I remember a meeting I had with a well regarded member of my community who moves around in high society. He is the sort of person who could easily have found me some work simply by calling in a favor from one of his high society friends.
This was a social occasion in which many other people were present. So I didn’t have much interaction with him. In what little interaction there was he spoke to me patronisingly and gave me the impression that he knew of my struggles to earn and would help.
Actually it would have been difficult for him to not know about my attempts to earn. My job hunt in the early 1990s is legendary. News of that travelled around the world at the time ha ha.
But this is more than 30 years later. What struck was his patronising approach. I was not particularly looking for sympathy from him but he acted as if that was what I wanted. He must have known that I have been socially ostracised for long periods in my life and obviously that is quite unpleasant.
Basically I think this is a carrot and stick approach. People are controlled and made to behave in predictable ways through this approach. There is nothing wrong with this. Or rather there is something wrong as it is a method of coercion but it is necessary. Society would not function if people did not behave in predictable ways.
But this carrot and stick approach will not work with me. For this reason:
- I know how to deal with social ostracism and malice and the hurt feelings that arise. Buddhist mindfulness methods have been very helpful. In the last couple of years I have been taking an interest in Advaita Vedanta also which says that the ego is a fiction and I am not the ego. So I am learning to let go of the insults and malice that the ego is exposed to. Why should it concern me? I am not the ego so why should I care?
Now all this may be very admirable but I must caution any hot headed youngster reading this from following my example. A man cannot philosophize on an empty stomach and philosophers are also not supposed to marry. I have the freedom to do what I am doing because my family is supporting me and also because I am single. Career and family life and also social life is what I have sacrificed and you must decide if you are willing to do the same.
In my case I didn’t make a deliberate choice. I just did what I was told to do by the philosophy books I read. I also had psychological issues of course that resulted in eccentric behaviour. These issues have been dealt with.
Sometimes I miss what I have sacrificed very badly. But I tell myself that life would have been suffering even had I had a family and career. Also in any case, 30 years ago, I was in no position – psychologically – to have myself a successful career and family. I would almost certainly have been booted out of whatever jobs I had and would not have been able to meet the responsibilities of supporting a family.
Anyway that is just by the way. The points I want to make are that
- I am too independent to fit into the corporate world. In any case I am overage for a corporate career.
- If I am to be hired by corporates then it can only be as a consultant. I have some expertise in certain fields where I can competently give advice. I should stick to that.
- I have the CA qualification and can sign your balance sheet after getting the work done by a competent firm.
So these are some of the ways I can be of service and earn.
I am looking for paid consultancy work. If you wish to employ me please get in touch with me at nikhil dot gangoli at gmail dot com. Do not use the Comments of Contact Me forms.
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