Saturday, November 5, 2011

Be sad and rich or be happy and footloose?

The things people do and seek out, try out.. all the sake for that very elusive drug called happiness. Really, in the end, when you're asked, "why do you study?"
-"to get a job."
"why do you need a job?"
-"to earn money and fend for myself, stand up on my own feet."
"and after that, what?"

Well what follows is that either you haven't planned that far out into the future, and you're not that into philosophy and the baggage it comes with.

I was just doing a bit of introspection [which really means lotsa thinking when you're bored with nothing better to do, really!] and how I'm faring- now that I'm settled down as a trainee/intern/whateveryouwannacallem- and very happy too-- but with the meagre stipend only. And since I'm lucky enough not to be worried about matters of more gravity like having to substantially provide for family etc, I have the freedom to live off on my own.

And I wondered.

If I were offered a well-paid job as guest lecturer at my former college under that very scary boss. Would I pick that up stat? Or would I rather live light-hearted on a measly stipend off on my own?

Funnily enough, as much as I'd like all the extra moolah I could possibly earn- I would choose the second option. I get the experience of working under one of the awesomest, known-across-library scenario-in the world, nicest boss/Chief at one of the awesomest campus around India. Hey, it's not every day you get to work for a whole year at a campus that resembles a hill station dammit!

YOU check the previous post and THEN you check out the campus I'm at. AND you decide.




Happiness? Or money?




4 comments:

Angie said...

That is seriously a supercool place to work ... Gud choice!!!

The Wanderer said...

My answer would be - and I hate it when people say this to me, but this is the truth - It depends.

If your family doesn't need the money - if you can live by what you are getting, do what makes you happy.

Think from a long term perspective - does this place offer you a platform that will help you be someone you want to be 5-7 years down the line?

Does it help you think, does it help you grow?

Read this somewhere: Work is the bride, money is the mother-in-law. Whaen you marry you get the mother-in-law as a package but you do not marry because of teh mother-in-law ;)

Ultimately, your work will make you happy every day, salary is just something that will make you happy on the 1st of the month.

Having said that - if money is very very important in you current situation - go after it :)

Azra Raphael said...

@angie-gee, yeah!
@wanderer- hey, u dont have to hate urself for saying that money is important. damn me if i dont know tat already. but considering that my ex-dept head has already twisted things around so i'm not gonna get a posting there, plus my own reluctance to go back there- here i am, yet happy!

and to be really honest, i'd rather marry for a guy with a secure job than a freewheeling hippie too. (even if life myt be 10000x more boring). we need the dough to survive!

Bluebutterfly said...

Oh My God.. that is like a hill station.
hmpff.. I understand your choice.

Depends on where you are in your life, currently you are in that kind of state that you can love this.
who knows about future ?