A thinker among bankers

How many people do we come across who have the guts to go up to their manager within four months of landing in a job at a "coveted" investment bank and put in his papers?!? Guess not many.. But I recently met such a guy. A remarkable human being who happens to be a dear friend and one of the most self-possessed persons that I have ever come across... We meet people everyday and most of them share a common trait- a profound disliking for their job and a special pleasure derived from publicly discrediting their work-life (No offence but that's human mentality and yours truly falls within this club of ordinary human beings!)

Not to say that this friend of mine is divine or something, but he is a stand-up enthusiast with a zeal for life that is seldom seen in a generation that is involved in the frenzied race to an unknown goalpost that often escapes my understanding! I met him in a training room six months ago on the first day of my new job but I really took notice when a week later, in a team introduction lunch he happened to mention that his hobby was Formula 3! And I immediately thought "Hey, that's kind of idiosyncratic in a spectacular way!" but well, that was just the beginning!

We became great lunch-time buddies and I came to know that we share a common root- the city of Chennai and that somehow, for some inexplicable reason made me feel that I have known him long. A sports car racer for hobby and a thinker for profession, he exhibits a strong personality of a dynamite with the mischief in his eyes of a teenage boy.. His interests and ideology give a strange alacrity to his guise that is so compelling yet so charismatic!

We were a bunch of enthusiasts who discussed over every conversation that we wanted to make it big in life. And somehow, I have always thought that I knew where I was going with my life... But then the day he said that he was quitting to take up a job that was much more saner than this and involved usage of not just time, but brains as well, I took a pause and wondered whether I was chasing a dream that when realized would seem meaningless! I admired him when he said that he was leaving to do something that he liked but when I learnt that it was half the pay that he was currently earning, I had a new-found respect for this man who was an aberration in this money-minded generation. All of us crib about what we are missing out in life but here is a guy who has set out to make his destiny rather than accept it!

It may seem like giving a demi-god status to  a normal person but such courage needs appreciation and moreover, he was a wake-up call for me. He says everyday with a warm smile “Dude, quit this job! You are not meant for this!” And I smile silently, all the while knowing that he is right! He has made me question my 8-year long ambition and for that, he deserves this post :-)

And when he cut his farewell cake yesterday that fittingly said “freedom at last” (which were actually my words!) I knew I was going to miss the camaraderie of a great pal – a motivating, pragmatic and lucid thinker – who is a treasure to the people that have gotten to know him! I can’t thank him enough for that….

Hats-off to the gallantry act of deviation from what is the accepted norm of life!!!