What do you want to become in life? (#1)

For the majority of my adult life, I avoided answering this question, but on the rare occasions when I did, the response was never the same. It kept evolving.  

Pic credits: Pixabay/quimono

Engineering or Medicine:

I chose Engineering because out of the only two options before me(Engineering/Medicine), my eldest sister(who had already chosen Medicine) dissuaded me from taking it up. (I discovered, much to my surprise, that her advice was spot on. I'm not cut out to be a doctor.)

Mechanical or Electronics:

In spite of my father's nudge to study electronics, I picked mechanical engineering because I liked studying physics. (and also because I felt at that time that the Mechanical world was more physical and less abstract than Electronics). I am fortunate to have a father who gave me the freedom. 

But nothing at college could keep my curiosity alive. So I did not do actual engineering. But I enjoyed the freedom, had fun and made some good friends. 

Secure or Insecure: 

By the time I tried to answer that question again,  I had already turned down an offer for a software job, quit my teaching position out of fear of being average, and been rejected by a "core firm" that had offered to send me to the US.

So, I settled with the following answer to the inevitable question: "What do you want to become in life? "

"To get into a core job in a secure Government sector and settle".

Near or Far:

After a few months of work, I got what I wanted. It was a core job in the Oil & Gas Public Sector. But I was unhappy with the location of my posting. It was in another state(far from home) and I felt it was important to stay near to my family at that time. I didn't want to compromise. 

My reasoning at that time was - "If I can get the same salary at a place near to my home, what's the point?" and I made up my mind like this- "As long as I am in India, I should be near my hometown (not in my hometown, though). Otherwise, it should be out of India. No in-betweens"

So my answer to that question at this point was- "To get a core job in a Government sector near my hometown and settle". 

Fortunately, I accomplished this too. I settled in a Oil and Gas Public Sector job near my hometown. It was a comfortable job. This job fulfilled many financial goals, family responsibilities, and materialistic desires. 

For many years after getting this so called coveted job, I did not ask myself again, "What do you want to become in life?" until one day......

What happened on that day? 

What effect did it have on my life? (Click here to know)