Twenty –five
years is a long time. A flash-back: rushed mornings, tired evenings; life
consciously and neatly segregated into two compartments- office and home. Work
rarely came home though the workday often stretched up to 7pm.
Those days
Bank jobs were as coveted as they are now. After an Economics honours degree from a leading Delhi college, the
logical aspiration was a Bank Officer’s job. Marriage to a dashing Air Force officer, a
darling daughter, a sunshine son and transfers pan-India from Bangalore to Pune, Allahabad to Nasik, meant staying in and imbibing
the culture, cuisine and ethos of India’s richly diverse states.
Life was
fast, life was fun, but the madness of rushing around, trying to do everything
left some part of my soul wanting - something was missing. I wanted to be able
to stand and stare. Drawing and painting were my childhood passions. I had also
loved writing. Now my writing was confined to the “notes for approval of the
Competent Authority”. I was simply doing what I had to do, not what I wanted to
do.
Cut to 2001:
Banking changed; computers came, as did the banks’ Voluntary Retirement Scheme
(VRS), since less manpower was needed. Should
I, or should I not, opt for VRS? I was nowhere near the retirement age. VRS
meant doing with much less. There would be a vacuum, I knew.
My heart won
over my head. I boldly opted for VRS against advice to the contrary from
well-meaning people. The initial days were a struggle- from being a “somebody”,
I felt reduced to a “stay- at- home nobody”-no entity, no personal identity. I
did get my time to stand and stare and slowly realized that there was still
much more to life.
I loved the
English language and made my rounds of publishers to get work, then got into an
organization teaching “spoken” English. Soon I was training school children,
working professionals, housewives, foreigners, the nuances of the English
language.
It became a
win-win situation for me- I was interacting with people from diverse
backgrounds and also honing my own skills. I graduated to taking Communication Skills
and Personality Development classes and from there to online editing of
manuscripts of students seeking admission to foreign universities.
I have been more
than adequately compensated in non-materialistic terms- my time is my own, I’m
doing what I love, at my own pace. The respect and adulation of my students,
the satisfaction of having made a difference to those (who come with
aspirations but find expressing themselves in English a stumbling block), cannot
be matched with the biggest pay cheque.
I’m glad I
took the bold step of opting for VRS. My life has changed for the better and I
have not looked back even once.
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