If you know me from Twitter, then you probably know that I am a movie buff. I don’t watch every movie released, but I watch some movies many times to understand what the director wants to tell you. I am not talking about Hollywood’s “world is going to end soon and how Americans are going to save the world” nonsense. I am not talking about Tollywood mainstream hero’s unrealistic, physics defying adventure movies either.
An interesting thing about good movies is, you will see the same movie in a completely different way at each stage of your life. For example, The Shawshank Redemption, 12 Angry Men, Forrest Gump, Good Will Hunting, etc are timeless classics.
As an aspiring storyteller myself, I know it’s very hard to put what we imagined in our mind on paper. I would say if we can put down 75% of what we imagined in our mind onto paper, then as a writer we succeeded. So, generally when I watch a good movie, I try to understand what the director wants to tell us beyond what he/she already presented on screen.
I know, movies are mainly considered as entertainment media, but some people(writers, directors) try to share their knowledge and wisdom through their art. If you have a good eye to see, then you can learn a lot from movies.
Among all the movies that I admire, the Kung Fu Panda 1 movie holds a special place in my heart. It’s a great movie that helped me to shape up my career in a way.
As I know my family’s financial situation, I never demanded any fancy things from my parents. Every time I want to have something (a bike or good cloths, etc), I told myself that I will buy after I got a job. And I had this weird understanding that the more knowledgeable you are, the more you get paid (what a joke). Being knowledgeable and being smart are two different things, and that’s a story for another day.
So, I used to learn something or other every single day with the hopes of my salary will get increased if I know more. I used to wake up at 5 AM, read or practice programming till 8AM, get ready to office, complete the official work in 4 to 6 hours, spend the rest of the time learning, after coming home again practice what I learned till 11 PM. This was how my typical day looks like at the beginning of my career.
As years pass by, I realized just learning more and more doesn’t get you more salary. When I look around, most of my friends are trying to get H1 Visa so that they can earn better.
So, I thought I would also apply for H1 Visa. To apply for a visa, first I need to have the passport. Then I started the process to apply for a passport, and that’s when the fun began.
My full name is “Katamreddy Siva Prasad Reddy”. Surname is “Katamreddy” and given name is “Siva Prasad Reddy”. In my 10th class certificate, the headmaster wrote my name as “Katamreddy S Prasad Reddy”. In my Intermediate (+2) certificate, my name is written as “Katamreddy Prasad Reddy”. In my Graduation and PostGraduation certificates, my name is written as “S Prasad Reddy Katamreddy”. On my PAN Card my name is written as “K. Siva Prasad Reddy”.
As you can see, my name is not written in the same way in any two documents.
When I first approached an agent to apply for passport, he looked at this inconsistency in name and asked me to get it corrected first.
After revolving around various government offices for about 6 months and with the help of many agents, I finally got my name inconsistency issue sorted out. Then me and a few of my friends applied for passport with the help of an agent.
All my friends got passport in a month except me. Neither me not the agent know why it’s getting delayed.
Meanwhile, it’s the time of the year to apply for H1 visa. Along with my friends/ colleagues, I also prepared the necessary documents hoping I would get my passport in time. As you can probably guess, I received my passport the very next day of the final visa application end date is over. I applied the next year and my application didn’t get picked up in the lottery.
Meanwhile, I got another job opportunity with a better salary. But there was a senior developer in the new team I joined who enjoys torturing the new joiners. I was having a real hard time dealing with office politics.
Despite all this misery going on, one of my blog readers, who settled in the USA for a while, recommended me for a job in his company. The idea is if I get the job, then I will work remotely for some time and then apply for visa and eventually move to USA. But first, I need to take an online test to get the job.
As power cuts are a common thing in India, I took some precaution so that I won’t have internet disconnecting problems during the test. I was using Beam Telecom (now ACT Fibernet) internet connection. If I directly plug in the internet cable to the laptop, instead of using WI-FI, then even if power cut happens, internet connectivity works for about 1 hour.
I started taking the test, and after 20 minutes the internet connectivity got disconnected. There is no power cut also, but by the time I use my mobile data to connect, the test is declared as failed due to internet disconnection.
I reached my limit and I could no longer take this pain.
I got completely broke down, in tears and looking upwards (God is in the sky right :-)) shouting at God
“What did I do wrong, am I not putting enough efforts? Why are you torturing me like this? Why don’t you give me a helping hand”.
I sat down on the floor, crying for about 15 minutes, not knowing what to do.
I consoled myself, thought of watching a movie to distract myself from this misery.
I saw the “Kung Fu Panda” movie DVD lying nearby my laptop that my friend gave me a few days ago. Then I watched the “Kung Fu Panda” movie.
How did the Panda, Po, become “Dragon Warrior”? He wasn’t practicing Kung Fu since he was 5 years old. He is not physically fit like Tigress. He is not wise like Shifu. Then how did he become “Dragon Warrior”?
The only reason is “His enormous passion for Kung Fu”
Once Master Oogway announced Po as Dragon Warrior, no one could believe that, including Po.
When Shifu put him through the training with the hope that Po will run away, he got physically hurt, but didn’t run away.
When the Furious Five and others told choosing Po as Dragon Warrior is a mistake, he had to endure all the insults.
Then what kept him going?
His passion for Kung Fu and never give up nature.
Po didn’t love Kung Fu to become Dragon Warrior. His love for Kung Fu made him Dragon Warrior.
I don’t have a great story to tell you about how did I get into programming. My father didn’t give me Commodore 64 when I was a kid. In fact, I didn’t see a computer until my post-graduation.
I didn’t come into programming to make the world a better place. I became a software engineer to make a living.
But once I am into software development, I love it. I got passionate about learning new things and sharing it with others.
I didn’t start blogging with a hope that somehow I will get benefit from it.
After watching the Kung Fu Panda movie, I decided to not go after H1 visa, or better salary. I trusted that if I excel at my craft, things will eventually fall into my platte.
I kept learning more and more and started blogging regularly.
I did a lot of mistakes in my career, but did one great thing (started blogging) that has been saving my ass. I got opportunities to write books, got job opportunities without even a technical interview. All because of my blog.
See, nobody owes you a damn thing. You got to earn it.
You may face a lot of challenges, insults along the way. But to achieve what you want, you got to face all these challenges and move forward. And, it’s not that easy. Unless you have a passion to achieve it.
As you progress in your career, you got to be more humble. Just like Po. Even after becoming the Dragon Warrior, did you ever see Po looking down on Furious Five? Nope.
We constantly try to acquire knowledge and wisdom. We can gain more knowledge by reading or talking to people. But gaining wisdom is a funny thing. We keep looking for that one enlightened moment where we understand the purpose of life. But most of us won’t experience that magical moment. Instead, as we become older, we start realizing that wisdom is nothing but knowing the true meaning of what we studied in 6th class.
Health is wealth
All that glitters is not gold
Empty vessels make the most noise
These are all the sayings we learned in school without knowing their true meaning. Life teaches you the true meaning of these sayings. THIS IS THE WISDOM.
As the saying goes, When you are ready, the teacher will appear. The teacher could be a mentor or a movie.
Be like Po. Curious, passionate, humble and playful :-)
