Sunday, November 13, 2005

The Path We All Tread Upon

People like to think they are in control of their destinies. The truth is, by the time most youngsters realise they can actually steer their lives in the direction they want, they've already been cannonballed high into the sky with a predetermined angle by their parents or guardians. They can only choose how the parabola will look like, and where they will crash.

There is a template for the typical Mauritian middle-class born boy/girl:

1. Education
1.1 Primary School
1.2 Secondary School
1.3 University
2. Job & Life
2.1 Get a job
2.2 Get married
2.3 Live in another house with wife
2.4 Buy a car
3. Kids
3.1 Have a kid
3.2 Start worrying about income
3.3 Set template for kid's future
et cetera, et cetera...

Some middle-class born people might not have lived their lives exactly like that, but the main ingredients are here. It's neither a right path, nor a wrong path. Come to think of it, nothing is really right or wrong in this world, but that's another story.

This path has been proven to be relatively "safe" (i.e. minimum struggle) and socially acceptable. There are some slightly different paths that you can follow, e.g. moving to another country, but those paths are known to be less safe but with possible greater rewards at the end.

Whatever your social background, there's already been a template readied for you. The princess isn't expected to marry the poet, and the son of the butcher isn't expected to become a ballet dancer. Are we really who we should be, or are we simply following our templates? Note that the only reward at the end of the template would be an epitaph which would read - "Had a nice life, followed the template properly."

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