When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision.- Paulo Coelho in The Alchemist
There's this special feeling of nostalgia to unrealised dreams. More so, for dreams that you know are always going to be just that, because deep inside you know you are past the moment of truth, a time when you would have loved to see the dream be a part of the reality called life. For the now, you are happy to live the notion that you once dreamt and maybe the very dream contributed to bringing you where you are today, who you have come to be. Of course, time and again, the fact that the dream itself never actualized comes back to haunt you, but then, you probably, or to state it better, surely have moved on, and settled down to explore the heap that life chose to bless you with.
So why do I suddenly feel like writing about dreams that never came true and probably never would?
I have opted for Systems Biology as an elective course for the final semester of my B. Tech Bio Informatics degree. For those who just blinked an eyelid... it's the study of most of the biological processes happening inside us with a digital viewpoint... Say, how could you visualize the circulatory system in the form of an electronic circuit, with logic gates and stuff.
Since, it was just my second lecture for the semester and I did not have an inkling of the kind of things that I might be taught in due course... I peep inside the class room, and see a teacher from the Electronics department holding stage. "Wrong class." I say to myself. "Why do I have this habit of wrongly interpreting the excel spreadsheets listing our time-tables" But just then, I see some familiar faces, my other classmates, and realise this is where I ought to be in the first place. As I take my seat in row three, a typical 'my type' of act, I look at the board to see the teacher drawing gates.. Logic Gates!
...flash back to the year 2005, when as an engineering aspirant I was pretty much clear with my future goals or dreams if you'd like to call them that. The college I went to was a matter of deliberation given my fluctuating ranks in various examinations, but not the branch of study... It had to be ECE, Electronics and Communications Engineering, with my fascination for all things electronic being the top reason for my choice. I came to JUIT, never got ECE thanks to my not so impressive rank, I chose not to opt for Computer Sciences because that seemed too monotonous a thing to do in the given scenario (though I still don't seem to have garnered a good enough explanation for my rather dubious decision) and I settled for Bio Informatics - the future as they called it then, and still do!
Four years hence, I am four months away from passing out as a Bio Informatics engineer. Sitting for a course that teaches me the application of basic digital electronics concepts to my field of study, I can't help, but smile, when I realise these are things I would have studied in my first semester as fundamentals, had I bee lucky [?] enough to get a seat in ECE.
But that, was pretty much it.
Because four months from now, I pass out with a zeal for programming, something I knew I could do, but hated to work hard on, for the sheer effort it required. I pass out with more knowledge about cells, genes, genetics, genomics, proteomics... and basic biology than most normal souls possess. [Cheers!] I pass out with two job offerings, a fact that acquires gigantic proportions during the great meltdown of our times! I pass out with the satisfaction that I almost gave it my best... at most times! And, I probably, would not have been any more enthusiastic about it, had I got my preferred branch of study in the first place...
Am I complaining? I surely am! But, with that wry smile on my face that says, "You ol' sorcerer, you don't hate it as much as you thought you would do. Do you?
Dedicated to: The man I quote, Paulo Coelho and Alchemist, for me, his best work ever.
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January 15, 2009 at 8:42 PM
Hmmm.... well you know what? You don't have to study programming in any college! Being a student of Electronics Engg. I can tell you that much, if not more...
About dreams... well it happens so often with us... But I've always said, "Go where the heart says 'This is where I want to be...'" and it does not have to depend on any college or anything. In the end, it comes down to just YOU... So if you like programming, go for it.... when good times return you'll be prepared!
January 15, 2009 at 9:42 PM
@ Akansha:
Seriously, you don't have to STUDY programming, you just have to do it for yourself. But I'm not quite sure if I'm interpreting you correctly there.
Dreams... of course are about us... but what if the heart always drops you at crossroads?
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