Gail: What is life?
Howard Roark lifts up a fallen branch, bends it in the form of a bow and says - THIS
Gail: Strength?
Howard: no...the fact that I can make something useful with my hands...thts life...
-The Fountainhead(by Ayn Rand)
I am not a fan of this novel...But this is my favourite part in The fountainhead...
For the uninitiated, Howard Roark, an architect, is the hero of the novel. He looks for creative satisfaction. While Gail, a businessman, looks for power.
Its been more than a month in the factory...I have seen the transformer come to life. From the very first conductor being wound on the winding to the stacking of the core. The transformer is currently in the assembly stage.
Looking at it, I cant help think about what a bunch of men could do if they put their head and hands together. Ofcourse only a couple of men are gonna receive the accolades, but deep inside we all know tht it wudnt be possible without us...And I keep using the pronoun "us", inspite of the fact tht I haven't done anything tht wud add value to this transformer...I am trainee...I am expected to observe...Then why am I counting myself as one of them?
Even observing something come to life is exhilarating...
The thought tht this transformer would touch lives of thousands of people itself is so fulfilling...It might make electricity available to villages, It might help run an industry...There are endless possibilities...In every which way, it would help them to make their lives better...
Today,we(Akshay, Komel and me) were having a discussion with one of our seniors as to how ppl in the software industry were earning more than us. I stressed on the fact that core engineers should work in the core engg rather than in software...I would still give up a job in a software firm any day for a job in core engg.(no offence meant to the software guys)
Its not tht I enjoy the job or anything...I still hate gettin up early in the mornings (a lot of guys do..check out the comm on orkut! There r more than 2 lac ppl in the I-hate-waking up-early comm)...I still hate working 6 days a week...Maybe I wud do an MBA in future, maybe I wud start sumthing on my own, wht the heck, I might even join a software firm...But I would still maintain tht seeing something come to life in 3D will never cease to amaze man...
Tell me... as kids didn't you enjoy planting chili seeds or mango saplings...Tell me...didn't do rush to the balcony in the morning to check whether the bud has bloomed into a flower? I hope you do these things even now tht u hav grown up... If not, Pls do...
I have seen the windings and the core being assembled into a transformer...Some lifeless copper and iron getting converted into something really useful...really beautiful... I feel proud... I feel satisfied....I feel amazed...sometimes I feel like God.
Its amazing what men can do, isnt it?
Editor in chief Arshat Chaudhary
Current Issues: orkut, transformer, transformers 4 letters to the editor