THE ENGINEER WITHIN...

                    THE ENGINEER WITHIN...

       I've heard of the journey to becoming an engineer as a gruelling procedure. Bravery awards to those who clear it. Jokes on engineering and the IT sector are endless. [In fact everything falls prey to jokes]

               In my fourteen years of existence I have never given it a thought to engineering, as a career for myself! Not after watching 3 idiots, at least!

        No grudges; but just a personal choice of a not-so-science inclined person like me!  But then when I come across people, events, inventions and dreams I feel that surge to become an engineer.

         Everything that’s different fascinates me!!! I have to research on this if I’ve come across this!!! [Although, it may make me read about HOW TO BECOME A NEUROSURGEON in the US instead of the procedure in INDIA!]

         To go about and create all that mechanical stuff! Create machines. Design vehicles for a gigantic automobile company. Engineer aircrafts for NASA! Check for any faults in the machinery of a plane before it takes off. Be the one to build a road that I shall drive over on a daily basis. Be the techno-guy in my circle! To not call for a technician when something goes wrong. Be the mechanic for my own car. Be boring (sorry!). Be immersed and married with cars and machines and aircrafts.

     Continuously read never ending articles. BE in my formals all day long (two theories: first, I work all day long. Second, I cannot wear pyjamas to office).

I definitely am not so much inclined to become an engineer-civil, software, hardware, automobile, aeronautic- not my cup of screwdrivers! But then, I feel it has some ups.

        I'd not mind leading the team that is making a real working model of Iron Man inspired by Iron Man 7, maybe... (OK OK I'll include you in my team.)

         I wouldn't mind being in NASA all day long among intellectuals (not to imply there exist no intellectuals in the rest of this universe!), and being a part of important space ventures!

       Being an aeronautical engineer, I would be around the airport all day (and also nights if my boss hates me!) . Safety of the hundreds of passengers a day would be my responsibility.

      Mistakes are not ALRIGHT in this field of engineering…

      Being a civil engineer I'd be the one to try and develop our lovely, smooth Mumbai roads where we don't even receive a single pothole, do we?

      But it would definitely make my blood boil if anyone blesses my road with their...you know what I mean…

      If I'd become an automobile engineer it'd be just cars and me. I may be in a multi-national company- planning a new model of a car to be sold at a really low price or maybe format the exteriors of an SUV that is supposed to be rough and tough-suitable for harsh conditions.

 It would be fun driving a car made by me, myself!

Traveling in a plane that is what it is due to me!

            Anything in the field of IT will make me sit for hours on end on a laptop and running a piece of code over and over again. Teamwork is an integral part of this field. I can't sit in a single place for more than an hour. Even typing this blog requires me to keep moving. But at the same time my children shall play a game created by me! I shall run apps on my phone programmed by me!

         But before I become an engineer, (that is, if I do become one whenever in my dreams or whatever) I already have an engineer within me! In fact each one does.

              Remember, the other day the car's door just wouldn't close. You got in and fixed a loosened screw here and there and cleaned the edge of the door which had caused the problem. Then you gave it a good kick and voila! It closed. He was there with you then.

       Now go further down your memory lane. A month back your cell just stopped working. It was the first time you ever had one. How do you get this thing started! You pressed the power button for a long time. [Actually you pressed all the buttons for quite a long while.]And there it responded. You required no manual, no guide but just a bit of exploration, trial and error. He was there with you then.

      A bit earlier in your timeline…When you were a huge fan of films! (Not my concern if you weren’t!). remember,That week, when this one stupid Bollywood film released. You are such a movie buff you buy a Cd-a pirated one (you are smart enough to not waste a thousand over this stupid film-and sorry for violating the laws!!!). The CD just gets stuck at a point. You loathe the CD vendor. Then you curse yourself. Then you curse the hero for acting in a stupid film. Then is the director, then the producer.

      And after the cast and crew are devastated you feel, “It wasn't that bad a movie, that should make you miss the climax!”

        You try everything possible and after getting frustrated you bang your fist over the player. And then it screeches and the hero appears on your screen.

         No you didn’t disassemble the video player! You didn’t call the technician! You didn’t ask for a refund from the dealer! But you did get the crap started! By mistake; but you did!!!

He was there with you then.

        That was just the near past. Let's go back to your childhood. Tom and Jerry: your Favourite show. There comes a break. Annoying advertisements cause you to lose interest. Then it begins…

       You take the remote and begin opening it. First comes the cell. You wonder what is there inside this strange cylinder. Then, you let it go and let your pint-sized mind rest. Next, you try opening the remote with your baby screw driver. This screw driver isn't going to do much good because it is a mere plastic mechanics toy, gifted to you by your aunt. But your teeth definitely shall do.

         You nibble, and then bite; then with all the force that exists in this 10 year Old’s tiny mouth-to shatter the remote to pieces.              Fortunately for you, your mom is cooking lunch while you do this. [Don't worry you'll get a thrashing for this whenever she discovers!!!]

      But for the time being you explore this piece of unusual stuff.

 1] A small bulb (the sensor).

 2] A rubber plate carrying the numbers that dad uses to change the channels.

 3] A spring somewhere near the battery socket.

 4] A green rectangular board that looks somewhat like the most important part of the remote.

And now, I think you should get ready for your quota of slaps, mom's finished her Rotis. But, He was there with you then.

             That was when you were 10. Old enough to understand a bit of the internal structure of the remote!

         But a couple of years back you were a tiny little boy (I used to call a lion a cat when I was that age, so wouldn't definitely know what existed within my toy car.

So you had this little car and which you pulled back and then it would race forward. A couple of months later the six year old hulk within you rose and devastated the gift, Uncle Henry had gifted you on your sixth birthday.

And inside this miniature you thought of as the best racing car in your collection turned out to be much more...a rotating  turbine sort of thing that you thought of as the sharpest object in the universe. A stick that sticks at both sides of this mass destructive turbine!

Next you run your finger along it and with a whizzing sound and rapid motion it rotates.

 In all arenas of life there is an engineer among us. In fact there is not only an engineer but also a psychologist in the form of a friend. A teacher, in the form of an elder sibling! A scientist, while you dip your mug vertically, but upside down in a bucket and release it with a splash. A software engineer, while you type your first lines of code. An event manager, motivational speaker and chartered accountant as a parent! A doctor or healer when you hurt yourself and there's no one around. An actor during a conversation with a person you hate. I’d have missed some careers or inner driving forces so be free to share anything else that is always within us.

There's something of everything within us. It’s just what we are guided to or sometimes forced to do, that becomes our career. Some of us discover what is it, that gives us joy then it becomes a reason to live. There ain't no comparison. Ways of life cannot be compared because millions live by these, different modus operandi-as life has rendered its twists and turns. I am fascinated by a several number of careers....? No a number of HOW DO I WANT MY LIFE TO BE... I am yet to discover it. I am yet to implement it.

                                                              engineered by-

                                                                                     SHAHEN PARDIWALA