Alok Chaturvedi

Category: Essays

  • The Bright Side

    Daniel handler popularly know by his pen name Lemony Snicket, in his literary work describes two types of person, one an optimist and the other who is not an optimist, if an optimist had his one arm lost to a chain saw he might say, in a pleasant and hopeful voice, “Well, this isn’t too bad, at least nobody will ever ask me whether I am right-handed or left-handed,” but a non optimist would say something like “Aaaaah! My arm! My arm! ”
    The reaction of an optimist does sound impractical however this is me, I’m an optimist as per the description of Lemony Snicket and it is very logical to be an optimist since no one can alter what has already happened so only step going forward is to make best use of what is left with us. I’m a methodical person, I go where logic takes me.
    I was born and brought up in a village in Bihar, that lacked many cultural facilities. It’s true that that I could not get to learn any musical instrument or learn any sophisticated sport or read world class literature while growing up although because of the same background I turned out disciplined, strong as well as athletic and for the same reason I believe that I had a blessed childhood. As and when the opportunities arrived I made a good use of it. In college I learnt and mastered badminton. In Infosys I learnt to swim and to play tennis. I had read more than 60 books till now since I started reading somewhat close to the age of 15. There is no such thing as missed opportunity.
    Had I been doleful for what I did not have , I would not have appreciated what I got during the journey of my life. Even during my youth I missed a few and got a few. I failed to get a good college right after 10+2 yet I was happy because based on my ranks in exam I got almost free classes in 13th batch. In college I studied mining engineering but due to extreme lack of opportunity I moved to IT, now I feel that moving to IT sector was the best decision of my life. I feel that I meant to be in corporate, had I gone to mining , I would have felt that I was meant for mining. These outlooks are really a plus for me but the biggest advantage of my optimistic attitude is that wherever I go, I’m at home. Feeling of homesickness is something alien to me.
    Being an optimist and appreciating what one has may or may not directly contribute to success however it will definitely make one a biophile and a biophile is the luckiest person alive because for him life is a joy ride.

  • World of Free Riders

    After joining my 1st company few years back, I came face to face to a kind of social creation, I could not castigate despite being a bellicose person and knowing that they are EVIL, because of corporate behavior. Those were the people who wouldn’t stand in a queue – out of habit- rather go to the front and get coupon and by the time I get my food coupon, they are halfway through their meal and there repeated act would bother me. Dodging queue might be a widely spread and acceptable behavior, maybe, but again there are people who just buy a helmet and wait for a ride or ask for a lift from a car driver every single day. When I see these people waiting on the roadside, I look at them in supercilious attitude. In other example, there are people who download pirated movie, share streaming account illegally though they do not bother me; sometimes I’m one of them.
    Being agitated or being supercilious or being neutral were all part of me and not global until I came across an article arguing how suppression of dissent promotes FREE RIDING culture.

    Image: https://insideiim.com/the-free-rider-dilemma-at-b-schools/

    When I googled the term ‘free rider’ I came to know that the people who have been troubling me as well I too when I illegally watch a video are called free rider, a word first coined in the context of Economy and defined as individuals or groups who consume more than their fair share of public resources, or shoulder less than a fair share of the costs of its production.

    Economy says the reason behind someone becoming a free rider is the lack of resources which I believe is not entirely true , after all, rich people manage to get BPL cards and someone who can afford a helmet can also afford auto or bus fair. Hence psychology comes into the picture and states that free riding surfaces due to lack of ethical values and remorse as well as the inability to foresee the consequence of action.
    Economic consequences are significant, If a commodity or service is used in high volume, the profit to the owner is also high who in turns is motivated to augment the service or commodity thereby stopping the degradation however when the same is overused by free riders, the owner is not motivated to increase quality or quantity. The final result is, degradation of commodities or services.

    Coming back to the local problem of free riding; and to make my point I would narrate the gist of a story I read while growing up.

    “Once a kind, magnanimous Lord has a splendid and strong horse. A local robber wanted to steal this particular horse but he was afraid to confront the lord because the Lord was an adroit swordsman, so he devised a cunning plan and got dressed as a beggar and asked for lift from the lord when he was travelling alone on his magnificent horse. Being a kind person he got down and helped the robber get on the horse, the robber sensed the opportunity and started riding. The lord after realizing the scam said “Its alright take away my horse but don’t tell this incident to anyone, people will stop giving ride to the needy,they will stop believing a beggar.” “.
    Similarly when someone as a habit, start jumping the queue or taking free ride , a sick or a weak person fails to get favor in queue or get a ride even though he need it dearly .

    In conclusion, free riding is wrong, unethical, immoral and illegal, everyone including me should walk away from the culture of free riding.

  • The Actor

    How does he feel after a regular reciting of the script and still not getting a part? “You don’t fit into any of the characters”, “Your emotions don’t show off”, “Try to get in the zone” .
    I can hardly tell anything except “Maybe you are not meant for acting, you cannot pretend to be someone else”
    “Oh really, I’ve been pretending to be few someones my whole life and to think I cannot pretend and recite a handful of lines, it’s ridiculous” Replied my agitated friend. I was intrigued by his comment, “What does he mean by that?”. “How can he pretend to be someone, he is indeed someone?” “I’ve known him for years , his name is (lets say) K, He must have been K for his whole life. What is there to pretend”
    Baffled, I asked him, “I don’t understand? Do explain yourself.” “Well, I pretend to be a son, a grandson, a brother, a nephew and what not, even though family doesn’t appeal to me; I pretend to be a student even though I do not care for studies or a degree; I pretend to be friend even though I feel trapped in the company of people. I play role in every aspect of my life, I act so that I will fit in, I pretend so that I will be included and I’ve become excellent at this and this is the reason why I feel frustrated when do not get a part in the plays.” K replied.
    I almost laughed at his answer, “What a hypocrite!” I thought. “Well if you dislike everything then why do you keep doing it? You do have an option to forfeit the game.” I asked.
    “Hear me out, when a story has multiple characters and multiple context, the story becomes complicated and interesting, no one will like a story with a single character, I don’t want my story to be boring so to keep my story interesting, I’ll act till I die.” He replied.

  • The Journey Begins

    Thanks for joining me!

    Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton

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