Months before he will learn about the different branches of engineering, years before he’ll come to know what an engineer really does at his job, and decades before he realizes what engineering has or hasn’t taught him… begins the story of an engineer in India.
*****
Meet John.
John is an eighth-grade student in an Indian middle-class family. A family that aspires for him to become supremely successful and bring the long-overdue prosperity finally to their doorstep.
On an ordinary day in the ordinary life of John, ordinary parents are discussing John’s extraordinary future.
Innocently returning from his school, he is caught off-guard into a conversation he had no idea was coming to him as soon as he hit puberty.
“Beta, do well in school and your life will be set,“—a tried-and-tested mantra of success is hammered into his head.
John visualizes himself—a highly successful and prosperous man in a shining suit—standing at the edge of a tall cliff overlooking the entire city like he conquered it two hours ago. When the scene cuts he realizes it was just a Land Rover commercial on TV.
John wants to make his family proud. He wants to fulfill several unfulfilled dreams. So he sets out on this path that he now believes is guaranteed to achieve success.
Strike 1.
The Monty Hall Problem
Like a new employee fresh out of college, John is barely struggling to get hold of the first task handed over to him when a new problem shows up.
“You have to make a choice between Science, Commerce & Humanities.”
What is “Humanities”?
Let’s try to picture this.
Fade in: Sound of audience clapping.
“Alright ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the one and only show, What’s behind the door? Our contestant today is John, an aspiring teenager desperately trying to rise to the top of the cliff. He is joining us here to place a bet on the next ten years of his life.
As you can see here, we have three doors in front of him and he has no clue whatsoever about the future that lies behind each of them. (My more nerdy readers who don’t know what I’m talking about can read here about the Monty Hall problem.)
As you guessed, John will tell us the door of his choice and the big prize is going to be revealed.”
John looks at the doors in a somewhat puzzled manner.
His confusion is legitimate because neither does he know anything about the pros and cons of choosing one door (or field) over another nor has he developed a spark for any particular subject yet.
But the audience is waiting anxiously.
“Tell us John, time is running out! What will you choose?”
In this moment of panic, he resorts to the only method that any other teenager anywhere in the world can think of: he asks his fellow teenage friends who know no better than himself.
“I chose Science. Software developers get the best package,” says his friend.
The old dream of prosperity gleams in front of his eyes.
Trusting teenage wisdom to be the gospel of life, John makes the choice and the audience is clapping like they’ve gone crazy.
“I’m going to be a part of the herd!” he says, smiling with teary eyes.
The show’s host opens the door and John gallantly walks into the rabbit hole of an institute that allegedly specializes in molding engineers out of raw teenage material.
With bright shining eyes and a lure of success, he gets in line behind one million others, gladly saying goodbye to his life and soul.
At this engineering mill of an institute, John is awarded professional-grade training (yes, training, not education) to operate the brain like it was on a permanent dose of steroids.
At the end of two years, John is burnt enough to be ready for thrashing an entrance test designed like the Black Friday sale—millions of people on one side and a handful of TVs on the other.
Fighting and forcing, tumbling and wrestling, he finally grabs something in his hand.
But lo and behold! This TV looks a bit different from what he actually thought it would be. It looks like the “brand seal” is missing on this one.
Of course, there is no question of turning back now.
Inside his head, John sees himself standing at a cross-road. A blue spotlight dawns on him from above and he hears a voice saying:
“It is the wand that chooses the wizard… It is the wand that chooses the wizard…
…It is the branch that chooses the engineer…”
This must be the sign.
With an ambitious smile and tired shoulders, he takes that TV and positions himself to get ready for a four (or five) year show.
As the camera zooms out of this iconic scene where he is finally ready to become an engineer, we see thousands and thousands of splendid Johns like him, all seated in a systematic grid, all sitting in front of the same TV set.
And all gleaming with the same dream in their eyes.
Strike 2.
The Paradox Of College
The burnout from sitting in front of that TV starts to kick-in in just over two months.
In the first year, John feels like it is time to recuperate and enjoy the things he missed out on.
But a senior crossing beside him remarks, “Get into some clubs or extra-curricular activities or else you’ll be left behind.“
A frustrated John still hasn’t learned to make a choice of his own.
He sees most people joining college clubs that help build a great resume. He goes and narrates to them why he was waiting to join this club his entire life… and gets into one.
But now there’s too much on his plate.
Our engineer is equipped to perform a quick quantitative analysis which suggests that out of all possible daily commitments, attending classes is the biggest waste of time.
“So what if I reached this institute after bearing a trouser-soiling amount of pressure every day for over two years? It is the name and experience that counts. I don’t see the point in attending classes,” he reasons with his brain.
A close friend offers to take responsibility for his proxy.
During one of the extra-curricular sessions, a learned senior preaches everyone, “All you need to do is to land a decent job. As soon as you do that, life will be set.”
The old dream of prosperity flashes in his eyes—once again.
John starts putting the pieces of the puzzle together. He doesn’t have the best resumé but manages to insert one bullet point under each of the recommended categories.
Things finally start looking hopeful, and he believes that a good resumé is all that is standing between him and a good job.
That is, until the placement season arrives, and he is informed that there are all kinds of cut-offs, from GPA to branch to the licking ability of his tongue.
The Uncertified Litmus Test
All through college, John has survived amidst tough competition. Everyone here is a John, and everyone is pursuing the same dream of prosperity and success. It’s a riot.
The day of placement finally arrives. He’s been shortlisted for an interview.
With a vertical spine and a horizontal smile, John walks into the room. The act has been rehearsed over and over.
If necessary, John is prepared to kill for this last step to success. No one can stop him (except the interviewer).
John takes the hot seat and the show opens with a warm-up round of, “Tell me about yourself.” Heh, easy!
Round two is rapid-fire, where the host fires several bullets — and our engineer dodges enough of them for the interviewer to believe that he could be cast in Matrix 7. You know, the One.
But the last round is no piece of cake.
“Why should we hire you? How do you stand out from all the other candidates?” the interviewer wants to know.
Act IV, Scene II
Enter: Dark clouds above, with thunder and lightning
Voice from the clouds speaks: All through his life, john hath followed the path trodden as did guide by others, all through his life he pursu’d what millions pursu’d ere him and millions shalt pursue after, all through his life he hath tried to fit in lest he did get divert’d from the path of success. And now, thee asketh what is unique about John? Alas, mercy, I beseech thee! Thee can’t behold a potato in a potato field and wonder, “What maketh this potato standeth out from all the other potatoes?”
But our John is a great improviser.
“Sir, at this point I know only one way to dance like a monkey. But given an opportunity, I promise to learn and dance like any monkey in the world has danced before and any monkey ever will.”
Hired.
The next semester we see John clicking pictures in that suit he always imagined himself in.
*****
On the first day of his job, John gets provided with an orientation module that asks him to put aside everything he has learned in the last four or five years of his life.
A few years later, two Johns find themselves filling their cups of coffee in the office cafeteria—both looking at each other and wondering who will ask first:
“Planning to switch?“
They both chuckle, realizing that the quest of finding their individuality now looks like light-years away… when they were probably in the eighth grade. The life of an engineer now carries on.
Strike 3 and out.
*****
This sarcastic take on the story of an engineer in India is completely fictional. But the irony is that… some realities are much worse.
The Regressive Model of Success
When you think about it, the problem is not that difficult to understand.
John’s career model is based on the assumption that if A follows a particular path to success, B can follow the same path to reach his success without an ounce of change.
The first assumption in such a model is that the definition of success is the same for A and B. The second assumption in the model is that all internal and external factors prevalent for B are the same as those that prevailed for A.
But here’s the catch:
- A and B start their journeys at different points in time, and their internal and external factors are different. What may have been true during the time of A may not have been true during the time of B.
- The individual goals of A and B are a function of the above factors, and unless the factors are the same for A and B, it is unlikely for them to have the same criteria for success. While A could want X amount of money in life, B could want Y type of work to call himself successful.
It’s no surprise that the concept of one size fits all does not work.
The flaw in John’s career model is that in the race of keeping up with everyone else, he leaves behind the opportunity to become himself.
The two inflection points
There are two inflection points in the life story of John.
First, when John is asked to narrow down his interest between Science, Commerce & Humanities. A selection must be made between categories that have been already defined, even if his interests overlap between them.
Second, when John’s goal subconsciously changes from ‘becoming successful’ to ‘getting a good job.’ This transformation is critical because even before evaluating what success means to him, the goal has been forged into his head.
Let us take a look at the impact that these inflection points have on his life.
1. High Opportunity Cost of Dropping Other Interests
Time is the most valuable currency today.
The time you spend focusing on one thing creates an opportunity cost of losing everything else that could’ve been done.
With engineers in India, the trend is to keep going dangerously deep into a closed domain until it becomes too difficult to come out of it.
As you progress in your chosen career path, the opportunity cost of not trying out every other personal or professional interest keeps increasing.
This terribly backfires if you realize later in life that your chosen path does not take you to the destination that you originally imagined.
2. Increased Risk Due to Agility
Being agile means that instead of fixing a final goal and chasing it till the end, you set short-term goals and keep iterating and refining them based on the feedback from the previous one.
Your goals in life are bound to change because our brain works in an agile manner, collecting new data every day.
People who’re sure about what they want in life at the age of sixteen move on to entirely different careers ten years later.
It is common sense, really, because as they gain more knowledge and experience, their interests expand, they get more clarity, and their goals adapt.
Improper goal setting without putting in the time to figure out what you really want increases the risk of change when your chosen career path does not work out.
3. The Fight to Imitate rather than Innovate
At the subconscious level, all of us want to create our own identity – our own brand.
But the fear of failure is so strong that everyone takes the proven method of success until it becomes overused.
By falling into the trap of doing what everyone else does, we make it even more difficult to distinguish ourselves.
What does success mean to you? Have you examined if the proven method of success is also the proven method of getting fulfillment?
If not, then you’re heading towards an existential crisis sooner or later because you won’t be able to establish your own individuality.
Alas, the Story of an Engineer in India
What could’ve John done better? Was it the right decision for him to take this path? If not, what were his alternatives?
These are all questions that are important to answer.
Let us remind ourselves again that ‘Time’ is one of the most valuable commodities.
At the onset itself, if John took the time to explore and choose a career based on his real interests instead of a vague goal like ‘being successful,’ the probability of him building a fulfilling career would have been much higher.
Of course, that interest could change over time. But that is still much better than pursuing something blindly just because it is the most popular choice.
But on that note, was John even given the option to explore other options by his parents?
Over 1.7 million students pursue engineering in India each year. And when their education is complete, many realize that there is no passion in their work. They might want to do something else.
We may pass this on as a humorous joke about how this problem is a part of our system, just like every other problem in this country.
But behind that humor lies the life of millions of young kids who put countless hours of hard work, suffering, struggles, compromises, and pain into this process. The aftermath of a realization that the five or six years of your life (roughly 10%) that you put into something were a complete waste – can be devastating.
And that’s true not just for engineers but anyone who spends half a decade in school earning a specialized degree.
Take out some time to plan your life and career. Explore your options. Try things out and refine your thought process. Building a career is neither mimicry nor magic.
Then if you realize you want to become an engineer, pursue it. If not, try something else that fulfills you. The world has changed. There is no question of getting left behind because you may not even need to follow the same path as everyone else.
