The Complete Man?

"Whatever their future, at the dawn of their lives, men seek a noble vision of man's nature and of life's potential." – The Fountainhead

Nah, this is obviously not about the Raymond’s ad or discussing the finer points of Fountainhead. This is about my drive for the pursuit of perfection(?, or is it striving to lead a fuller, comprehensive life, whatever that is supposed to mean), for as long as I can remember.

When I was a kid, a very deep sense of right and wrong were drilled into my gullible mind. I was told to follow an existing code of conduct, by following which I was to have achieved perfect manhood (or adulthood or whatever) one day.
It was all pretty straightforward, until the notion of ‘perfection’ started encompassing more and more prerequisites. E.g. What was an early liking to Tintins and Enid Blytons, soon graduated to Grishams and Sheldons and now Lapierres, was NOT considered at that time to be a manly (or boyish) pursuit, at least by my granny. “Why don’t you stop reading this trash and go out and play with the other boys?”, she would often remark. Anyways, like most Indian boys, I too tried my hands at the only game that drives this nation crazy, and soon realized that I was not to be the next Kapil Dev. (He was the icon from my city Chandigarh in the early 90’s)
And so I started hunting for alternate areas for achievement, and soon joined Karate classes. By the time I’d cleared the White and Orange levels, I didn’t see myself following Jackie Chan’s footsteps either. The same fate awaited Swimming, Horse Riding, BallRoom dancing, Roller Skating, Sketching and God knows what not. I was wild with the passion to discover my hidden talent(If there was ever any). Yet I was just glad that I was experimenting with anything and everything under the sun.
A proper masculine physique had always held a special place in the typical North Indian male mindset ( especially so in my case since my dad happened to have won quite a few Bodybuilding championships in his college days), so whenever his friends would visit, I would always be grilled on when would I start flexing my muscles. So as soon as I reached the 11th standard, I started hitting the gym regularly, shuttling it with my coaching classes. And Yessir, I did manage to pump them up, Sallu style, though when I flunked my Math exam during the mid-terms that year, I was forced to renounce my ‘Schwarzeneggerism’ and start hitting some books instead.

The last and the most enticing bug that bit me during that period was that of modeling. Oh Cmon now, how many of you have not, at one point or another, stood in front of the mirror and wondered if you were the next Brad Pitt(Lol, or Angelina Jolie!), so stop giggling. Anyways I’m digressing. So this real fast buddy of mine who happened to be a cool dude as well as the son of a hotshot IGP, claimed to have some amazing contacts with the who’s who of Bombay’s Glam industry. So one fine day (12th Standard) he tells me he’s going to Bombay for 15 days to get his portfolio done and circulated to his contacts and modeling agencies, and I was invited to come along. When I asked my folks I was simply told that there would be thousands like me already struggling there, and anyways I was not to miss precious days of my coaching classes (entrance exams were drawing near). Now this point struck a note with me( I wasn’t too confident with my dusky looks anyways) and so I somewhat reluctantly agreed. That friend of mine went on to get shortlisted for the final 7 in Grasim Mr. India next year! (Though I have to admit he was a REAL hunk).

So am I disappointed at ending up as yet another engineer in this ocean of techies? Hell No, this is my bread and butter at least for now.

The quest for a fuller life has definitely slowed down now, though not extinct. There are still many things I feel I have to experience before I either burn out or become too occupied – learning French, the Tango, Bungee jumping, biking to Ladakh, Scuba diving, just to name a few.

And the Million Dollar question – Do I feel like a ‘Complete’ Man yet?
To tell you the truth – I couldn’t care less.


Jack of all trades, Master of none?
- A Master can be boring, at least I’m having some fun.
;-)