection and serious

thinking.Anyways, do you really want to know the answer to yourquestion?Student: Yes. I really do.Master: Ok. The answer is - No one knows what you orthey are doing here.Student: But...but there should be 'some' purpose !Master: Of course. Isn't the journey of life a meansof finding this purpose? The sooner you find it, themore 'satisfying' your life would be. Student: I want to say something. I have realized thatI truly don't know my purpose and will probably neverknow in my lifetime. So I have made it my purpose thatfor the short time-period that I am here, on thisplanet, I want to do something that serves humanity. Iwant to live a life such that when I am old and lyingweak on my death-bed, and when I look back at theaccomplishments in my life, I should feel "satisfied".I should feel that atleast I did something beneficialfor mankind. I don't want to die just like that. As akid,

when I looked at the various discoveries andinventions, I was worried and frequently questioned mybrother "Please tell scientists to stop making theseinventions, else when I grow up there will be nothingleft for me to do". My brother used to console mesaying there are infinite possibilities ahead.Now that I have grown up, I am almost sure that I amnot scientist-material, so to say. But that does notdeter me from my determination to do something good.Something that enriches our knowledge, makes world abetter place. It doesn't matter even if mycontribution is unnoticeable to others; all I ask foris that I myself should feel satisfied with my part ofthe whole. I think this is the true definition ofhappiness and no luxury from material world can makeme so happy. However, and here comes my question, I feel right nowI am at cross-roads and next few steps would majorlyinfluence my course ahead. But the road I

would loveto take, is hardly used and that does scare me. If Istay at the cross-roads and delay the decision, then Ithink it would become twice as difficult later on tochange route. So I am in a fix. A big fix.Master: I understand your predicament. Now allow me tosay something. I am no smart ass, but based on myperception of the world, I can tell that I see threedifferent types of people:The first type of people are what I call as the'free-spirited' ones. They are the ones who never askquestions like "Who am I?" and "What am I doinghere?". They simply don't think about such things.Free-spirited people take each day of their life as itcomes, literally. In the day-to-day world, they arevery energetic, street-smart and keep themselvesabreast of all the happenings. In fact, they lovediscussing other people and their lifestyles. Theydon't question the beliefs, the customs or thepractices - they

just become part of it. As such, theyare fun-loving uncomplicated ones.The second type of people are the ones who likediscussing 'events' rather than people. Just like the'free-spirited ones', initial part of the lives ofthese people is spent doing what others do - followingthe 'herd' as they say. But later on, at some stagethey start asking questions like "Who am I?" and "Whatam I doing on this planet?". Even though they ask suchquestions and some even manage to find customizedanswers, most of them don't have the balls to followtheir heart and seek out what they want. Some of themtend to be too scared of 'What others will think ofthem' if they venture out of the herd. Others aresimply not confident and bold enough to step in adifferent direction, mostly worried over the scenariothat they will be called fools if they fail on thechosen route. Such people will be enthusiastic,energetic, smart,

outspoken; they would discuss eventsloudly, confidently & vigorously, and even questionmany current beliefs and practices. But deep down theystruggle, because in real life, they are doing onething while their heart says to do something else. Andby the time they decide to follow their heart, theyrealize that its too late or too risky or both. Student: Ok.....what about the third type?Master: The third type of people discuss 'ideas' andnot people or events. These people belong to a rarebreed, unlike above two ones. They already seem toknow the answers to questions like "Who am I?" and"What am I doing here?". They go about their taskswithout thinking about what others will say. Theyquestion the beliefs and don't accept everything asmatter-of-fact. They are wonderful in analyticalreasoning and logical decision-making. People usuallyfind hard to understand them and they too find it hardto explain

their views to people. Their life isessentially a struggle, as at all steps they encounterhurdles. As a result, they don't have a happy peacefulexistence like the other two, but they are perhaps theonly ones who will die a satisfying death. They woulddie a peaceful death because they achieved theirgoals; they knew their purpose and lived up to it. Thesmile on their faces while they lie on the death bedis mystifying for other mortal souls. Student: Well, I am not the Smarty-Pants of type 3 noram I a free-spirited person. Somehow I feel I am morelike the second type.Master: Aah, there are many over there. But as I said,I am not any enlightened soul. There can be peopletotally unlike these 3 types or there can be people amixture of these. Student: Sure. Nonetheless, all that you said reallyhelped, but is still not enough for me to make anoutright decision. Because the truth is I have

toconvince myself first and no-one else can do that. Ihave a long way to go and I hope, I really do hope,that I live up to my customized answers. I woulddefinitely try hard in that direction. Thanks Master.Master: Godspeed, my child.

Moody friends. Drama queens. Your life? Nope! - their life, your story. Play Sims Stories at Games.