How not to become an Entrepreneur

I was very good in my studies till Class X. I was only into books. I never watched movies, enjoyed the little music someone else was listening to and rarely ventured out of my locality. But when I reached my higher secondary level , I changed. I started watching movies dedicatedly, travelled aimlessly and almost stopped studying. It was also the time when I had to decide on my career. In my earlier avatar I could not even draw a straight line and now I was sketching pictures. I went very much into art, music and cinema. And I decided to be an architect. When I passed my higher secondary my mother objected to this idea and my father followed. My mother, a government servant, wanted me to study Civil Engineering and take up a government job. In her view, architecture is only for students whose parents are rich and can afford to start a private firm for their children. This idea was impressed upon her by her office colleagues and that meant the information was sacred. On one hand there was continuous pressure that this profession is unyielding and on the other my parents did not allow me to take the entrance exams for architecture. I was afraid and I yielded.

I yielded and did my Bachelors in Civil Engineering, spending more time in the hostel than in the class. But hostel life, away from your parents, was refreshing. I fought with my seniors, later befriended them, travelled with my friends, took part in all sorts of extra-curricular activities, managed college events and in short enjoyed my life to the full. With the college life tapering towards the end, a few of us realized that we had to do something different. We zeroed in on the idea of brand management. We started talking to people, convinced a few to engage us and were on our way to a "startup". But there was fear in us, the fear of uncertainty, the fear of everyone around us earning a handsome salary through their jobs and the fear of our parents. College ended, we ended up in our individual houses and our enterprise died a premature death.

I started my Master's, this time in a subject of my choice, and postponed my plans for the future. This time my college was close to my home and I missed the opportunity of staying in at a hostel. But nevertheless, I kept on planning for my business venture and even managed to save some money from my scholarship. But alas! Tomorrow is the last day of my post graduation and my mother has again started asking me to fill up forms for government jobs, or our family has to starve, she says.

This time I might again oblige her and dream never to become an entrepreneur or travel the world with a backpack for company.