Imperfecto Reaches an Empty Destination

After what seemed to be an aimless exercise, Imperfecto's tired and pretty much defeated eyes, spotted a huge signboard on a posh looking gate. The signboard of 'Vedic Towers' was partially covered by a loosely tied white cloth banner which had words 'Thinking Career Fair' screaming at passersby. Imperfecto's joy knew no bounds. He quickly crossed the road towards the tall buildings on the other side. Vedic Towers would easily touch the sky, thought Imperfecto, as he looked up at the glass façade of the imposing structure in the fading daylight.

 

He made an entry in the register of visitors at the entrance of the building and joined the short queue for the security check just below the banner. The security guard was merely ticking the checkbox by a half-hearted top body scan with a beeping detector. He seemed exhausted performing the same activity since morning, but who cared? All the visitors wanted was a quick passage and he didn’t do a deep dive.

 

Imperfecto walked in through the reception area looking for further signs. There were numerous people walking about and chatting to themselves rather loudly. He spotted some students at one corner, easily identifiable by the books in hand and backpack on shoulders. There seemed to be an enquiry desk at the centre of the area, behind which a young woman was working on a desktop. Imperfecto continued to look for favourable signs and after a few minutes was able to spot one. 'Thinking Career Fair' was listed in a computer screen below the words 'Signature Ballroom'. Beside that, a wooden signboard had 5 listings, the first of which read 'Signature Ballroom – First Floor'. Imperfecto took the cue and walked up the wide marble stairs to his right.

The Signature Ballroom was located a little ahead on the first floor and Imperfecto pushed its door rather timidly, expecting a large crowd of students to stare at his untimely entry. On the contrary what greeted him was a huge room with temporary kiosks and makeshift stalls. There were some people here and there but largely it was empty. In fact, some of the stuff was being removed by workers. Imperfecto hurriedly walked around the hall amidst the din of dismantling and identified the organisor's kiosk, where a young guy in a white T-shirt was sifting through some papers. He didn’t notice Imperfecto, who waited for the guy to look up. After a few minutes, 'E…e..xc..ee…' could be heard and the guy looked up with a start!

 

'Yes?' he asked politely.

 

'I came for the career fair,' mumbled Imperfecto.

'This is the career fair.'

 

'Yes, but there does not seem to be anyone.'

 

'The time was 9 to 6, can't expect everyone to wait for your entry.'

'Is it all over, already?'

'No, it will be over when the workers clear the material and clean up the room.'

'Ok. I guess I am late.'

 

'No, you're early….for the next event.'

This was exasperating, but Imperfecto was unmoved.

'Is there something that can be done?' he persisted.

'Like what?'

'Anyone that I could speak to?'

'Regarding?'

'The next steps'

'Well, the next step would be to look out for our next event.'

'I am sure I realise that, but there were some sessions here which I missed. Will these sessions take place at some other event?'

'Well, that you need to figure out. What I can do is to give you this booklet which has details of all the sessions held today.'

 

'Oh great! Thank you.' Imperfecto took the booklet, which had colourful pages and stood aside. He opened it and began leafing through the pages, oblivious of the hullabaloo around.

'Hey, can I give you this?' the young guy nudged Imperfecto. Startled, Imperfecto felt a sheet of paper shoved in his hand.

'What's this?' he inquired.

'I was clearing the papers and spotted this sheet which has brief details of each speaker who conducted the sessions. Since you were interested in the sessions, I thought this may be helpful, in case you wanted to get in touch with any of them.'

 

'That is very thoughtful of you. Thank you once again.' This time Imperfecto extended his right arm and shook hands with the young guy. He was grateful that there was someone who had offered help.

While scanning the booklet, he had noticed that there had been a career counselling session. He picked up the paper and was able to figure out the career counsellor's details. It spoke highly of her achievements being 30 years in the education profession with extensive experience in shaping careers. At the end of the note, her contact address was mentioned. Imperfecto looked for the young guy to see if any further information could be gathered, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Imperfecto stared at the counselor's address and instinctively decided to take his chance.

Very often we are up against odds in our lives. Adverse situations make us feel lost and helpless. We keep wishing that these would go away on their own. The pessimist in us pushes us to spend (read 'waste') time in going back on how and why we got ourselves in these circumstances. This analyzing activity, which initially helps to understand where we went wrong, leads to regret when done repeatedly and encourages negativity to breed inside us. It also sucks up precious time which could have been spent to arrive at solutions. The most effective way to pull out of unfavourable situations is to proactively look for ways to move forward. Remember, the inspirational saying 'It is darkest before dawn'. 

 

 

to be continued...