While I was sitting by my balcony watching the sky and
scratching my head, praying to the invisible power to throw a hot blog topic at
me, my cell phone rang. I almost ignored it as I was doing something important
that I don’t usually do. Yes, you got it. I was thinking. But, then again I
thought of answering the phone. It might be something urgent. You bet it was.
An HR executive of some Kolkata based IT company called me. She had a job to
offer. It was the last thing I expected. I don’t usually get calls from HR’s as
I don’t update my resume frequently. Linkedin does the job for me, usually.
I almost said – I am not interested. But I didn’t. Had I
done it, I wouldn’t have been writing this post today. So, something in her
voice stopped me from disconnecting the call. Something told me this could get
interesting. So, I patiently behaved. Those who know me, know how difficult it
is for me to behave. But, anyways…
So, this HR, she asked whether I was free to talk or not. I was
not. But, I didn’t tell her that. It would have sounded weird disconnecting
someone’s call saying – buzz off I am thinking. Lol. I patiently said - I was
free to talk to her.
She asked me about my employment history like they all do.
Then she came around to ask me about my qualification. I knew the question
would arise. My resume doesn’t have any mention of my qualification. It is as
if you are looking at the resume of a person who never went to school. Well, I
don’t need my qualification to get the attention of the recruiting executives.
I get plenty of attention without any mention of educational history. This is
not my arrogance doing the talking. It is the truth. I simply don’t need to
talk about my qualification. What’s there in a degree anyways?
I answered with patience and not for once used a word of
slang. I am so fucking proud of myself. Yes, I am grinning here. My answers
didn’t satisfy her. She wanted to dig deeper. She wanted to know about my
percentage in each board exam. I admit here my voice did get sarcastic and I
almost disconnected the call. But, I controlled myself and gave the
unimpressive history of my exams and percentage.
She couldn’t believe that I never risen above forty percent
in my entire life. After the uneventful conversation, she said she would call
me back once the content department’s head gave a go. Frankly, I was thrilled
that she did not call back. But, the conversation gave me an idea. I did some
quick research and found that…
Harper Lee – The Pulitzer
winner had dropped out of college. She wanted to become a writer. The rest is
well…I can safely history.
William Faulkner – Well, he hardly needs any
introduction. At the age of 15 he dropped out of school and never went back.
Mark Twain – The greatest storyteller of
earth had dropped out of school at the age of 12. He had never let his
schooling interfere with his education.
George Bernard Shaw – This playwright dropped
out at the age of 14. It is said that he found no value in formal education.
H.G. Wells – Wells was forced to drop out of
school at the age of 11.
Jack London – Jack London was through with
formal education at the age of 13 and dropped out of school.
John Steinbeck – Dropped out of college and
did not get his degree.
You see degree is
just a piece of paper. How much you have scored in your exam means nothing
after college. Writing needs a heart that can imagine. High percentage hardly
makes a writer out of anyone.
It is not only about writing. I will write a post about
entrepreneurs who dropped out of college next time. You think Bill Gates is the
only one who dropped out? You will be surprised to learn there are many more
than just Mr. Gates.
