Will You Take the Risk & Drop-Out?

An exploration not plenty of people undertake. Surrounded by what-ifs. This is my voice on why you should not conform to anything you are 'programmed' to. And make bolder decisions to Be Yourself.

How does a 17-year-old, adrift boy from Mumbai, a town which is notoriously known for its hustling and bustling life, go up to his parents and tell them, ‘Ah mom dad? I don't want to do college. I want to pave my path, by my decisions’. 

Scrawny, timid kid with an ardent love for the greatness of Steve Jobs. As soon as college ended, he joined the First Year of Infotech at Mumbai University. Already heavily under the influence of Steve, he found education, as it was taught, to be very imbecilic. 

Robots in the making, he felt in his bones, as every lecture would murder a part of his soul that screamt for sanity.

That kid had other ideas. He was not going to be a cog in the machine. He had abstract dreams for himself. He had autonomy brimming through the depths of his heart.

A major tenet of life. The more you fuck around, the more you find out.

It was relatively straightforward for him to persuade his mother, for she was the one with the heart of an angel. More than his father, it was mother who taught him to be risky, yet not dumb. ‘Go break things’, she said. ‘For when you die, I want you to have zero things holding you back before your last breath’. She was the spine from where the chakras of life opened up for him. Ever so gracious in supporting him when he had countless arguments with her daunting husband. 

Go break things’, she said. ‘For when you die, I want you to have zero things holding you back before your last breath’.

‘I wanna drop out, dad. What they’re teaching in college may be useful, but I cannot sit in a classroom, taking notes about things that do not light a bloody fire the size of the Amazon in my belly’, he sounded like a whispering feather. 

‘WHAT? WHAT DID YOU MUSTER?’, his father furious.

‘Yes, dad. I want to do my own!! I cannot take formality. I hate it. I just want to pick my own adventure’, he said, fuming back. 

His dad walked out. They both distanced themselves for a few weeks. He had already dropped out, going against the grain. Judgmental looks surrounded him. From his friends to his near family. ‘ARE YOU F***IN STUPID?’ was the common theme he noticed in everyone’s eyes.

‘ARE YOU F***IN STUPID?’

Imagine the tear it took on a boy’s fragile heart when he wasn’t even fully grown. His heart wept in agony. ‘Did I do the right thing? What is the world going to think about me? Am I a loser? What does the system even have there to offer me, so important?’ On the flip side, he had his independence surrounding him. Tough choices. 

Fast-forward a few years, father may not be okay with his decision of dropping out, but he finally seems to understand why his son did what he did. 

When he watches his son talk with other people, realizing, ‘When did my son have such depth of insight? Did he not drop out? Where is his formal education?’ Father never said this to him upfront, but the way his eyes light up when his son spoke with adults speaks way more than his words ever could. Numerous questions may be floating in his conscience, but eventually, they both got on the same book, if not the same page. 

Understand, understanding comes with time. Muster the courage to take a bet on your heart and follow it without questions. For it is your eternal duty to take care of your heart, and NEVER silence the voice that begs to be heard by you.

So my ask to you is. Drop-Out. Drop-out from the baggage of the past that carries you. A broken heart, a toxic job where you are disrespected at every turn, from friends that are only there because they want their purpose to be satisfied. Drop-out from the creators that suck you off your energy, who have no other job than to sell you soul-depriving garbage. Drop-out from degeneracy, where the choice of your skin color and gender matters more than your choice for family. 

What was common at first, has become so uncommon, perhaps it is all a cosmic joke. Laughing down at the pale-blue-dot that we are, from above. 

Are you courageous enough to drop out? From the status-quo. From the snoring comparisons you make with the twenty-filth Instagram influencer you find? 

Go off the beaten path where no one else has.

You won’t find others, but you will find yourself.

Here’s to the crazy ones. Steve played a major role in my journey from who to Aman. Here’s to him.