Monday, July 07, 2008
I am not impressed.
So I was umpiring yesterday with someone who I had just met. I don't usually care much for fellow umpires; I just like to do my job and get it over with asap. The fact is, I don't like umpiring as much as I used to. It's a tough job; you don't always get respect, and many people just don't seem to care if you do a good job. It really is a thankless job at times, though most of the times people do show gratitude. So after the game finished, he offered me a ride home. Usually I like to use the time after the game to ponder frivolous things, but it was to be a long way home and I needed to get back and catch up on some sleep, so I obliged.
In doing so, I deduced one main thing: the guy was brilliant. Played State level cricket for East Bengal (that's practically professional cricket in India), has a masters degree in finance, has worked several jobs from sports journalist to teaching medieval Indian history at Kwantlen to being an investment analyst to etc. I could go on and on about how much this guy has achieved, but I think you get the picture.
I'd asked him why he'd been through so many jobs without sticking to just one or two, and he told me that it was important for him to keep moving ahead. He essentially didn't want to stagnate in life and just did whatever he wanted to do. I guess that's why he's 33 years old and still not married. He'd never have been able to do all the things he has done had he gotten hitched when 25 or so.
I also told him about my own situation and how I did not want to end up living the life of routines and materialism. I told him that I did not want to just grow up, finish school, get a job, get married, make money, have kids and then spend the rest of my life lazing around until death. Then he said something that really caught my attention. He basically said, "the things you've just told me are not very different than living the life of an animal, aside from a few differences". When I jokingly asked about the differences, he said, "atleast an animal can be with as many partners as it wants to without any repercussions". I must say, that's some rather fine wisdom; to which I wholly agreed.
We started talking Indian History afterwards before I was dropped off at home.
It's interesting to think that I wasn't even planning on showing up that day for umpiring. Very interesting people out there; just gotta get lucky sometimes.
In doing so, I deduced one main thing: the guy was brilliant. Played State level cricket for East Bengal (that's practically professional cricket in India), has a masters degree in finance, has worked several jobs from sports journalist to teaching medieval Indian history at Kwantlen to being an investment analyst to etc. I could go on and on about how much this guy has achieved, but I think you get the picture.
I'd asked him why he'd been through so many jobs without sticking to just one or two, and he told me that it was important for him to keep moving ahead. He essentially didn't want to stagnate in life and just did whatever he wanted to do. I guess that's why he's 33 years old and still not married. He'd never have been able to do all the things he has done had he gotten hitched when 25 or so.
I also told him about my own situation and how I did not want to end up living the life of routines and materialism. I told him that I did not want to just grow up, finish school, get a job, get married, make money, have kids and then spend the rest of my life lazing around until death. Then he said something that really caught my attention. He basically said, "the things you've just told me are not very different than living the life of an animal, aside from a few differences". When I jokingly asked about the differences, he said, "atleast an animal can be with as many partners as it wants to without any repercussions". I must say, that's some rather fine wisdom; to which I wholly agreed.
We started talking Indian History afterwards before I was dropped off at home.
It's interesting to think that I wasn't even planning on showing up that day for umpiring. Very interesting people out there; just gotta get lucky sometimes.
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