It was the year 2005. He was on his own. Gallivanting through the streets of Thailand. A bird flew past and he ducked. The world had truly changed. Even the birds had become a little too adventurous… Ambitious? Atrocious! Whatever it was that these new kids were feeding on, he wanted some of it.

He was a Computer Engineer, born to a Chemical Engineer, who in turn was born to a Civil Engineer. They were a family full of exquisite grey cells, but what they obviously lacked was an imagination. Never in his life would he have imagined a person to dream up a career in scuba diving and excel in it too. Today’s kids were dynamic. His mind aimlessly mulled over the various career choices that he could make if he had to be born in this age. And he stopped to think again. A plate of dim sums was calling out to him—piping hot, sitting on a bamboo steamer temptingly. The street itself seemed to be simmering with the aroma of these steaming pockets of juicy meat. So he decided to pick them up. He huffed and puffed as he bit into it—it was hot! And then, just like that he had an idea. He noticed the Thai woman making the dim sums and asked her, “What’s the recipe for this?” She smiled coyly and replied, “No English.” But then he noticed a pile of books kept next to her. She was reading it intently in between serving her customers. That’s when a little boy sitting next to her replied to him, “I know English. And so does my grandma. But she doesn’t give her recipes to strangers.”

“Oh that’s understandable, son. It’s her business after all.”

“Oh no, it isn’t her business. She does this in her down time. She loves watching strangers relish her food. She is a teacher herself and now she’s studying to get a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication.”

He felt the weight of his jaw as it dropped in a second. He looked at the old woman wrinkling her forehead over the textbook and found an all-new respect for her.

It wasn’t just the kids who were dynamic these days, after all.

Two days later, he flew back to Mumbai. And soon after, he found himself enrolling for a degree in Architecture Studies. It was time to pursue his dreams. And give the kids a good run for their money.