Heylos Folks! It’s 6:11 AM, and my brain feels freshly rebooted. Maybe it’s the coffee, maybe it’s the quiet: either way, mornings make me feel fast and clear. My parents are in Bangalore for Diwali, which means the only time I get any real thinking done is before they wake up. So as I have my fresh coffee on rhe side, consider this article as a fresh brew of unfiltered clarity.

Four years ago, my brother gifted me a lens that quietly rewired me. I used to hate him (still do ig to a certain extent) but he can be annoyingly wise sometimes. As I move through this sabbatical, with a few important decisions hanging in the air, I keep returning to it. Thought I should share it for you and (for my future me. Hey man, hope alls cool.)

30th November 2021

A day before my final year placements. From being “oh, will I get any job at all?” to getting a Day 1 interview- it had been a gruesome journey of 3-4 months. It is perhaps the most tense time of insti (we call our college ‘Insti’). Right now all things seemed to fall in place - all recent mock interviews had been great, seniors and peers wished me well. I kept a calm demeanour since things had been fine with me. I had my breakfast, discussed a bunch of ideas with my study partners - and awaited for the final dday. I was genuinely happy and excited, but also a little scared.
“What if I don’t get the job?”

I shoved it away thinking it’s trivial - but it kept somehow stinging. I mentioned it to my elder brother. He listened to it all, mocked me asking if I had fluked anything to get the shortlist. After the brief banter, he went,

*”I do not think ‘select’ makes sense here Anuj. You can either get / not get the job right.

Say you don’t get the job. So, as much as Anuj did not get Flipkart. Flipkart did not get Anuj too, yes?

It therefore isn’t that Anuj is not good or Flipkart isn’t good. It wouldn’t be a ‘right fit’. For both the parties.

What I mean is you don’t want the biggest shoe. You want the shoe that fits. ”*

I hated how annoyingly wise that sounded. But it stuck.

Its been years since my placements. I got the job (turns out, we had the right fit :) and well, life happened. Forever grateful for the 3 year FK experience and that piece of advice. I applied the same in other aspects of life too, and realised few more things.

1. Dekho yar breaking it down, there is You and The Shoe and The Fit.
   • You: messy, evolving, full of preferences you don’t yet know you have.
   • The Shoe: the world’s offerings - jobs, people, ideas.
2. The fit is dynamic.
   1. You might grow out of the shoe : What fits you at 22 might pinch at 28 - time to update!
   2. You might just change the shoe : Nothing in world is super fixed. It is always evolving, changing - rarely you might even put such dents that you end up changing the shoe itself! You do not like the colour - sure, you might just paint it on your own. There are no rules!
3. Finding Fit. You can only find the right fit, by trying things that don’t. Sounds almost counterintuitive but, only when you realise its a calibration loop, an iterative process - will you find what fits you.
4. Shoe is also finding you. I hated shopping to my absolute bones. I still hate it - but I find comfort in thinking: my sized shirt’s also looking for me no? That small thought turns frustration into hope, maybe fit isn’t something you chase; maybe it’s something you meet halfway.

Looking back, I think that’s what things in life are really about — a long, clumsy search for things that feel right for you. Not perfect. Not permanent. But just feel right.

And when the time comes to outgrow them, I hope I have the courage to do it barefoot for a while, until the next fit finds me :P

Hey there 👋  Glad we could cross roads today. Here, have your gift ! Feel like reading more? Head over here.