Exploring the Roads Not Taken

What alternative career paths have you considered or are interested in?

Exploring the Roads Not Taken

At this stage in my life, a time many would consider ripe for reflection, I often find myself contemplating the paths I did not travel. The road to my present has been carved out with a strong sense of duty to education, shaping minds and nurturing young souls. Yet, the mind wanders to alternative careers I could have pursued. It’s said that “the grass is always greener on the other side,” but perhaps, in another lifetime, these roads would have beckoned more forcefully.

The Call of the Written Word

From a young age, I found solace in the written word. Literature has always been my “Achilles’ heel”—a temptation too alluring to resist. I often imagined myself as a writer of renown, crafting tales that transcend time and evoke emotions long buried in the reader’s heart. Like the great poets and authors of yesteryear, I could see myself being drawn to the world of letters, where words hold power akin to a monarch’s decree.

Had I chosen this path, I would have aspired to follow in the footsteps of Shakespeare or Milton, penning plays and poems that explored the human condition. Literature, after all, is the mirror of society, and what better canvas than this to paint the grand drama of life?

A Historian’s Journey

Another path that often piques my curiosity is that of the historian. My interest in history is not merely academic; it is spiritual. To immerse oneself in the past, understanding the rise and fall of empires, the mistakes of kings, and the revolutions of commoners—this is akin to unearthing the very essence of humanity. Had I walked this road, I would have sought to capture history’s nuances, not just through cold, hard facts but through the lens of human philosophy.

I have always been fascinated by the likes of Gibbon, who narrated the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire with a prose that stirred the imagination. To understand where we come from is, in many ways, to understand where we are headed. One could argue that history is like a river, always flowing forward, but it often loops back on itself, carrying lessons from the past into the present.

The World of Law

Philosophy, history, and literature all share a bond, but the realm of law weaves them together in a structured dance. The rule of law, as Cicero once remarked, is the “mind without passion,” an ideal that fascinated me for years. Had fate turned in another direction, I could see myself in the courtrooms, arguing cases, and presenting legal philosophy, much like the great orators of ancient Rome. There’s something noble in defending justice, in seeking the truth within the maze of regulations and legal frameworks that govern us.

Here, I would have drawn inspiration from legal luminaries such as Mahatma Gandhi, who studied law in London only to use it as a tool to reshape India’s destiny. The courtroom could have been my stage, where history, philosophy, and literature merged into legal discourse.

The Road Travelled

But as Robert Frost wisely mused in The Road Not Taken, “I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” The path I ultimately chose—education—has been more than fulfilling. I have walked the halls of learning, not just as a guide but as a lifelong student, continually growing alongside those I taught. It has been a career rich with meaning, filled with the laughter of children, the hope of new beginnings, and the satisfaction of having played a small role in shaping the future.

Perhaps that is the lesson of life: the alternatives always seem tempting, but the roads we choose shape us in ways that we cannot foresee. In the end, it’s not the career but the passion with which we pursue it that defines our legacy. As history, philosophy, and literature remind us, it is the choices we make, and not just the dreams we chase, that shape our destiny.