Whoever came up with the absurd notion that being the jack
of all trades and the master of none is necessary a bad thing was, well, wrong.
It is almost like telling someone that given you enjoy milk chocolate, you
should definitely stick to milk chocolate and not try that strange chilly
flavoured one. Or something along those lines. I’ll have all the chilly and
curry flavoured chocolate as I please, thank you very much!
Are you one of those people blessed with an angelic serenading
voice that can drive Lea Michelle crazy? Are you capable of doing a full
mid-air split? Or are you one of those who play professional football while
they take a break from the theatre group that they rehearse with when they find
time off B-Boying or skateboarding or playing the Cello in the middle of their
drawing studio? If you are, and I honestly mean no offence, you are easily
responsible for my latest near-quarter life crisis.
You see I am a student of architecture who can sketch just
about well enough to scrape by, dance quite decently enough, write a few lines
when in the right mood, sing better than Celine Dion in the shower and cook a
pretty neat Omelette under the right circumstances. Can I ever aspire to
produce anything remotely brilliant on canvas? Nope. Can I do a mid-air split?
Nope. Can I ever dream of creating something like Harry Potter? *Laughs at
self.* Nope. Hell, I sound like a dying
walrus outside the shower and, left unsupervised, I will positively set your
kitchen on fire. Winning Gordon Ramsey’s heart is a pretty long shot.
But hey the thing about being exemplary at one thing? The
pressure to remain so. And people talk of you using words like ‘exemplary’ and
‘fantabulous’ because ‘fantastic’ or ‘fabulous’ cannot begin to describe how
GOOD you are. The perks of being ‘ok’ at a lot of things? One. Nobody really
expects a lot from you and that being so, you are allowed to screw up once in a
while. Two. Nobody notices if you do screw up because they are all watching
that kid who is exemplary at his stuff. Three. Despite the fact that you could
potentially screw up, you get to test the waters everywhere anyway because face
it, you’re not that bad either and they could always use you. Which is why I
have a blog that not too many people pay much attention to but my content is
still out there. I am not criticised half as bad about what I write as, say,
Arundhati Roy or Shobhaa De. (Not that I imply I am anywhere in the same
league). Also I’m allowed to write for the college magazine. I am part of the official
college dance crew, forever positioned in the right corner, second line from
front. And my mom lets me cook as long as it is just an Omelette.
Point is I thought a lot about it under the covers with the
lights off and everything after watching the latest SYTYCD auditions where 18
year olds do all the things I had aspired to be able to do when I was 18. I am
almost 21 now and I’m not even close. But I digress. Point is, it is perfectly
okay, I guess, to not be exemplary at anything. The important thing is to be
able to be open enough to try everything out! And being ‘acceptable’ at a lot
of thing leaves you a lot of room to take a bite of every cake with minimum
possible disappointment. Plus nobody pays you a lot of attention anyway so even
if you fall flat on your behind on stage you can simply dust yourself and join
in again like nothing ever happened! Does not work with being in the centre of
attention. And you only get to be the centre of attention if you’re truly
exemplary at stuff. ‘Exemplary’. What a funny word.
I feel better already!
