Celebrating Independence the Millennial Way

It’s been almost 70 years since the nation was set free of the rule of Britishers and we have since enjoyed the term and celebrations that have come along with it. What continues to still perplex my senses is the fact that the word ‘independence’ holds different meanings to different people, especially in a colorful nation as ours. The interpretations go much beyond the three colors which compose the flag, stretching from literal to philosophical to ethereal to experiential and beyond.

What is true freedom/independence?

I grew up seeing Independence Day as being synonymous to flag hoisting both at school and at home. The school ceremony also involved skits each year where senior students would enact the story of freedom fighters, which the teachers hoped would instil us with love and pride for the nation. We also had a marching competition among the four different houses yellow; red; green and blue, ending with a prize ceremony for the excellently done march by the respective house.

At home, we would sometimes take part in the talent competitions that would be organised by the colony heads, comprising of art; elocution and poetry where each child would show utmost enthusiasm and a zest to win. As I delve deep to understand the kind of emotion the aforesaid filled me with, I am a little confused. Yes I was educated well about the turn of events as it took place, knowing about the heroes and their sacrifices, but I do not think there was more to it back then. Well yes, it was not possible for me at 12 to understand and think of independence as freedom the way that I am thinking of it now at the double figured age.

Today, to the millennial mindset, freedom means so much, beginning with embracing one’s own self in the weird moulded shape that we are, along with embracing the others in their true evolutionary manner as well. The digital media to most provides a liberty to express and impress and get rid of our distress, the keypad making us all feel like warriors in a textual world. Freedom includes understanding what the constitution has granted each one of us- freedom of expression & speech; of assembly without arms; of forming associations; of moving freely throughout or Indian territory; of residing anywhere and of practicing any profession. Once the understanding comes, acceptance and interpretation follow and then comes the practice.

Our generation struggles with so much, most of it with our own kind, the previous generations to whom we seem utterly rebellious and non-conforming. As the generation gap widens, we see the beauty in difference and they see the distance growing bigger, scaring them of what lies beyond the narrow limits within which they have lived their entire lifetime. We the explorers trying to discover the unknown, our thoughts wandering off the edges of the world; our dreams coming alive in a parallel universe and our souls mating in kaleidoscopic dimensions. The taboos of the older times have become the bible of some today, the unsaid or curtailed from before has now become a popular topic of debate and what scared earlier has now become worth sharing only to pave paths of growth for future.

As we gradually move forward, in our mundane lives, almost unnoticeably we millennials are bringing about a revolution. We are coming out in the open, honestly displaying the many colors beyond the black and white, craving more and pushing ourselves to achieve that and creating new meanings to terms like independence and happiness that were once perhaps only flat and 2D in nature.  We are asking questions, unafraid of the answers, getting hurt and standing up again, and yet going on unperturbed because that is what liberty is.  The freedom to move on or stop, the freedom to choose, to be there for ourselves and each other, to be vocal and let go, to get angry and tear down monuments of stone, to be ecstatic and build castles of candy and believe that everything is possible.

We are not idealists, we know how the world has functioned in the past, we are just people who believe it’s not too late to create one of our own and escape sometimes. We are travellers, traversing and creating stories of our own, not giving up but trying to create something as close to Utopia as possible, with the knowledge that Utopia is a fantasy.

Weekend getaways, flower bands during gigs, tattooed hearts and our lives in poetry are what make us today’s millennials – free to celebrate who we are. We are afraid sometimes, and we do break down, we laugh until our heads spin and we always do is- GO ON !

So here’s wishing everyone a very Happy Independence Day ! Power to all who are one of the aforesaid, celebrate your freedom and go on doing what you are, it's unique and beautiful and free just the way it's meant to be. 

Priorities of life OR why I left my last job

The term ‘ corporate ladder ‘ had always fascinated me as a kid. I watched and heard my mother repeatedly say how she never wanted to climb the upward way on it, only to become a more indulged workaholic with the passing years. The amazement didn’t end anytime soon, the world of careers and work routines seemed like ‘the’ place to get lost in, as it unleashed a land worth exchanging your current boring layman life with.

As 18 years flew by, I found myself in an unnoticeable manner, moving into this new world. I started working before I could complete my graduation, when most of my peers were living the mollycoddled life. I was pursuing a bachelors degree in Fashion Communication at Symbiosis, Pune, and to the girl from Lucknow it seemed like a land of opportunities awaiting to be taken up. During the third year, I could not contain myself anymore and approached the General Manager of a popular hangout in the proximity of our college campus. To my utmost surprise, I was allowed to come on board as a small time executive and that's how things kick started for me. To this day, I remain indebted to him for letting me start my journey, even though it may have been of very less value to him. My day started at 7 o'clock in the morning, only to end at 1 or 2 at night. I would finish lectures by 4:30 and rush to work , reaching in a sweaty but enthusiastic state. I liked the thrill of my fight against time, the adrenaline seemed to be multiplying at a happy rate. To me, a successful day was when all tasks were completed within 24 hours, more than quality, quantity had to be focused upon, it was only and only about reaching the finishing line.

As my next job began, and the first official offer letter came, I could almost feel my feet land on the first step of my very long way up the ‘corporate’ ladder. Once again, I was hired even before I received my graduate degree. Coming from a small town, this was quite an encouraging pat on my back. My mother had told me if I wished to stay out and not return to where I was from, I needed a job to sustain myself and I decided to take this instruction seriously. With referrals and word of mouth, I stumbled upon an opportunity of working with a bigger brand at a better position with a larger team. At that moment I got what I wanted, and delivered what was asked for- life was good.

As time passed, I completed one year with my team and decided to get back to studies to become better at what I was doing. I bid adieu to my sweet team and wonderful boss, to become a brand ambassador for life and to move on. Public Relations, the field that I was entering, was about communication and I felt the need to equip myself with basic knowledge before I could start owning it at work. Little did I know that it takes much more than that to 'own it' anywhere in the industry, naivete was still a part of my personality back then. Xavier Institute of Communications in Mumbai was where I applied, and got in to realize that it was definitely one of the best educational institutes of the country. With some of the finest names in the industry as our faculty, we were taught in a unique and extremely enlightening way, finishing with a complete change of perspective about PR and Corporate Communications.

One month later, I started my third job at a world renowned PR agency, which felt like an absolute up-scaling of my career graph. However since there was an industry change, I was hired at a lower salary, at a lower designation and a lot more work than before. I agreed thinking of it as a learning opportunity and considering that youth was the time to embrace all professional struggles.
Today as I sit, having resigned after just 3 months at this company, I know of one lesson which the people out there taught me- there is a fine line between learning and exploitation and we must know where to draw it. Since day 1 I was put under a lot of pressure, having to take the onus of something which I didn't even start/ ideate about, having to be the last person to leave the office, spending lunch time with my desktop and phone and of course being a one man army at all times. Come to think of it, my last company taught me a second lesson as well- the boss is the biggest touch point of the company with the employee, if she/he fails , it's hatred towards a larger party for the aforesaid reason. Being given a business card which stated a higher designation than the one I was appointed as, an act which reeked of slyness just added fuel to the fire. With time my work pressure increased, having to work and know more things in 3 months than I was supposed to by the end of one year and with zero team support. The more I worked alone, the more I felt like I was stuck among laggards, having to deal with last minute projects, more demands of perfection and no division of work at all. Since my schooldays, I had the habit of advance preparation, drawing timelines; working with step based goals; discussing; brainstorming and then producing the final result. I remember thinking that if my seniors were my school mates , I would have never worked with them in a group project. The zest in me to be productive was slowly being overtaken by the thought- is it worth it ? At a point where I felt all value additions to this relationship were taking place from my end, I decided to gift myself a better life and I resigned. Being called a 'trainee' but being given the work which 3 senior levels were supposed to do, being paid peanuts in exchange for weight loss/ dark circles and depression, working under a person who had a bad work ethic and spending more hours in the washroom crying as opposed to having food at the table ultimately took a toll on me. I could feel myself shutting down, being meek, vocally inexpressive and feeling lost. I needed to get back to who I was, the one who was positive, enthusiastic, strong & determined and I knew exactly where to go- home.

Sometimes we fail to see how things have a negative impact on us, and we subconsciously curtail it with some positive angle to make ourselves believe all is good. We try and try because it is forward movement and we overlook everything else only to deliver what is being asked in a relentless pursuit of approvals. What we need to remember and constantly revise is that nothing is more important than the well being of our soul and heart. More than the body and the mind, my soul and heart were at work trying to be productive in a genuine and feel good way. The consent and encouragement that I was seeking from my seniors at work came to me from my clients, which perhaps made these 3 months slightly better. Looking back at my sojourn, I feel I met a few good people ( thank you law of karma ) and I became more aware of human nature. After all that transpired,Ii must remember- there are no regrets in life, only lessons .