LXI. Maybe the World Should Stay in Place -

Maybe the world should stay in place so that it is no longer the treadmill under my feet, endlessly provoking my knees to buckle and my legs to give way underneath me.

I am sure that not all of us want to be global citizens; I have been unlucky enough to have met a few. A great deal of us, including myself, want to be that citizen of everywhere.

As we all grow older we realize the need to make, and inherently earn, money. Our needs become greater and our desires as well.

I think that needs and desires go hand-in-hand. Building a wardrobe brings with it the ability to be creative, confident, and noticed. A wardrobe is one foundational stone on the career path. Technology will keep you current. Skills for saving a file and burning a CD will become second-nature, another foundational stone on the career path. The career path can endlessly extend so long as you extend yourself.

I believe this to be true.

I want a job. I have never had one. I want to put money into the bank and not be not-so-quietly compared to cousins or family friends who have also recently graduated but have an income - thank you business majors.

I do not have a steady schedule. No one will hire someone for a month and a half. I do not know what my schedule will be come September because I am waiting on responses to places that I have applied to. I need to develop skills and learn from those who have established themselves in their respective disciplines, which is why I have applied to said places.

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Do not worry about getting paid Reshmi.

I’m not! I am so appreciative of the experience- you know that. I just feel like I should contribute-

RESHMI - stop. You will make money in the future. Just concentrate on your education. Everything will come in time.

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I’m sorry again Reshmi. I just started my own lab so we don’t have the funds to pay.

It’s more than ok. I never e-mailed you with intention of being paid. I just want the experience.

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Really?

I actually have just been directly compared to someone who has not graduated yet, is not a business major, has worked while attending a school that accepts so long as there are seats left in the classroom, and who lives at home.

I’m speechless. Did you forget that comparison refers to similarities? We have nothing in common. What the… I didn’t have a comeback in time- crap.

Mother, I know we are arguing, (yet again), but unfortunately I still believe you do not comprehend the life of someone who has fully immersed herself in academia.

You still do not understand that sacrifices will reap an infinite amount of opportunity and growth.

You still do not understand that even after all these years of application-writing, sleepless nights, and living on a diet according to a pyramid that should be endorsed by Starbucks if not for the possibility of being sued by the FDA, that I want something else.

I want something more.

Practicality may or may not have been disregarded, neglected, and maybe disowned. I do not know.

What I do know is this memory: I was about to go to college. Since my brother was already in college and had straight A’s, it made, (I’m sure), some sense to apply his way of life to myself.

You don’t have time for work-study. Just concentrate on your work.

That is what I did, as any good daughter would, heeding the words of her older brother.

Don’t worry about money. Use the card whenever you want. Do not buy the Used books to save money. I mean it Reshmi.

I bought the Used books when I could, as I would do any time, whether or not someone advises against doing so.

If I were a billionaire, I would still buy the used books, but I would probably take the opportunity and splurge on Tory Burch shoes and a Marc Jacobs handbag.

I would if I could and so this is what I do not understand:

The following excerpts are from the June 2012 issue of Vanity Fair.

“Antilla [name of the house], the recently erected 27-story, 400,000-square-foot Xanadu in Mumbai that Nita Ambani shares with her three children and Mukesh [her husband], 54, who is worth $22.3 billion…”

“Nita Ambani, a lovely 49-year-old brunette, measures her words carefully: ‘This is the first time I am talking about my home,’ she says exhaling. 'There have been exaggerated reports in the media about it, I must say.’”

Exaggerated? You’re blaming the media?

I don’t know if you realized this or not but…. your house has a name.

Houses do not have names and  I am from the same culture so that is no excuse. Indians usually do not name their houses.

You know what has names?, hotels and mausoleums, like the Taj Mahal.

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Money makes the world go’ round?

I think yes. 

Is that practical?

I think yes -