“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes; the ones who see things differently." They're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things. They push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, I see genius, because the people who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.” That was Steve Jobs in his Think Different campaign, back in 1997 talking about us, yes us- the renegades.
They say engineering is as creative as any other field out there, and historically that may have been true. Science wasn’t always just a mix of chemicals to obtain some answers. It was different, revolutionary, forward thinking and very creative to say the least. Instances from the renaissance era of Western Europe point to a very different perception of science and art from what we have today. Even much closer home in India, literary exemplars were found in plenty, all throughout the most difficult times our country has ever had to go through. Poetry and art were the first and foremost way of expressing oneself during the freedom struggle. So, what changed in the decades that followed? What shifted so drastically that art could not survive the burdens of societal pressure?
Perhaps, it was the ever growing demand of a workforce in a broken economy that killed all those would have been literary masterpieces. Maybe there was no time for art at all. We might never be able to look these questions in the eye and come up with any logical reasoning. What is truly confusing is as to why things haven’t changed, even though they should have a long time ago, instead they have just gotten worse.
The fact is, engineering is very different in India for many of us, you feel out of place from the very first day. There’s almost a disjointed feeling that we are not able to put in words but it’s there and we know it. It’s everywhere we look, everywhere we go and in every person that we talk to. I don’t intend to write against the profession or the people who genuinely are passionate about it but to provide context, some words need to be spoken.
From the day you enter to the day you leave, it’s a rat race, for the best placements, for the best grades, for the best offers. It’s hardly a place for creativity or for those who want to live creatively. That said I do know one thing and that is engineering and art does coexist, just not in the way we imagine. Things can work out and have for many people. The only thing is that it’s not exactly easy, to stay active artistically while you’re devoting time to another stream.
You see, as time goes on in engineering, your creativity starts to whither.
As days weave into years, in the daily cycle of things the art gets absorbed whole heartedly. If not the pressure, the parents or the people, the one thing that will certainly put an end to your creative aspirations is yourself. Because for a multitude of reasons that make us human we feel it’s just better to get along and do what is asked of us with absurd questions flooding our mind, asking if it is even worth it. It’s what an engineering college does best, makes you question yourself.
I started out in engineering thinking, as we are all led to believe- that it’s a fool proof system which will one fine day help you survive. Not once were there discussions as to how to keep your creativity alive. It’s where I have always faltered, how to keep both halves of myself alive. Barack Obama in his book “dreams from my father” expresses his feeling of not belonging anywhere and while this is a rather gross oversimplification of his work, my interpretation of it finds myself in a similar spot. It’s difficult at times for me to show appreciation for the various ways of engineering but I also find connecting with people solely based on their artistic means quite unnerving. It’s as if I’m sort of stuck in a limbo, between two worlds. What I have come to realize is, the answer to these things are not as linear. There is no one do all be all solution out there. It’s a complex situation no doubt, it would have been far easier to pick one side and stick with
and no doubt about that as well.
The question that stands though is whether it matters to think about these trivial solutions where an arguably harder but better solution is staring right at your face.
You see, there’s a fine difference between us and those who have had the opportunity to explore their art and creativity freely. We have fought tenaciously, every day for years on end to keep these parts of ourselves alive, these halves of ourselves which complete us. A fight we picked up the day we got up and challenged the status quo. So we got to battle it out, starting with one thing and that is to allow ourselves to be creative.
People out there want you to believe that a balance is not possible, it’s at least what I wanted you to believe when I first started writing this. I’m here telling you now otherwise, there’s no need to drop out to follow your passion or even give up your creative aspirations to be more successful, a balance is achievable. It’s not all about just choosing one over the other, it doesn’t have to be. A mid ground where both halves of ourselves appear unscathed, and is free of financial ideas of success does exist.
"You only have to believe that the life you want is possible and you have to want it to chase after it.”
~ @ronwritings
What is balance though? Just going to class and later sitting in a club sounds about as balanced as it gets, right? No, I mean the smaller things, much smaller. Submit that assignment you’ve been working on but add a bit of flair to it as well, change the font maybe? Or write a literary master piece on hot metal forging, the world is truly your oyster (Please don’t kill me if a professor deducts marks for your extravagant English, I come in peace).
Want to write notes? Make it artistic, write it in hot pink calligraphy instead. Exercise that creative half of your brain and balance will come find you. I’ll be honest these things are truly unattested for and may seem a bit vague but they make so much sense, it’s like a neat puzzle where all pieces find themselves in their place only when we allow ourselves to be creative. It’s how we inspire ourselves and in turn those lives that we touch as well. It’s probably only the tip of the iceberg, and there so many layers to peel at it but its somewhere to start with. A solid foundation if only, a foundation to build our lives on.
I guess there’s only one question left to ask, "are you ready to take on the challenge of being the artistic engineer you set out to be?"
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