r2i forum

Once the British mountaineer George Mallory was asked "why do you want to climb mount everest" in a full press meeting he replied " because its there". He later died during the expedition but it reminds me

is such simple bloody minded attitude the single most important driver to R2I? or is it a carefully analysed decision that needs numerous check boxes like, citizenship,how much is enough, my mother in law is a witch( not that I know it but since Tina Mina blog says so), do you get oreo cookies in india......?

To me such a simplified theory works well, what it does is it simplifies the challenge, brings out the survival instinct, changes the plane of the problem, and tells me that this is the new framework which I have to find the solutions.

So why R2I...well "because its there"

Shoot away your responses, from time to time I ll give examples from my life where I went wrong or right.....and lets keep it a no holds barred externalisation of the R2I dilemma.

RK

Left alone, every human long to go back home. That nostalgia of familiar faces and places, is hardcoded in a deep subconscious of our brains. That eternal question of "what if I had never left home?" is another one that bugs forever.

What would I be doing today, had I never left home? Would I still have my school friends? Would my school teachers still recognize me? How are my neighbors doing? What do my parents talk about every morning and evening? Does my mother still grind masala on that stone slab when electricity goes out? Does my dad still honk on that blind street corner to ensure safety? Is that chair in the veranda still in that same location? What about that pair of cats in the neighborhood?

Its millions of questions like this that keep the desire burning. Every now and then, when someone close passes away, an extra tear rolls out, and through the watery eyes you can just see the shadows of those whom are left behind! I shall go back home one day.

sid_earth;422750I shall go back home one day.

Only it has to be timed right. It should not happen that you go back and nothing worth remembering is left anymore. You go back to new places...to new surrounding and if that is the case..stay put where you are as Stay in India is not worth if the love ones are not there to hug you....pat you, move their wrinkled ridden hand on your face...

sid_earth;422750
What would I be doing today, had I never left home? Would I still have my school friends? Would my school teachers still recognize me? How are my neighbors doing? What do my parents talk about every morning and evening? Does my mother still grind masala on that stone slab when electricity goes out? Does my dad still honk on that blind street corner to ensure safety? Is that chair in the veranda still in that same location? What about that pair of cats in the neighborhood?
.

very nice, very nostalgic. start a diary soon. :)

RK

Deleteu

rajradio;422746Once the British mountaineer George Mallory was asked "why do you want to climb mount everest" in a full press meeting he replied " because its there". He later died during the expedition but it reminds me

is such simple bloody minded attitude the single most important driver to R2I? or is it a carefully analysed decision that needs numerous check boxes like, citizenship,how much is enough, my mother in law is a witch( not that I know it but since Tina Mina blog says so), do you get oreo cookies in india......?

To me such a simplified theory works well, what it does is it simplifies the challenge, brings out the survival instinct, changes the plane of the problem, and tells me that this is the new framework which I have to find the solutions.

So why R2I...well "because its there"

Shoot away your responses, from time to time I ll give examples from my life where I went wrong or right.....and lets keep it a no holds barred externalisation of the R2I dilemma.

RK

Nice post. Will narrate a incident from this morning.

Had a breakfast meeting with the Chairman of a department in Beijing's national university - Dr.FH - am hosting him at my university for Grand rounds and an exchange of research ideas etc. Incidentally the type of stuff China is putting out in terms of original research, funding and infrastructure - leads me to believe that the US position as the undisputed center of intellectual gravity in the world may start to wobble a bit at the very least.
Turn the clock back to over a decade - FH and yours truly were completing our training at the mecca of our specialty together. We bonded very well professionally and personally - and I r2i and he r2C right after training.

So naturally this morning amongst a lot of catchup things I asked him about life in China. He told me candidly that China is one nation - probably in his reckoning the only nation - where a doctors wages is below the average for the nation and he named me a list of occupations that make more than what a doctor is paid in China's tightly federal controlled system. Not only that attacks on doctors by angry patients are on the rise - an Oncologist at his hospital got stabbed to death by a angry relative a few months ago....etc etc....essentially the picture of a r2i doc were he to go work for a goverment medical school like AIIMS or worse.

This guy is super brilliant, Board certified, his wife has a PhD from the same University, and between them they could be pulling in a 500K plus income in the US, have their 10 yr old son go to the best schools, - basically live the "American Dream". I asked him point blank - does this thought never occur to him.

He genuinely looked surprised and smiled. And in his heavily accented Chinese English asked me "when my femilee my father and mother and brothers stay in China....why I go stay somewhere else far away?" That was it. He had nothing to add. I couldnt believe I did neither!

In his thought process he had broken down this entire issue of r2c into one unidimensional dichotomous variable. Family/No family. r2c/lia. To me the elegance and depth of this simplistic yet sagacious thought structure was amazing....

rajradio;422746Once the British mountaineer George Mallory was asked "why do you want to climb mount everest" in a full press meeting he replied " because its there".

Good one :)

If one likes Vanilla they buy Vanilla, if one likes Chocolate they buy chocolate. If one likes both Vanilla and Chocolate, they may go for Marble. But if one is not sure what one wants, looks like a real problem :) .

Like George Mallory, if risking one's own life, there is nothing wrong with being adventurous and saying "because it's there". R2I planning, selling stuff, getting a job, buying one way tickets, closing bank accounts are the easiest tasks, somewhat like getting up to the base camp of mount everest at 17000 ft. Buying one way tickets and sitting in the plane is just the calm before the storm. Once you are there, the roller coaster starts, you have to conquer the next 4 camps to get up to 29035 feet. There will be literally ups and down, emotional struggles. In this process not only you, your entire team i.e. family must be successful. If even one runs out of oxygen tanks or gets frost bite, the entire team has to return back to the base camp. Most people cannot summit because they underestimate at least one of several parameters: Number of sherpas needed, will, stamina, oxygen, rock climbing skills, altitude sickness and many more. Some reach camp 2 or 3 and come back, only a very few are able to summit. R2I is no different. Sitting in a Lazyboy couch in the USA, flipping between Jay Leno and SNL, it's easy to say "because it's there", but clearing the whole nine yards is an arduous task. :)

[QUOTESo naturally this morning amongst a lot of catchup things I asked him about life in China. He told me candidly that China is one nation - probably in his reckoning the only nation - where a doctors wages is below the average for the nation and he named me a list of occupations that make more than what a doctor is paid in China's tightly federal controlled system. Not only that attacks on doctors by angry patients are on the rise - an Oncologist at his hospital got stabbed to death by a angry relative a few months ago....etc etc....essentially the picture of a r2i doc were he to go work for a goverment medical school like AIIMS or worse. ]

Man
Nowadays, joining a govt med school is seriously not a bad idea-if you can get in. My alma mater is hiring like crazy- because of immense expansion. The 6th pay Commission does you a fairly good deal as well. Plus lots of amenities and security.Several perks. The rest is upto you. Even Kerala state which paid its faculty very poorly has now moved to 6th pay commission terms. Plus they practice privately in the evenings.
That there is significant politics everywhere cannot be denied.

Some of us are very fortunate or simpletons in that we do not have an ounce of planning bone in our bodies. The entire life journey traveled shooting from the hip may not change. r2i will certainly be no different. It is the thrill of showing extreme confidence to your loved ones as if everything is under control and no big deal, while shaking in the boots internally. Sure we may have lost a lost but also gained in the process due to our nature of extreme risks taking.

Again my chronic optimism leads to believe that life can only take step upwards moving in any direction (I don't trust 30% CTC pay cut, sub standard living, gross happiness index etc ) or the efforts will made, risks taken until that is achieved.

Of course I don't endorse shooting from the hip. Some of us don't know any other way.